Books, Musical Instruments, and Supplies... ASANTE SANA!

6/18/2010 Special thank you to the following people who donated, collected, and helped transport an unprecendented amount of books, musical instruments, and classroom supplies for the Kambi School last month.This amazing effort has jumpstarted the Kambi library and brought joy and resources to hundreds of kids. ASANTE SANA!
Scholastic Books contributed boxes of books to start a library
Capstone Press contributed boxes of books to start a library
The following donated materials or made donations for the purchase of more books and classroom materials:

Earl and Renee Miller Dick and Mary Lane Frank Fried Nancy Wenkel Mary Holt Gary Griffith Micky Ferguson Mary Ellen Brown Gerrie Lane Sharon Gondek Mary Meyer

U of MN Rec 5301 Class transported all the materials, stamped, inventoried, and added some of their own. Thank you!

Classroom 3 & 4 Complete!

5/2/2010 (entry by Andy Walz) - Classroom 3 & 4 are complete!!!! Thank you so much to everyone who contribute money to make this incredible feat happen. Thank you especially to Muthoga and everyone on the ground who put it so many volunteer hours...it just wouldn't happen without you!

Wilderness Inquiry Partners with Ngong Road Children Association and Kambi to Host Summer Camp

3/15/2010 (entry by Andy Walz) - We are going to host a summer camp at Kambi! WI is partnering with the Ngong Road Childrens Association to serve about 210 kids from the slums of Nairobi and 40 from the Kambi community. We need volunteers! Check out:

www.wildernessinquiry.org/ngongroad

Classroom 3 Construction Begins Despite "These Economic Times"

12/2/2009 (entry by Andy Walz) - "These economic times" have made fundraising and travel to Africa tough this year. A small group of 5 did make it to Kambi in Septmember and we have raised $6,700. After much discussion we've decided to move forward with the construction of the 3rd classroom. We won't be able to finish it until we raise about $3400 more but materials are cheap right now and we need to take advantage of that. I will post pictures of the progress as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has given this year...this new building is bringing lots of hope despite the global recession.

The Muthoga Foundation

7/24/2009 (entry by Andy Walz) - Kambi visitors donate a large shipment of leather scraps for making backpacks. Community members have pitched in to help with the sewing. A charitble effort named the Muthoga Foundation has been organized to facilitate these kind of donations along with scholarships.

New Textbooks for Kambi

3/18/2009 (entry by Andy Walz) - A group of 4 WI travelers recently donated more than $2500 USD worth of textbooks to the new Kambi library. Students for years to come will benefit from this extremely generous act. Our gratitude goes out to The Muthoga Foundation!! Asante sana!!

Kenya declares holiday for Obama

11/5/2008 (entry by Emily Walz) - Mr. Kibunja, headmaster from Kambi Primary School, where I taught at in Kenya, called me yesterday to find out if Obama won (there is no such thing as internet in Naro Moru, and the newspapers they get are usually old ones they accuire from a few days ago from someone who has been to town), I called him back today and he is saying that Kenyans are very excited about our election results (can you imagine!?!?!). He proceeded to tell me that he went to school with Obama's father, not sure if I believe that one- every Kenyan will tell you they are related to/connected to Obama in some way. But additionally, he told me that there is no school tomorrow in Kenya because they are declaring it a national public holiday for Obama. I went online to see for myself if this was really official, and sure enough:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7710394.stm

Be sure to check out the links on the right hand side too! I particularly like the one about "Obama, The Musical" (McCain is the villain, naturally), and the one about the beer that they named after him. I think this is almost as exciting for Kenyans as it is for us...or maybe I should have said that vise versa :)