Water for Shikokho; Abbey

The titles get wittier and wittier; the semi-colon is my best friend.

During my time in Kenya, I met many amazing people, and you may think that I'm exaggerating when I talk about how much I love Hayley and Abbey, but I'm not. They are, in fact, really amazing people. Many of my best memories with these girls have been sitting around, drinking tea or Tusker, and playing cards. Memories! Annnnd scene. I hope I didn't lose anybody with my trip down memory lane.

Abbey was a constant encouragement and source of joy to me while I was in Kenya (and she continues to be). She is very dedicated and passionate, and always had a good piece of advice when I needed it. Also, she's going to be a doctor! So, she's great, and if you have any questions for her about her time in Kenya, her experience working in a medical clinic there, etc... I'm sure she would love to email with you.

During the time we spent in Kenya in 2007, Abbey actually lived and worked close to the village of Shikokho. So, she saw first-hand the need for a clean, sustainable water source. Below are some words from her about her experience:

"Through the years I have had many adventures and met amazing people, but none has touched me more than my adventure to Kenya in 2007. The country I saw and the people I met touched me in a profound way and I carry them with me daily. Imagine not having a faucet in your house and having to travel 1/2 mile or more to gather water for your cleaning, cooking, drinking and bathing. The water may or may not be clean and suitable for consumption. Such is the case for rural Kenyan villagers. Peter, a Kenyan native (who was also my program director and now dear friend) has a vision to provide accessible clean water to his village in a sustainable way. This project will ultimately provide improved access to clean water by digging a well and pumping the water. This will reduce travel time to gather water as well as reduce disease by establishing an underground well. The water collected is used for cooking, cleaning, drinking and bathing. Please join me in raising $5,000.00 USD toward this project which carries a total cost of $23,000.00 USD. The village of Shikokho has raised $14,000.00 USD to date. Since starting this campaign, 1/4 of my goal has been met."

Again, I want to state that my goal here is not simply to raise money, but also to raise awareness about this important issue. And to win the marathon, obviously, but you already could've guessed that. However, as I'm sure you can appreciate, funds are needed to make this very basic need a reality for the people of Shikokho, so any amount you can give would be so appreciated.

I will now tell a story that is probably embarassing but I will tell it anyway. I stopped at Starbucks on my way to work (so shameful! just kidding - that's not the embarassing part). Anyway, I was on my way in to purchase my mocha, and I saw a woman standing outside, raising money for an initiative right here in poverty-stricken DuPage County. I kid - I know that there are needs everywhere and her cause was an important one. She asked for donations, and I was thinking to myself "Oh my gosh, I'm broke... I hate when these people corner me" even though I was about to drop close to $5 for a cup of coffee. I told her I didn't have any cash, but I did have a little change. I expected her to be like "oh come on. I'm standing here in the cold, rainy weather and you're about to go pay a king's ransom for a cup of freaking coffee but you don't have anything to give to an actual good cause?" - but she didn't say that out loud, probably because she has more self-restraint than I do. So I gave her like 7 cents (literally all the change I had in my wallet), and instead of her giving me a dirty look like "why do I waste my time on young people?" she was super sweet and thanked me profusely and even held the door open for me. What? Servanthood. Now this is turning into a sermon. Anyway, all that to say - here I am asking you for money for these really important causes, but I gave someone a 7-cent donation this morning. So, I am not asking for much. If you can give thousands of dollars, please do! But if you can only give 7 cents (honestly, I think PayPal still works if you give 7 cents) that would be great, too. And if you don't want to give anything, that's fine, too. I realize that many of you may just be coming here for some of my Pulitzer-winning blogging. But, if you do find a little spare change, please do give. I also realize that I often don't want to give to a cause if I'm not really drawn to it, or if I don't know exactly where my money is going. So, if that's the case, please let me know. I would love to tell you more about these causes, personally - or at least direct you to someone who could.

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to read!