By Sharon Runge | Executive Director, USA
Kenya Connect began as a PenPal program to connect children in rural Kenya with children in the U.S. and beyond. In the early days, Co-Founder and Executive Director James Musyoka, would ride his bike up to 20km through the hills of Wamunyu to deliver PenPal letters to children at partner schools. This program helped children in Kenya and the U.S. practice their writing skills while learning about another culture other than their own. James also was able to facilitate school renovations, the provision of sporting equipment and the installation of water tanks thanks to incredible donors like you.
Currently, six members of our staff went to Kenya Connect partner schools in our early days. They participated in PenPal letters and benefitted from having clean water at their schools. Kenya Connect supported some of these students through The School Fund and other programs and they were able to go to University or a diploma school for further education. When visiting schools, Brian Mbuvi, technology program assistant, said, "Sharon, come here. This was my desk in fourth grade." Rael, literacy program assistant, told me about being in The School Fund Scholarship program and how it gave her the support to be able to score high enough to attend University.
We invite you to listen to a podcast hosted by Mercy Karumba, Kenya Connect's Human Resource Director with guests, Rael Mutunge and Brian Mateli who both attended Kenya Connect partner schools. On the podcast, they share what it was like to receive a PenPal letter and how it feels to be implementing Kenya Connect programs. Only 15 minutes in length, it's a wonderful "feel good" during this season of giving. It shows how our work has impacted lives and how some of the beneficiaries like Rael and Brian are playing it forward.
Thank you for your continued support of our programs. We invite you to donate next week on GivingTuesday (December 2) so your gift will be matched by GlobalGiving. As you will see in our campaign, "haba na haba hujaza kibaba" every donation helps fill our basket so our work can make an even bigger impact.
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