Really Good News

26JanJanuary 30, 2021

I have some really good news to share. This past fall Everyone’s Child held their Annual Appeal. Today I am excited to report that in a year of pandemic and anxiety we have raised almost $30,000! When you take into account that this has been an extremely challenging year across our country and around the world, I am very encouraged by this response.

EC’s Mission

EC’s Annual Appeal is conducted every year in an effort to fund our programs, including the Orphan Feeding Program, which provides a daily lunch to over 500 orphaned students in six Kenyan primary schools each day. Another program that requires ongoing funding is our Secondary School Student Sponsorship Program. Currently EC is supporting 13 orphaned secondary students in Kenya and four students in India, and we expect to add at least 10 more students to the roster this year. Many supporters made specific gifts to these programs, enabling us to continue offering nutritious meals and an education to students who otherwise would not be able to attend school. The Mentorship Program makes up EC’s third initiative to help orphans. William Aludo, EC’s Kenyan Program Coordinator heads this program, leading orphaned high school students through a year-long plan to equip them with skills they will need after graduating from school. This three pronged approach encompasses EC’s mission statement, to educate, care for and connect with vulnerable children in developing nations.

Really Good News

The other really good news has to do with a small group of students from Harwood Union High School in northern central Vermont who spent the past several months raising funds to help their Kenyan peers attend school this year. In 2019, after learning that students in Kenya will be sent home if they can’t pay the $36 fee per term, they formed a group called “Harwood Students Making Change” and raised enough funds to help 12 orphaned high school students go to school in 2020. But they didn’t stop there. After finishing one fundraiser, Ari, Erin and Rachel visited local artisans, restaurateurs and purveyors in Vermont, asking for raffle donations. Their goal was to raise funds by selling tickets to classmates and teachers to continue helping Kenyan students go to school the following year. COVID-19 waylaid their plans, but they weren’t put off. Instead they switched gears to hold an online raffle last November, this time raising enough funds to send 15 orphaned secondary students to school in 2021.

The Harwood Students Making Change girls: Rachel, Tracy, Ari and Erin standing in front of a brick wall — Harwood Students Making Change: Rachel, EC Board member Tracy, Ari and Erin

A Win-Win

EC Board member Tracy Guion spearheaded the event, using the online raffle platform “RallyUp” to get the word out to supporters. Tickets were snapped up by friends and strangers alike, and by the end of the month they had reached and surpassed their goal, raising over $2,500 in one month! And what was more, twenty happy winners walked away with distinctive Vermont gifts. Among the prizes were a Keurig coffee maker, a one-of-a-kind Ziemke Glass Blowing Studio ornament, as well as gift certificates from shops and restaurants like The Warren Store, Red Hen Bakery, The Blue Stone and other places in and around the Mad River Valley. It was a win-win situation for sure.

An Unforgettable Moment

In 2019, Ari created a video to introduce themselves to their new African friends and let them know that they had raised funds for their schooling. Tracy shared this video with the students in Kenya when she visited with them at the end of 2019. They were immensely grateful and equally amazed at the ingenuity of these three young women. An unforgettable response came from a Kenyan student named Gordon who said, “I would also like to raise funds and share it with other orphans so they can also go to school.”

Harwood Students Making Change video

Messages of Mercy

The best part about all of this is obvious but still bears stating. This effort was put forth by three teenage girls who clearly want to make a difference in the world they live in. Tracy had introduced them to Everyone’s Child through Messages of Mercy, EC’s writing program between students from different cultures. This program was initiated to forge an understanding and create a sensitivity and awareness between students around the world. Ari, Erin and Rachel realized that they could have an impact in the lives of orphaned students who otherwise might not be able to finish high school due to an inability to pay their school fees. And despite the obstacles of distance, culture and even a global pandemic, they have found a way to make an education possible for students who don’t have the same opportunities as many American children.

Ruth and Tracy with 12 orphaned secondary students in Kenya — Ruth and Tracy with orphaned students from Bishop Donovan Secondary School in Kenya

From the bottom of our hearts

The EC Board of Directors and I want to thank everyone who gave to our Annual Appeal this year, and tell you from the bottom of our hearts that you are all making a huge difference by ensuring that children are fed, educated and connected, even if the hurdles standing in their way seem unsurmountable. Together we truly can help a generation through education.

Wishing you all a blessed year,

Ruth

Mentoring,Training and Confidence

12DecMay 19, 2020

The Job Interview

My first job interview was not very noteworthy.

Our neighbor across the street asked my mother whether I would be interested in babysitting for her two little boys. The “interview” took all of two minutes and included questions like “Do you know how to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich?”, and “Are you comfortable changing a diaper?”. I felt so important when they asked me to stay at their house all by myself, even though I was a mere twelve years of age. (Of course my mom was within shouting range should anything go awry.)

Several years later I interviewed for my first teaching position. This was more serious and required an actual résumé, as well as the right clothes for the occasion. Plus I needed some practice on how to win the confidence of those conducting the interview. “Confidence” was certainly key. I was confident that I could do the job, but I was less confident that I could win the approval of the interviewer. I remember feeling nervous, even anxious and unsure, and then finally elated when I was offered the job.

Mentoring and Training

That experience taught me how to conduct myself during an interview, but there was a lot of mentoring and training that led up to that event. And privilege. It’s important to note that I was privileged to know people who invested their time to tell me how to conduct myself in an interview. What’s more, I was blessed to have a family who cared enough to teach me how to treat my fellow human being. They taught me the importance of understanding and pursuing my passion in life. They also showed me the importance of making a difference in the world. All of this added up to my eventual success at landing a job I really wanted.

a Kenyan mama and her baby — Lizzie Joy and Florence

Mentoring +Training = Confidence

Today I am painfully aware that there are millions of children growing up in our world who don’t have access to this kind of mentoring. They are everywhere, but the ones I am most conscious of are the high school students we serve in Kenya. Most are orphaned, and all are at risk of not making it once they graduate.

Two years ago William Aludo pioneered the Mentorship Program that is available to the orphaned 11th and 12th grade students we support. These children are about to step out and make their marks on the world. The program explores questions that teenagers commonly face, such as “who am I?” and “what is my passion?” The goal is to give students confidence in themselves and in their abilities, and teach them that they can make a difference in the world.

students sitting in a classroom in Kenya — Bishop Donovan secondary students

Success

I believe that success begins with knowing who we are and ends with identifying and pursuing what we are good at doing. A child who has a sense of who they are is better equipped to handle life’s challenges. A confident child is also more likely to identify and pursue his or her vocation or career. Children who grow up in a safe, loving environment have easy access to this kind of success. But this success is more elusive for those who grow up in uncertainty or without the involvement of a caring family.

Kenyan child in a warm jacket — Dressing for success on a chilly day in Kenya!

Our Goal

This coming year we want to expand on the accomplishment of this unique mentorship program. Our goal is to help more students gain confidence in themselves and achieve their full potential as active citizens in the future of Kenya. Whether they want to be a farmer, a doctor, a driver or a teacher, we want to equip them to be the best at what they will do. If you would like to join us in this endeavor, please click here to donate to Everyone’s Child. Please give generously. Your gift will make a long-term impact in the lives of children who with our help can make a difference in Kenya.

As always, thank you, and blessings to you and your families in this holiday season.

Ruth

everyone’s child: they belong to all of us

TO DO Lists – Preparation the American Way

13AprMay 19, 2020

TO DO Lists:

Packing lists – check.

Travel itinerary – check.

Meeting schedule – check.

Menu for the boys (& dog & fish) – check.

Dr. appointments – check.

“Honey-do” lists – check.

Preparation:

The lists are multiplying. They tend to appear whenever I go somewhere – whether to the grocery store or across the world, and this time is no exception. I haven’t been to Kenya for some time, so in my excitement I’ve started the preparation process using the American way of thinking – by creating a list for every conceivable thing that needs to be done before, during and even after my trip.

For now my hastily scribbled notes are divided between things to take care of at home and things I hope to accomplish in Kenya, but as my date of departure draws closer the balance will shift. So much has happened since my last visit, and since I’ll be in the country for less than two weeks there’s a lot of ground to cover. I expect the Kenyan list to soon be the longest.

At the top of this Kenyan list is visiting with old friends, meeting our new Program Coordinator, and seeing the new preschool classrooms in Lanet for the first time. Each of these items vies for first place.

Lanet Umoja Preschool 2016 — Lanet Umoja Preschool

Dedication:

Not long after I arrive, one of the new classrooms will be dedicated to the memory of Heidi (Sr. Eurosia) Keyworth Albanese, who passed away suddenly a year ago this May. Heidi spent much of her life caring for people of all ages in Vermont’s Mad River Valley. She is most commonly remembered as a loving mother, a compassionate friend, a creative chef and an imaginative individual. As a member of a lay Franciscan community in Vermont, Heidi was also known as “Sr. Eurosia”. It was in that capacity that she taught French to children in the small Christian school I directed. She was a friend to many children, and she used to tell me how much she loved the vision of Everyone’s Child. It’s fitting to be dedicating one of our new spaces for children in Kenya to her memory.

Congregation:

Another aim of this trip is for me to meet William Aludo, EC’s Program Coordinator in Kenya. William has been instrumental in carrying out EC’s programs in Kenya for the past year, including the development of a successful secondary school mentorship program that is in its second year of operation at Bishop Donovan Secondary School. I’ll be traveling to his hometown of Rongo in Migori County, where William plans to introduce me to the students EC is now supporting, thanks to the generosity of many donors in the USA. I also hope to meet his friends and associates who are interested in learning more about EC’s programs in Kenya.

I’m also looking forward to meeting and visiting with the orphaned secondary students we are supporting and mentoring this year. We will be congregating at Bishop Donovan Secondary School where they will receive letters from American students, one more effort on our part to give these students a “leg up” in their journey to adulthood.

William Aludo with 2017 BEDSS Form II orphans

Organization:

There is never enough time to do everything that I like to do in Kenya. I’ll enter the country on “American time” with my lists in hand, but chances are by the time I leave I’ll be on “Kenyan time” – where a cup of tea with friends could turn into a daylong event. For now, I will organize by planning on meeting old friends, making new ones, and seeing the progress of Everyone’s Child in Kenya, something that I will never, ever grow tired of.

That progress is due in large part to the sustained and one-time gifts from people who want to give children a good start in life.

Heidi Keyworth Albanese was one such individual who cared about children in the core of her soul. Next week her legacy will be remembered once again at a dedication ceremony in a classroom filled with eager faces and curious minds. I am incredibly grateful to her family and friends who decided that gifts to Everyone’s Child would be a worthy way of memorializing her life.

If you would like to help make a difference in the life of a child, please consider contributing to our programs by clicking here. Your donation goes toward the education and care of orphaned and vulnerable preschool, primary school and secondary school children in Kenya.

Appreciation:

All donations are tax-deductible, used for and appreciated by the children we support. With your help we truly can change a generation through education.

With warmest wishes,

Ruth