One Month...

“Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.” – Rainer Maria Rilke


It’s been a month now since I’ve been in Kenya - and quite a ride so far! If I were look back three years ago upon returning from Kenya, I wouldn’t have thought I would be coming back here to work with KGSA. But, life has a funny way of unfolding in front of us. No use in trying to prevent what happens; I’ve learned that it is best to let go, breathe, smile, and find ways to be present and intentional with everything.

Deciding to come to Kenya and work full time on KGSA development has been such a great experience thus far and an incredible blessing. I’ve been able to reconnect with Abdul, a man I consider to be one of the finest men I know, a true mentor and a genuine friend. Our new thing is to go for walks for hours throughout Kibera and just talk. Our walks will be part brainstorming session as KGSA matters come up naturally, but it’s been a great time to get to know him as a human being. We’ve realized that when I was here last, we only really knew each other on a business level. We’ve started to talk about our own lives and how we grew up, who was influential in our lives, what our future could hold, his wife Zakiya, Annika, and at times, silence.

Abdul grew up fatherless, a common theme in Kibera. His mother died when he was a teenager, at which point it was just his grandmother and himself. In all the stories he would tell of his grandmother and mother, they sounded like such strong, independent, supportive women. His grandma died just two years ago, right before the new development of KGSA. He attributes his commitment to women’s empowerment issues to those two women. I told him about Mom, and how she was and will always be a huge inspiration in my life. His response was “I can see her now, sitting on the rafters above the school with my grandma and mother watching over us and the work we’re doing, they’re proud of us…”

I thought that was quite fitting for a response. I liked the image…

Recently I was talking with my roommates and the topic of privilege came up (don’t worry, I’m not about to go on a rant, please keep reading!!) We were talking about the ability of how we can turn the channel of the news when Darfur comes up, or flip the front page and head right to the sports section to read about the recent 4th quarter heroics of Favre and the Vikings… etc. At first, yes, we were criticizing this mentality, and ability, when suddenly it dawned on us… Isn’t that type of privilege exactly what we want for our girls? Isn’t this what we are working towards? Yes, I can be critical to a degree about the privilege we have, but ultimately, it’s not a bad thing, in fact it’s incredible to have that opportunity. I just hope to see more people in the world extended that opportunity. I want my girls to never have to think about where their next meal is coming form, where they will be sleeping, or whether or not they be able to provide for themselves after they graduate from KGSA. Instead, I want them to be able to stay up late and write poetry, I want them to sit around with their friends wasting time talking about crushes they have, I want them to sit at their dining room table and write a blog to family members about their thoughts…

Just a thought…


Want some exciting news surrounding the school?

The KGSA Journalism Club has been throwing around the idea of starting a company for some time now but didn’t know how to move forward with this idea. As life just unfolds, Enter Tim Coburn from the UK. He was paid from Kenya Airways to do some consulting for them. He was interested in volunteering at a school in Kibera, and Junior Achievements (an org. that partners people with orgs.) connected him to KGSA. He met with our Journalism Club, obviously fell in love, and has assisted them in forming a company. We have established a board of directors consisting of only students, each girl in the club has bought 2 shares each and are share holders, and we have appointed a president, head editor, journalist, photographer, accountant, and a distributor. These were the most exciting meetings I’ve ever been to in my life! Watching our girls give speeches as to why they were best for a certain position, or seeing them buy shares was pretty wild! The name of the magazine is Shedders – as they shed light upon the realities of Kibera.

I’m currently working directly with the editor on this first issue to make sure the quality of the articles is as strong as possible. The topics the magazine will cover are: Education, Health, Politics, Business, Entertainment, & Sports – all through the eyes of young females. We are working for late November to have our first issue out, so if you are interested in purchasing the magazine let me know. The breakdown of profits (decided by the board) is as follows 10% - school, 50% - printing costs/equipment, 30% - dividends, 10% - salary to employees of Shedders. Once more cameras are purchased from the equipment budget they will direct more funding to the school. Cool huh?

We recently established a Sack Garden at the school and our environmental group is maintaining that while learning about the possibilities that urban gardening provides and how to use this knowledge for income generating opportunities. I’ve put some photos on my facebook page of the garden so be sure to check that out.

Lastly, our Form 4 Class (seniors) will be taking their Kenya Certificate Secondary Examinations starting Monday and this last Saturday we had a big celebration for them and invited their family to the school for food and music. It was really amazing meeting some of their parents/guardians and one of our student’s brothers even gave a speech that brought me to tears. Doesn’t take much these days…

Anyways, the KCSE’s are the equivalent to our ACT’s or SAT’s but they go on for an ENTIRE MONTH! Ask any Kenyan about their KCSE experience and you’d think they were describing a world war they took part in!

Our girls though are confident. We all told them how proud of them we are and that no matter the outcome, we are a family here at KGSA and we stick together. We will work with them in whatever direction they decide to go in after the exams. We’ll get the results back in February and find out if any our girls qualify for University. If they receive a C+ or higher they can attend a University, B+ or higher means you are eligible for Government sponsorship. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

In news unrelated to KGSA, Anni came back for a weekend and we went to the MTV Africa Music Awards where Wyclef Jean hosted and performed along side of Akon. Two artists that Anni and I definitely rock out to when given the chance. An awards show in Kenya… It was quite the night! We got to see performances by a lot of great African bands. Cameroon, South Africa, Nigeria and Tanzania represented … and of course Kenya had plenty of artists that performed. It was great to see Anni and split the distance up a bit. She is doing really well on Mfangano Island. The construction of the VCT Clinic is still on track for World AIDS day (Dec. 1st) and she is planning the opening day event and mobilizing the youth within the local schools.

If you’re reading this now, thanks for reading that long blog. Keep sending me updates on yourselves as I really enjoy reading about what you all are doing. By the way, Jenna – good luck on your game tonight!!! I’ll be sending you positive vibes all the way from Kenya. Love you all,

-Ryan