Hello, my family and friends, I am reaching out today with a heartfelt call for help.
As many of you know, I have a deep passion for helping children, especially those in need.
Please help me raise a minimum of $10,000.00 in funds to help these kids.
The children I am fundraising for live in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa and the third largest in the world. My journey began in 2005 when I met Lucy Kayiwa, affectionately known as Mama Lucy, after hiking Mount Kilimanjaro.
I stayed at her home for three weeks and was introduced to the nursery school and rescue center she founded for abandoned children. I quickly became involved, visiting regularly (two to three times a year) from 2005 until 2009, when I moved back to the United States from the Netherlands.
During that time, I supported the center in various ways, including sharing my knowledge of education and social work, as well as photographing the children.
Last year, in July 2025, I returned after a long hiatus and was shocked to find that the school books and materials were the same ones from my last visit in 2009. The children lack access to essential technology such as interactive whiteboards, laptops, iPads, or computers for learning.
These children urgently need our help to provide them with an up-to-date education. They attend the Saint Vincent Community Development Organization nursery, which is equivalent to kindergarten and elementary schools, serving approximately seventy-five students.
The school provides a hot meal for the children, and for many, this is the only meal they receive throughout the day. When there’s no school, they are likely to go hungry. I am organizing this fundraiser to raise enough funds to purchase an interactive whiteboard and as many iPads as possible. I will be in Kibera from March 12th to March 20th and will be taking two boxes of school supplies with me.
The minimum estimated cost to ship one box of supplies to Nairobi is $700, which makes it less expensive for me to fly there than to ship the supplies. With the donations you provide, I will personally visit the outlet stores in Nairobi during my time there to purchase the interactive whiteboards, laptops, and/or iPads.
My goal is to raise ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to help supply the technology these children desperately need to learn.
Why is this so important to me?
Because we are only as strong as our weakest link. Helping these children might help produce the doctors who will find cures for diseases like cancer and HIV/AIDS or address other challenges that impact our world. Thank you sincerely for any assistance you can provide.
