I recently was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Kenya with several of my cross country teammates at Colorado Christian University, as well
as a few cross country runners from the University of
Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). This trip was taken in
conjunction with the Harambee Foundation, which was formed two years ago by
several runners from UCCS. In December of 2012, six runners from UCCS traveled
to Kenya to serve at Grace of God Children’s Orphanage in Kaptagat, Kenya. Moved by the
experience, these runners purchased a cow for the orphanage that has served to
provide nutrition and income, aiding the orphanage in its quest to be
self-supporting. After their departure, they sought to discover more ways to
help the orphanage. After trying their hand with a few different projects, they discovered a way to make a huge impact on the community of Kaptagat. The Harambee Foundation began a sponsorship program to send kids to high school. The program has finished its first year in operation, and is looking to expand. This is where we come in...
The main focus of our time in Kenya
was to work on developing the Harambee Foundation’s sponsorship program to send
kids to high school. Harambee currently sponsors ten kids to go to high school,
all of whom are very hard workers and have big dreams. We were blessed to spend
some time with these kids, hear their stories, and interview them in order to
share videos of them with their sponsors stateside. We also had the task of
selecting ten more children to be sponsored by Harambee. So, our third day in
Kenya was filled interviewing kids for sponsorship. Though we would only
sponsor ten kids, fifty showed up to apply! This day would end up being
incredibly moving for us all.
Before our arrival in Kenya, a team
of local elders had created an application for sponsorship, as well as criteria
for how would choose kids. To be sponsored, kids would have to have earned an
equivalent of a B- on their primary school exit exams. Beyond that, we focused
on the need of each individual, giving priority to those who were orphans, then
to those with one parent, those that are disabled, and finally those in other
pressing financial circumstances. The truth though, is that every single
applicant was in extreme financial need. The majority of our applicants
belonged to families who had small farms – ½ to 2 acres – from which they
earned their living. Utilized to its maximum output, the most a once acre farm
can earn in a year is $200-$300. Once one considers the fact that most Kenyan
families have 5-10 (or even more) kids, and high school costs between $500 and
$800, one realizes that high school is not even a remote possibility for many
kids.
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| Me speaking to the congregation we worshipped with Sunday morning Photo Cred: Joshua Coon |
One of the kids who story really
rocked me was Hilary Kipkorir. Hilary lived alone with his father; his mother
had passed away when he was young. Hilary had already completed his first year
of high school, but had gone through a lot to do so. Hilary’s dad had sold all
of their land in order to obtain enough money to send Hilary to high school. As
a result, Hilary’s dad had nothing. He had no way to earn a living without land
and he was left to squat on government land. Hilary had received a very high
score on his primary school exit exam. In fact, he had the highest score that
we saw all day. However, he ended his first year of high school with a C+. We
asked him why his grade was so low, and we discovered that despite all of his
father’s sacrifices to send him to school, they had run out of money before the
end of the year. Thus, Hilary was not able to finish out the school year
because of insufficient funds. Hilary’s story was heart-wrenching. The boy was
very bright and his father had sacrificed everything for him. Without outside
support Hilary would be unable to go to school and his dad’s courageous, yet
risky move, would leave the family with nothing. Thankfully, the Harambee
Foundation was able to sponsor Hilary.
Not every story was as
emotionally-taxing as that of Hilary. Nevertheless, we had a tough day making
decisions about who to sponsor. While we rejoiced with ten kids and their
families, we also felt great sorrow for the many who were not selected. Our
eyes were opened to the poverty others face and our hearts began to ooze
compassion. We felt the burden of these kids and were reminded of the fact that
we can make a significant impact in the lives of others right now (as college
students), whether that is through the Harambee Foundation or another
organization. Overall, this trip was impactful for
the community we visited, the friends with whom I traveled, and me.
To learn more about the Harambee Foundation visit http://pulltogetherforkenya.org/#home1
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