Do you wake up every single morning, thankful for all that you have? Grateful to have clean water, a roof over your head, clean clothes to wear? Of course you don’t! Not very many of us do. We take for granted all that we have – mainly because we’ve always had it. We become accustomed to our surroundings; we expect that to which we have always had. Now that doesn’t make us UNgrateful, but we can become complacent because of it.

The country of Kenya is filled with people just like you and I. There are high office towers, beautiful parks, and gated communities; but there are also, in some cases, just a few feet down the road, slums (sometimes settlements).  In the centre of Nairobi you would find many of the same amenities that you would find in downtown Toronto or downtown Ottawa. They would be a bit dated, appearing perhaps as they would have looked here in the ‘70’s, but none the less, you would not experience what we call “culture shock” by visiting there.

Travel a short distance however, to the edge of town and you are faced with a much different scene. The streets are no longer made of pavement or even gravel; they are mud and sand. The buildings are no longer glass and steel office towers, but instead they are made of concrete, crushed stone, brush or wood. In this neighbourhood you no longer see cars or trucks, but outdated motorcycles, push carts and buggies. In these areas, the people struggle. They are not unhappy; they are not sitting and begging in the streets. They work very hard and struggle financially, but they are happy and loving but often unable to provide the necessities of life to their families due to a variety of circumstance; the worst of which is illness, largely HIV/AIDS.

A helping hand can go a long way sometimes. Our Kenyan Kids focuses their efforts currently around 7 projects. We communicate with each of them on a regular basis and visit once a year. The goal is always to help them to become sustainable, to a point where they will not need our help- but for now, today, they do

Raising the potential of one child, raises the potential of that child’s present family and future family. By giving a child an opportunity to develop skills and gain knowledge we are creating a sustainable way for that child to have a better life circumstance. That child will be employable, or have the skills required for entrepreneurial opportunities that will ensure they can support themselves and their family. Please join me in giving to Our Kenyan Kids either through a one-time donation or a monthly donation. No donation is too small as just like the star fish even a dollar can help change the circumstance of a child. If an entire organization of say 100 employees all gave a dollar the dollars have added to a critical mass of $100.

Jan Murray
Chair, Our Kenyan Kids