These are the most beautiful people on the planet.
The girl in the middle is named Cynthia. 8 months ago, when she was only 14, her father died of kidney failure. Her mom supports 11 kids (only several of them being her own, having collected strays from the community and her sisters) and couldn’t afford the $300 needed to perform the operation on her husband. Cynthia desperately wants to go to school so she can be a the only kidney surgeon in Central Kenya (currently there are none). My mom is now sponsoring her high school fees so she can pursue her dream and be a surgeon in her father’s name. The shorter necklace she’s wearing was a gift to her from him, the last thing he gave to her before he died.
I had brought a handful of necklaces with me to give to the teachers of the school we were building, but since the school wasn’t finished, there were no teachers in the area. Despite her circumstances, Cynthia was so open, honest, delightful and such an inspirational joy to be around, clearly I wasn’t leaving without giving her one!
She relished in it for a while, including an impromptu 10 minute photoshoot by an acacia tree (photos to come if you guys would like) where she worked it and smized like none other. Then ran and grabbed her sisters, asking if they could have one too. The one on the right is her blood sister, the other is one that’s been mothered into the family, because no one knows where her family is.
Most of the kids who will be attending this primary school leave at lunch time since there’s no food in the school, and don’t come back for the rest of the day. It costs $30 to feed one child one meal per day, every day for a month.
In an effort to the current best way I know how to support this refugee camp in Rongai, I’m adding Kazuri beads to any of my necklaces. The addition of a Kazuri bead (made from a bead shop in Kenya that employs and supports single mothers who would otherwise be jobless, homeless and hungry) supports the women who make the beads. More importantly, the $30 addition of a bead will be sent directly back to the feeding program of this primary school. Since we have a direct contact on the ground over there, there is complete assurance that 100% of the money goes directly into the program, and none will be skimmed off the top or taken for “processing fees.”
These girls, this community, means more to me than anything I know how to put into words. Please help spread the word, pass this on, and let’s support this community.
Love, gratitude, appreciation and hugs to every last one of you.
<3
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Desert Inspiration: House of )'(
QUOTES OF THE MOMENT
I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited —Sylvia Plath
Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good-hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives… and to the ‘good life,’ whatever it is and wherever it happens to be. —Hunter S. Thompson
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