TGE's Virtual Trip to Kenya 2021: July 20 and 21 - Recap
Written by TGE Volunteer, and Virtual Trip Participant, Barbara Kohn
We couldn’t take you to Kenya, so we brought Kenya to you.
We weren’t going to let a global pandemic completely shutter our annual volunteer trip to Kenya. Since we couldn’t be there in person, we did the next best thing. We went virtual! On July 20 and 21, more than 100 participants joined us online for The Giving Exchange’s 9th annual volunteer trip to Kenya, hosted live from Nairobi by board member and volunteer Christopher Revetria mand project coordinator Peninah Ndirangu.
From our “arrival” in Kenya, getting acclimated and interacting with representatives from the Morning Star Children’s Home and Njoo Dada Trust, two of our local community partners, we did our best to replicate what our on-the-ground volunteer trip is like. We were especially grateful that our Kenya trip attracted a number of first-timers. More than half of the audience each day was new to TGE, adding many more names to our growing “friends” list.
TGE Covid Support
“TGE stood with us during this season of Covid by giving us food.
We had no food. That helped us a lot.”
That message from one of the Kiambu County community residents Day 1 of our trip describes just how desperate things were in Kenya because of Covid and how TGE has continued to provide support during this challenging time. But giving food is just part of the picture. Providing underserved communities and individuals with training to start businesses so they can become economically independent is our major mission.
Building skills and self-esteem
Also, on Day 1, we visited with the Morning Star Children’s Home in Nairobi, where TGE launched its first program. We received a huge warm welcome and were treated to wonderful musical and acrobatic performances from the children in appreciation for our years of support. Our farm training program will provide youth with much-needed jobs when they finish their education and communities with food.
Reah Nderitu, Morning Star Children’s Home director since 2007, explained that reunification is the mission of the children’s home facility, which currently supports 52 residential children, orphaned or in need of a safe haven.
“We don’t want to put kids back into the same situation and have [the problems] happen all over again,” said Nderitu. “When the kids come to us, they are hurt in a lot of ways. We build their self-esteem and then after that counsel the family. If we can’t find a mom or dad, maybe a grandmother or grandfather or aunt or uncle can take them back.”
A new generation of independent women
A musical thank-you from residents of the Njoo Dada Trust, which works with teenage mothers, also welcomed us on Day 2. In 2020, we donated sewing machines for the girls currently living at the home to provide them with a skill to enter society and the workforce when their babies arrive. TGE also partners with the ROSE Women’s Foundation to provide Njoo Dada program participants with business training to better prepare them for financial empowerment and self-sustainability.
It was inspiring to hear from a number of the girls during a round table discussion, many with their children on hand, talking about their plans to open a restaurant, bakery or tailoring business. When asked about a hope or dream for the future, one of the girls answered, “one hope for me is that I want to be the best mom for [my child]… I want [my child] to grow as a man who respects women,.. and I want to treat him in the best way, that I was not treated”. The Giving Exchange, in partnership with Rose Women’s Foundation, is giving them the training and confidence to venture out on their own.
Hands working together across the sea
Our audience didn’t just watch and listen. We invited them to actively participate in creative projects. Prior to the “trip,” registrants received by mail a tin heart to decorate however the creative muse moved them. The children at Morning Star also got in on the act and were so engaged with their art project, they didn’t want to stop.
Njoo Dada Trust project is ongoing as the audience and the young women will be working on quilt square pieces, using materials TGE also supplied, to create a quilt to cement our ties.
So concluded our virtual volunteer Kenya trip. Next year, the plan is to be on the ground in Kenya working with our partners. Sign up if you are interested.
In the meantime, you can reach out to info@thegivingexchange.net if you are interested in viewing the recording of this year’s Virtual Trip to Kenya, and you can find out more about The Giving Exchange programs and how to lend support by exploring our success stories.