Day 14: Time to say goodbye…

Tuesday was a full day, filled with goodbyes and emotion. It is always difficult to leave a place where it feels like home. And I can say that these two weeks have been another life changing experience for my friends and I. We accomplished all of the projects we prepared before coming to Kibera and made so many new friendships. The Kenyans that I have met these last three years are the biggest reason why I keep coming back. I am always blown away by their kindness and warmth of heart. It really touches me.

Saying goodbye to the children from Kibera, see you next year…

Bye Red Rose teachers…You are doing amazing work to make sure everyone receives a good level of education! Thank you for letting us teach the students in your classroom. They showed us their amazing resilience, sense of community and despite their daily challenges, a joy for life. We know you play a big role in creating this attitude.

Bye bye grade 1 at Red Rose…we loved singing “123, nous irons au bois..” and creating the scary story about you being chased by a lion while picking berries in the forest. You laughed so much that it made us forget the sadness in our hearts.

Bye bye to all the 34 kids Project Kenya has sponsored this year. Almost 20 at Red Rose, while the rest are boarding at high schools. Thank you to all of the donors from New York or Los Angeles who are supporting our sponsorship program.

A big thank you to Vincent from the Center for Community Development and Human Rights, to Jeff Okoth from Uweza, to Mike Mutungi from I choose Life Africa for helping me and my friend Malo to organize the pitch competition. It was an amazing experience for all of us! We are very proud to be able to support eight groups of young entrepreneurs selected by our professional jury. We will follow their training and help them with their business plans until they receive our grant in December.

We were sorry to hear that Brian from Guetto Clean Project got severely wounded while trying to extinguish a fire outbreak in the slum. Brian and his friends on metal sheet roofs last night while helping. Now they are facing a huge hospital bill and won’t be able to work for a while. One of Kibera’s sad realities…

Bye bye Grade 8 at Red Rose. The photojournalist Brian Otieno and I enjoyed talking to you about the difference between fine art photography and documentary photography. We encourage you to join the photography class we created at Uweza Foundation to learn now how to use a camera or edit photos and videos.

We wish you the best for your KCPE exam which will determine the high school you will be able to attend.

Bye bye Brian Otieno! Thank you for taking us to the place where you grew up and the community library that you opened a couple of years ago with some friends. What a nice place to go to and study in calm, surrounded by books.

Bye bye Jaypee, bye bye Jeff…both of you have been amazing and made this trip incredibly special. Thank you to everyone who has been there for us during these two weeks. We had such a great time and accomplished a lot. It is just the beginning. See you next year!