It’s rare to find a person as inspiring as Emily. This beautiful young woman has dedicated her life to the unfortunate, abandoned, orphaned children in the Soweto slums outside of Nairobi. I first met Emily in 2009, helping her tear down tin sheets they were currently using and to put up stone walls, building…
Tag: support Kenya
the story of Ralph Tim…
My first experience in the slums of Nairobi was in a tiny, fly infested room at the Good Samaritan Children Centre, a girl child in my arms looking up into my eyes with genuine curiosity as she firmly held my hand. Having returned this June to see my dear friends here, I marveled in their…
The success of Jane Wamboi
When I was in Nairobi last summer, I decided to sponsor two children’s education for one year, including a daily meal. One of those children was a very special girl, Jane Wamboi, the other a wonderful boy named Joseph. Here is Jane and Joseph letting you know who they are, and their dreams for the…
the whole of the Moon
The day after the Incident was coming to an end. Little Giants in the morning, Jane, Joseph, & Eunice after that, and the story of the desks had all impacted me greatly in their own way. Our last stop was to the Eternal Hope Children’s Home. Oprah Ouma, someone whom I’d met briefly in past…
The generosity of children
When I went to speak to the fourth grade students at Hawthorn recently about Kenya, the goal was to start a pen pal letter writing program. I also hoped to raise awareness and maybe even recruit people to go on future expeditions. Hawthorn recently completed their letters, and they were mailed to the schools in…
Paul & the desks
I first tried making a desk in Kenya in 2010, and failed miserably. The wood was far too tough to cut, the saw not sharp enough, or most likely I just didn’t have the strength or endurance to complete the task. I went back to mixing cement by hand and let others try to build…
Ken & the bracelets
While a person is in Kenya, you will invariably meet people selling different wares : necklaces, pottery, everything African, artifacts galore. One of those people is Ken Wainaina, or as the people from World of Difference call him, Ken the bracelet man. Ken can make you any type of bracelet you may want, and will customize…
Lake Naivasha
After working tirelessly for the first four days on the project in Nairobi, the team had earned a well deserved rest for a couple days. We we all so very excited as it was the first year of trying something new with World of Difference, a day on Kenya’s second largest freshwater lake ( the…
The day of blood
It was only one hour into working on the school project at Unity Centre, day one, when I dropped my trowel over the wall we were building, jumped over to get it, and then was accidentally dropped on some rebar by my brother as he was trying to help me get back up. I’ll spare…
The Adventures of Zombie Butt, Poopypants, & Timonface
When I first heard from Chels that a friend of her’s was going with World of Difference to Kenya this year, I was ecstatic. Chels was awesome in 2009. She told me that her friend was going alone, and asked if I would look out for her. Having gone alone the past two years myself, I…
Hope Learning Centre & Isaac’s dream….
Hope Learning Centre was the first school I saw when I started going to Kenya back in 2009 with World of Difference. I’ll never forget the imagery of seeing the school for that first time, and I wondered what could our group possibly do in the short time we were there that would make any…
Tears and Rain
A man is walking alone along the ocean shore and notices thousands of starfish stranded on the beach from the receding tide, dying. Compelled, he starts to pick them up, one by one, and gently tosses them back into the ocean. A stranger notices what he is doing, and asks him why he is even…