"You don't need me to come here to teach math. What you need is for me to go home to raise money for the girls' high school."
Those were the words spoken in September 2005 by Margo McAuliffe, a retired math teacher from Northern California. Thus began the journey from a bare plot of ground in Naivasha, Kenya, to the opening of St Francis Xavier Girls Secondary School to the first class of students i n February 2007. This story is one of passion and action – many people dream but don’t do. Margo does – and through her action, she inspires others, including mothers and daughters like Rebecca Bloom and her “Kenya Help girls” from the Menlo - Atherton area of Northern California.
“In the spring of 2004, I retired from teaching high school math, but knew I needed something more than a lot of free time. In response to my sharing my day-dreams of teaching math to girls in Africa, a friend said to me, “I know a priest in Kenya. Why don’t you write to him, asking for suggestions?”
Father Daniel Kiriti dreamed of a school for the bright but poor girls of his Naivasha parish, whose only hope was a secondary education. Its mission would be to empower young women. After many emails back and forth with Fr Daniel Kiriti, I decided to go to Naivasha, to teach in the parish co-ed high school for 2 weeks to see what it was like before making a long-term commitment. In September, 2005 I boarded a plane for Nairobi.
During my two weeks in Naivasha, I observed many classes at Archbishop Ndingi Secondary School (lovingly known as simplyNdingi). I saw good teachers and hard working students. I also learned that the community had donated a plot of land, intended for a new girls’ high school. All they needed was funding. If I were to come as a volunteer for a year, one of those teachers would lose a job.
This is when I had my second epiphany. The still, small voice in my head said, “You need to go home to raise money for this school.”
Before I left, I interviewed 6 students whose circumstances were so dire that they were being sent home for lack of school fees. One student’s mother had been injured working in a quarry, breaking stones by hand. Several were orphans who had been taken in by family members unable to pay fees. I told these students I was making no promises, but I would try to find sponsors for them (within a week of returning home, I had sponsors for all six).
The vision was about to take flight. Just before leaving Kenya, I met a British woman who was a volunteer for Manos Unitas, a Madrid-based foundation dedicated to funding programs for women and girls in Africa. They eventually awarded us $55,000 to build two science labs.
We established a foundation, Kenya Help. The mission: to build the school and provide scholarships for poor girls, as well as boys at the now all-male Ndingi.
Many ‘synchronicities’ and miracles have continued as people “show up” to fill a new-found need; provisions have taken the form of web and logo design work, and pro bono legal and tax services.”
When Margo returned to California, she met Rebecca Bloom…We asked, “Rebecca, How did you first connect with Margo and Kenya Help? “
“I first met Margo at a coffee hosted by a good friend. Margo was publicizing her wonderful undertaking and trying to get some local support for the girls’ school. I was immediately taken by her magnetic energy and her no nonsense approach; “I’ve seen a need, I think I can help, I’m going to try.” Lots of people talk, but Margo was doing something and I was so very touched and impressed. I was already working with middle school girls as their basketball coach and mentor. I wanted to expand upon what we did together by learning about women and girls in other parts of the world, setting goals and doin
g something that would make a real difference. Kids today are taught from early on to pursue their own excellence, often at all costs. I wanted to fight that and teach my girls that the deepest gratification comes from making things better for others. I wanted to get them to a point where they could experience the fact that everyone has something they can give. I told Margo that I’d like to help by sharing her story with my girls and thinking of ways to raise money and awareness. I really had no idea where it would go. Margo met my enthusiasm with characteristic optimism and open-heartedness.
I had already been running free basketball clinics in the summer for a number of years. It was a nice way to stay in touch with all the kids I’d coached, because I couldn’t get them all back on my team every year. I decided to plan some activities and events in support of Margo’s project, and I enlisted the creativity of the kids and some of their parents. A number of the kids are remarkably artistic and inventive; they immediately started making jewelry and organizing bake sales. We also planned a hoop-a-thon—a series of endurance and skill challenges and a huge, spirited mostly basketball-themed team relay. The kids circulated sponsor sheets and rallied support in their neighborhoods. The results were staggering: we raised well over $12,000 that first summer. The following year we created “Foul Shots for Buck” and began planning a targeted art project to support Kenya Help.
The kids got together over many weekends at my house during the school year and produced beautiful hand painted ceramic necklaces and tiles. Some were African themed, some geometric or abstract; each young artist developed her own style. They sold like hotcakes! It was extraordinary and it got us very excited to move into our second summer program. The second summer hoop-a-thon was amazing. We invited younger girls to join in and called it Kenya Help: The Sister Project. The older girls taught the younger girls all about the school: what it costs to send a girl for a year and how we could try to help. Once again, the success was phenomenal and our yield for the summer exceeded the previous year. The inspiration and success were infectious and all who heard about the story of Margo, the girls in Kenya, and their 7- 14 year-old champions here wanted to be connected somehow.
In the fall, Father Kiriti visited the girls at my house. His grace, gratitude and love kept us inspired to plan year three. First, we decided that our art component should be even more prominent; it was not only lucrative, it was a wonderful creative outlet for the girls. In-keeping with the ever-greening zeitgeist, we wanted to be sure to use as many recycled materials as possible. So, we went on E-bay and bought up old plastic bangles of all sizes and shapes. The girls collected recycled paper and began to make extraordinary, unique decoupage bracelets of many different themes and color-schemes. Building upon what we had learned in previous years, we sold them at the Farmer’s Markets, school events, and anytime anybody stopped by my house (affectionately known as the “sweatshop.”).
Spurred by the success of all this creativity, we had another brainstorm inspired by Margo and Father Kiriti: a movie! Some of the money we had sent over was used to build a basketball court, but our friends at the school really didn’t know how to play. We didn’t want to send some canned “winning is everything” video, so a few of the teenagers planned a how-to documentary laced with tons of humor and love. We had a brand new focus and it was so wonderful to guide the older kids as they literally directed the younger ones. It took countless hours to film, edit and produce, but I believe it is a memory to be treasured and learned from by many kids on two continents. Despite huge economic difficulties in the summer of 2009, in addition to the finished movie, we still managed to send thousands of dollars to the school.
This year, we’ve already begun a recycled glass-painting project in support of Kenya Help. We’re teaming up with a jewelry artist friend of mine to do a Holiday Gift Sale in support of Kenya Help. Margo will be there with many handmade Kenyan crafts—some of the teenagers will cater and set up the displays; it will once again represent generations of women brought together by their passion for educating girls. The hope is that we’ll all keep connecting and caring, making changes along the way as we grow and mature in step with the girls who have given their hearts and their time to this wonderful cause. Margo inspired all of this by being exactly who she is—a teacher and a visionary—she can see the potential in a person or a situation and she instinctively knows how to help it emerge.
The fact is that compassion is innate in most people. What they need to see is how possible it is to make a difference if they simply act according to what is in their hearts. Once a child sees an adult choosing to do things for others, that child has a natural desire to jump on the bandwagon. I have learned that kids are really hungry for these opportunities and that many of them will dig very deeply to make progress happen. It is particularly gratifying for me to have witnessed the impact of the older kids on the younger ones. All I had to do was give them the support they needed to affect change in such a positive way—now they are totally qualified to pass it on to their younger sisters and friends. I have joyfully watched the older girls encourage and model for the younger ones—it works! They’ve built strong relationships, not only with their own sisters and mothers. They are now a community of activists that has begun to realize its potential. Anybody who wants to lead girls in this way can do it! All it takes is vision and some creativity.
What has this experience done for you and your daughters? Are you corresponding with the girls in Kenya? What have they imparted to their U.S. “sisters”?
My daughters and I will always be connected to St. Francis Girls’ School and to Margo and Father Kiriti. These relationships are precious to us. Along with the large group of other girls involved, my daughters have become pen pals with several of kids at the school. The letters received are treasures—full of warmth and love; they also remind the kids here to value their families and their opportunities. It is also impossible not to fall in love with the indomitable spirit of the students at St. Francis Girls’ School. They’ve given us more than we’ve given them, without question.
Kenyahelp Updates from Margo:
I have returned to Kenya for two months each summer to teach at both Ndingi and St Francis Girls schools (but not to replace a teacher). On three occasions, my high school friend, Judy Murphy, a retired social worker from Portland, Oregon, joined me. Judy has taken on fund raising for the parish orphanage Mji Wa Neema(House of Hope) in the way I have taken on the school.
Judy and I arrived in Naivasha June 13, 2009 for yet another sojourn. We were eager to see old and dear friends, as well as to make new ones. I met the 67 new form one (9th grade) students who were admitted in January 2009. They have joined the original 18 girls (now in form 3) and the 47 girls who came in January 2008 (now in form two)--all old friends now.
The school is almost complete now (Nov 2009). We have built:
· 8 classrooms
· 2 science labs (physics/ chemistry and life science)
· Computer lab with 20 new computers
· Library
· Teacher workroom and administrative offices
· Infirmary
· 1 ½ dorms (second ½ to be completed early 2010)
· Housing for 3 teacher families
· Housing for the matron (house mother) and head teacher
· Dining hall/multipurpose room
· Soccer field, basketball and volleyball courts
In the works, as funds are raised:
· Accommodations for 6 more teacher families
· Solar electricity generation facilities
· Cistern to store rainwater harvested from the roofs
In addition, we now support 13 (of 133) girls on full scholarship as well as 13 boys at Ndingi. Our future mission is to support many more girls, not only in St Francis but also in college and university. Our first class of 18 will graduate in November 2010. We hope to send the best of them on to further schooling.
An important focus of the school is empowering the students to be leaders in their families, their communities and the country. We want them to see themselves as agents of change in a country that spans the 19th to the 21st centuries.
In the three years, I have taught and observed our first class of girls I have seen amazing growth in their self-confidence, their leadership skills and their academic powers. We have high hope for their success on the Kenya Curriculum Secondary Exam (the KCSE), which in that system sets the stage for the rest of one’s life—of no small importance!
No one is more amazed than I am at the success of this project. In four years (October 2005 to November 2009), we have raised over $850,000, covering building costs, scholarship fees, teacher salaries and other start-up costs, as well as supporting an orphanage and emergency food programs during the last three years of drought.
What I have learned is that people respond when I share my truth, my passion, my dreams and the needs of the young women of Africa. Throughout I have listened to that still small voice to guide decisions. I’ve believed that the best way is not to go to foundations for large amounts, although we have had donations from two foundations, but to go to the people. I have spoken at many, many coffees, in churches, in school classrooms, in living rooms. I try not to ask for money so much as share my story and let their hearts tell them what to do.
I believe that there are two essential components to this work. The obvious one is to build this school and find funds for as many poor girls to attend as possible. The other is to educate myself and by extension, other people in the “developed world” about the realities that I have come to know. Every time I go to Kenya, I learn more as I listen to the people, get to know our students at a deeper level, learn more about the children in the orphanage where I stay, and interact with teachers at our school and others.
I can’t imagine what my life would have been like had I not embarked on this journey. I have been enriched beyond measure and that many people who share this path with me have shared the richness. I have always believed that we have a mission to leave the world better than we have found it. That has been my guiding principle through my teaching career, my motherhood, and certainly in this project. Imagine what would happen if each and every person acted on this principle!”
If you would like to connect with Rebecca Bloom, please email her by becoming a member of Wings. If you would like additional information on Kenya Help, please visit http://www.kenyahelp.us.
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