Here I go again

I can't believe how long it has been since I have been to Kenya! Judging by how much has changed, I should have known, but I honestly thought I was just there last year.

Thursday night I will be leaving from JFK with my new dear friend, Alessandra, for Kenya. Because of the generosity of some great friends, we will each have in tow an extra suitcase full of basketballs, soccer balls, crayons, jackets, and art supplies. I feel so fortunate to be able to deliver these and will post photos here while I am gone and even more when I return.

So, what all has changed since I have been to Kenya? I moved from Communications Intern, to Board Member, to Board President, to US Program Director by June of 2009 and have been operating as the Director since then. Obama, whose election we were all so excited about, has proven a let down, in most regards, and we are forever changed due to a hard hitting economic crisis.

Speaking of the crisis, another change since I last wrote here, is that I now work with Professor Richard Wolff on a social movement project we call Democracy at Work that we hope will provide positive and possible solutions to these issues. Tomorrow I will spend the afternoon and evening at the Wall Street Occupation which excites and interests me to no end. He is speaking at a teach-in there tomorrow and I will be on hand to photograph. I truly feel these demonstrations are a chance to make a difference and I am honored to be a part of them.

While in Kenya, I will be working with our Kenya Director, Kate Crowley and our on the ground staff and beneficiaries to map out the next 2 and 5 year plans. Our goal for the past couple of years has been to move toward sustainable programs that could be managed by local employees and would be less reliable on foreign support.

We have moved toward this goal in many ways; applying for and being granted our first in-country grant, securing local and foreign funding for a water well and the completion of a farm that will provide food for our lunch program at school, transitioning our Community Health Worker program to be in line with that of the government, partnering with the Ministry of Adult Education who provide us with teachers for our adult education program and with the Ministry of Health for much of our medicine, and gaining the support of our Parent's Association through their own local fundraising events. Now we are ready to take even larger steps.

We impress even ourselves with how much we are able to do with a budget of $120,000 a year. We are also in a state of constant anxiety about how we will survive due to the current challenges to fundraising. Every year at this time around October, we are at our lowest amount in the bank and every year we hope to hold some event or receive some grant that will enable us a cushion.

So it is with this pressure that I head to Kenya. Hoping to be inspired with a new idea that will translate to the funds we need to see us through until we can secure constant funding with less work and have in place more sustainable programs.

I plan to use this blog to honestly express my thoughts on these issues while I travel to Kenya. Thank you for following and please feel free to comment or ask questions.