During the first two weeks of August this year, I was privileged to travel to Kenya to visit the Umoja Project. The main purpose of my trip was to attend the Boys and Girls Empowerment Retreats for our students who are in secondary school and post-secondary school. This was my first time to witness the…
Isabella has been an Indiana student leader with Umoja for several years. She and Mandeep Dhillon led the Kenya Club at Carmel High School, and Isabella spoke at the Umoja Youth Conference for area students. This fall she begins her next chapter at Indiana University. Here is Isabella’s reflection about her time in Kenya: It…
Four Indiana students joined the June travel group to visit western Kenya. They played with Umoja children, got to know their Kenyan counterparts, and spent time in schools and homes. We are beginning to plan two trips for 2020 – one in February and one in July. Join us to be challenged and inspired. Email…
During the June trip to the project area, Indiana visitors helped to spread CONFIDENCE to Umoja girls. “Confidence” is the brand name of the locally-sourced feminine products we distribute to adolescent girls. Umoja students face extraordinary daily challenges in their quest for education. They often lack basic necessities, such as blankets, clothing and light to…
Our next interfaith group is traveling from Indiana to visit the Umoja Project in a few weeks. Sixteen travelers ranging in age from 16 to 72 are looking forward to spending time with Umoja students, teachers, guardians, and staff. The next interfaith trip is scheduled for February 2020. If you are interested in learning more…
The Umoja Project welcomed Isabelle Hall, Field Traveler for GlobalGiving, who visited Kenya in May. Several Umoja Project programs are featured on GlobalGiving, an international charitable giving platform. “I was thrilled to meet Leonard and the greater Umoja team,” says Isabelle. “I thoroughly enjoyed participating in their GET UP program, and observing the BET UP…
Our Duke Divinity School interns are back in Durham after an inspiring summer with the students, volunteers and staff of the Umoja Project. They tell the story of their time in Chulaimbo in this short video.
Zipora Alidise (class 7), Teresa Lusiana (class 2), and Melon Atieno (early childhood development) live with their mother Grace Ayot in a mud home a fifteen-minute walk from their school, Chulaimbo Primary. They have received support from Umoja in the form of school lunch, uniforms, a blanket, and a solar lamp. On the day that…
by Bailey and Courtney Sanford, 2018 Duke Divinity Interns Hello friends! I hope you all are well. Below are some updates from our last few weeks in Kenya: One of our internship tasks is to conduct interviews with students and stakeholders regarding a “Boy’s Empowerment” program that Umoja will begin this fall. For many years…
Update from Courtney Sanford, Duke Divinity School Intern Dear Friends and Family, When I arrived in Kenya last Tuesday, I joined Bailey at Mama Fransisca’s. She welcomed me by slaughtering a chicken for us. Bailey wanted to learn how it was done, so she taught us the Kenyan way. Fransisca has been teaching Bailey lots…
