When we started our initiative in 2011 we discussed in great length about how to best provide and improve education opportunities for children in Kenya. We chose, as our mission statement states, to take a holistic approach to education, focusing not only on the curriculum and school supplies, but on the health, nutrition, and safe living-environments for both the teachers and their students. 

On a recent home visit we came to realize that their home was, to say the very least, not very sturdy nor safe, and the roof did very little to keep the house dry. Homework and studying is tough enough for any student, but to do so while trying to avoid the rain in your own home must be, well, awful.

​So, we decided to do something about it!

We organized a few friends and volunteers to do a not-so-extreme-home-makeover, but one that would at least keep their house sturdy and free of rain. By reinforcing the frame of their home and purchasing a few new pieces of iron sheets, we were able to successfully rain-proof their house, and just in time for the rainy season. Not only that, but one of the volunteers who helped with the construction donated a set of bunk beds for the kids - check out the gallery below!

All in all it took just one day, a few swollen thumbs from missed hammer swings, and about $100 to drastically improve the lives of a very deserving family. We hope you can see that when you donate to our organization, your donation truly makes a difference in the lives of the children, teachers, and families we support. If you would like to help Alice's family further, you can do so by contacting us at longonoteducationinitiative@gmail.com or by donating here, just leave a note that says 'Alice'!

It took a week and a lot of work, but I managed to turn the old classroom into a bright and colorful art room – the kids were absolutely thrilled! ​

Thank you so much to everyone who continues to follow and support our effort to bring education to as many children here in Kenya as possible. We promise some new and exciting updates soon!

The boys attending our class for street children at the Ahadi Education Center have made a truly remarkable change; it’s hard to believe that just six months ago they were wandering the slum searching for metal scraps to fund their addiction to glue. The boys are now sober, clean, attentive, and most importantly, interested in returning to school. We are preparing to send 11 boys to school in May! 

The boys’ soccer program has been a very important part of their recovery over the last six months. Recently, thanks to a few very generous donors, the boys received team t-shirts and shorts – it’s great to see them playing together in the same uniform!

We are still working towards finding sponsors for all of the 40+ children at Faraja Children’s Home. We are most urgently searching for sponsors for the six children attending high school, as their school fees are no longer subsidized by the government. If you are interested in learning more about the sponsorship program please contact us at longonoteducationinitiative@gmail.com.

As we continue working within the slum community with the street boys and the LPK Daycare, we often come across families and children with very tragic and heartbreaking stories of poverty and their daily struggles to survive in Kenya. Sometime a particular child or story stands out to us and we feel the need to help in someway.    

For the price of a few cups of coffee at home, we paid for Paul’s school fees and allowed him to return to class. Having worked in Kenya for the last three years it still amazes us to see just how much of a difference such a small amount of money can make in the life of a child. We hope you might consider donating something small, any amount, so that we can help other children like Paul return to school to reach the education and opportunities they deserve.

With 2013 coming to an end we can’t help but feel a huge sense of accomplishment for our little organization. This year we have grown and achieved so much. 

The Longonot Education Center has continued to thrive since its construction (which sparked our initiative) in 2011. Over the summer the school was granted more than 60 pairs of canvas shoes by the Kenyan Red Cross (thanks to TOMS) to support many of the students who were walking to school barefoot. The need for items like shoes is vast in rural Kenya and we are grateful to work with a teacher who goes out of her way to help support her students by applying for necessary aid. One of our proudest moments this year was learning that the attendance at the school has increased by 56%, from 48 to 75 students within the last two years! The children are learning and growing bigger and smarter every day. If attendance continues to grow, who knows… we might have to build another classroom within the next couple years! 

This year we also added a new team member, Sedona Keenan, to help fundraise and manage our newest project, the Ahadi Education Center. The center serves as a sort of “halfway” point between street life in the slum and returning to public school for a group of 25 teenaged boys. We are so proud to say that three of the boys are already back in school and doing a great job. One of the boys ranked number 17 out of 67 students in his class! It’s hard to believe just four months ago he was struggling with drug addiction.

At the Living Positive Daycare center, in conjunction with efforts made by Living Positive Kenya, we were able to raise $7,000 for a new classroom to combat the current problem of overcrowding and poor sanitation. The designs for the classroom are currently being reviewed by the city council and should be approved shortly – construction will begin immediately after!

After working for with Faraja Children’s Home for a year and a half we were very excited to say that the home was finally granted official CCI (Charitable Children’s Institution) status by the Kenyan Government. This means that the home is now a recognized children’s home by the government and brings many new opportunities to the home, which were not possible prior to registration.

The LEI team can easily agree that our proudest moment this year was being able to announce our 100% Donation Guarantee. Since we started LEI it has always been important to us to be able to tell our donors that every dollar donated would go directly to the children we support; crossing that off our To-Do List was an incredible feeling for everyone involved. 
 
In 2011, when LEI began, our organization intended to help just 48 precious children. Two years later more than 250 children benefit from the projects we support, a number we never expected but are very proud of. Our team has high hopes for 2014; that we will continue to grow, and reach even more children in the coming months.  This year has been such a blessing for LEI and the children of our projects. We are so grateful for all the support we have been given throughout the year. None of this could be possible without contributions from so many selfless individuals worldwide. 

Thank You & Happy New Year! 
-The LEI Team

We recently traveled to the project that first sparked our initiative in Kenya, the Longonot Education Center. We were excited to hear than since the construction of the school in early 2012, attendance has increased from just 48 students to 75! We have since provided a salary for a third teacher who has been teaching the oldest group of students who are now preparing to enter a government public school. While visiting we dropped off a large box full of school supplies for all of the kids! The school is doing better than we ever imagined; the teachers and the entire community are still so grateful for their new building. They are even using the classroom as a public polling station and volunteer HIV testing and counseling center for the town.

Construction of the new classroom and four new toilets for the Living Positive Daycare Center is expected to begin by the end of this month. The construction is expected to take just under three months, so the children will have their new class by February 2014!

To send off our team member Portia with a proper farewell, we took the boys from Ahadi Education Center to dinner for roasted meat (nyama choma) at a local restaurant to appreciate their hard work over the last two and a half months.

As 2013 winds down we are still working hard to complete the Faraja Sponsorship Program by the beginning of the first term in January and will have more announcements on this project soon.  We hope you will continue to follow the progress of all of our projects by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

-The LEI Team

After working hand-in-hand with Living Positive Kenya over the last few months we have finally reached our fundraising goal needed to construct a new classroom, four toilets, and to bring piped water to the Daycare Center! Thank you to all of the generous people who donated. Construction is expected to begin within the next few weeks and we will continue to post frequent updates on the progress.

Our LEI team has spent the better part of 2013 getting to know a group of boys living in the slum of Mathare, Ngong. Most of the boys have either run away from home or have been orphaned. Many of them have problems with drug addiction, namely glue, a drug that makes them sleep and feel less hungry during the day. We have been working with a man, a former street-child, Joseph Njoroge, to help these boys recover from their street life and return to their educations. We decided to help Joseph establish an education center and a daily feeding program. 

Ahadi Education Center (Ahadi means "promise" in Kiswahili) provides informal lessons on life skills, health education and basic studies. Following the lessons the boys receive a late lunch, one that keeps them satiated until they fall asleep. This daily meal deters them from using glue in the evening. Our intention is that the center will serve as a halfway step between the streets and a formal education. Ultimately, our goal is to prepare the boys to attend school and reintegrate themselves into their community as productive members of society. 

We spent the first week of class constructing tables and a blackboard for the classroom. We used this opportunity to teach the boys about carpentry; the tools and skills needed to build something with their own hands. In the following weeks we have had volunteer teachers providing lessons in guitar, geography, critical thinking, and other subjects.

We will continue to post updates and photos on the Ahadi Education Center project page, we hope you will follow our progress and support our effort to help these boys!

We recently added a new member to our team! Sedona Keenan is on her second trip to Kenya and has been heavily involved in our effort to help the street boys living in the slum of Mathare; she will be returning to California in September and will spend her time back in the States fundraising for this project.
 
As of July 2nd, Faraja Children’s Home was named a registered CCI by the District Children’s Office. As a registered CCI Faraja will now belong to a network of other children’s homes recognized by the Kenyan Government. The registration will also help the home when applying for federal grants, corporate sponsorship, and private funding. This is an accomplishment the home has been working towards for years and we are so happy to have helped them achieve this goal. 

Last week Living Positive Kenya donated 40 new mosquito nets to Faraja Children’s Home! The mosquito nets were made by the women enrolled in the WEEP (Women Economic Empowerment Program) class and the materials were donated by HEART (Health Education Africa Resources Team). We cannot thank LPK and HEART enough for helping us help all of the children at Faraja!

Recently, Santa Cruz Skateboards donated a very large box of skateboards, t-shirts, stickers and other goods for the street boys of Mathare and for the local skaters of Kenya. Half of the donated skateboards will be used to take the street boys on field trips to Nairobi for skating lessons as a reward-based program and the other half will be donated as prizes at the grand opening of the first skatepark in Kenya. We would specifically like to thank the Santa Cruz Team Manager, Jordan Tabayoyon, and Bob Denike for their very generous donation. We will have an update on this program very soon!

We hope you will continue to follow the progress of all of our projects by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!


-The LEI Team

Yesterday we visited the school in Longonot. We were headed out there to check up on the teachers and students alike, and we are happy to say things are better than we could have expected. 

Last week each child at Longonot was granted a pair of TOMS from the Kenyan Red Cross. Many of the children had worn down or outgrown their shoes and some were even walking to school barefoot, so as you can imagine we are very grateful for this donation!

In case you are unfamiliar with TOMS here is a brief explanation, TOMS is an American based company that sells simple canvas shoes, however for each pair sold they have promised to donate a similar pair to a child in need. “One for One” is the TOMS slogan, but as popular as the shoes are many people have been skeptical of the company’s follow through initiative. However, no one would doubt them again after seeing all the children at Longonot proudly sporting their new shoes. In whole TOMS donated over one million pairs to the Kenyan Red Cross and it was up to specific beneficiaries to request the donation. Thankfully, our very own Teacher Jane heard of this opportunity and spent the time to fill out the application for each child in our school and was granted her request! Now all the little ones at the Longonot Education Center have at least one solid pair of shoes and no one could be happier.

In addition to the TOMS Teacher Mary had some great news to tell us; recently the children participated in a musical competition hosted by the Education Board of Kenya in a town up the road from Longonot. Our youngsters were stunning! They took 2nd place in Best Western Style Song and Dance, and one of our little girls took 2nd in Best English Solo. We are so proud!

As you can see the school is doing very well overall. The children’s marks are higher than many of the nearby private schools, and we are blessed with some really great teachers! We were blown away by all the good news and cannot wait to make a return trip soon to see what more progress is possible.