Karibu sana Jambo Toto school

I am delighted to tell you a story of one man's startling courage. It's our friend Charles again - remember him? He believes in pushing into the unknown with his light held high, saying, "I'm headed this way, do any of you want to follow? And let's see what we can achieve together"

The new, brand-new, Jambo Toto school - built in 4 weeks

Back in December, we visited a scrubby piece of land with our friend. Just able to be classified as a 1 acre plot, Charles was positively glowing with skippy-pride as he explained to us his plans to build a small school for the children of the quarry mothers. "You see, these children are shamed or chased from the state schools because they have no school shoes or uniform and certainly no money for books. So they drop out of education and fall into crime and lives of hopelessness."

Charles wife Rose (in red) and the quarry mothers

Many of you know that this situation at the quarry sat heavily with me all over the Christmas holidays while we were back in the UK, until the burden of my thoughts crafted itself into a plan of action. Charles says that when he saw the needs of the vulnerable quarry children his heart said, "This is NOT OK" and his passionate anger got busy (I love the concept of 'passion' and 'anger' being a dynamic combo. It's what is needed to bring about great change where injustice reigns and complacency rules).

Celebrating inside the new school

It certainly isn't ok to experience such great and obvious need and then to do nothing, but how do we convert uncomfortable feelings into ACTIONS that bite deep into us with dogged determination, not letting us go, until we get the task done.

So, this is how things went....this is the speedy version.
We had an idea to have a fundraising evening and with the tenacious help of Jane and Andrew Meyler and their friends and community + other precious friends and family, we raised a stunning £4,500 (my sis even gave me the money she raised from selling our mum's piano - thanks darling). And on the very day the bulk of the money was in the bank Charles started building the little Jambo Toto school in Nairobi, thousands of miles away. His team of beavers worked like crazy and Charles sent photos at regular intervals. And I emailed him back and forth from the UK with suggestions and encouragements and we chatted about progress and we watched as the building literally took shape before our very eyes, within weeks.

Listening to their story

Rose, Charles and Trevor

And now we're back in Nairobi and were delighted to be able to attended the actual opening of this little school last friday, along with many of the mothers from the quarry, their tiny ones, chiefs and village supporters. It made for a wonderful gathering, which involved a tree planting ceremony, ribbon cutting, plaque unveiling and a raft of obligatory speeches. And the heavens opened upon the sturdy tin roof, while I tried to tell and act out for the children the story of the proud Lion and the courageous mouse - more for their entertainment than for any other deep and meaningful reason.



But Charles is the man I want to honour in this Blog entry today. His vision, focus and ability to say "We can!", has not only inspired us, but literally affected the lives of thousands of others for good, not just in Kiserian, but in other projects he has started since attending the Leadership for Hope programme in 2012.

'The honour belongs to the man who is actually in the arena...' and you'll always find Charles in the arena of life.

Mothers serving out the celebration meal from their new kitchen

Whether it's bringing clean water to his home village, which also benefits 3 other villages, or caring for widows and orphans (he has adopted 5 orphans).

- We calculated that Charles has greatly impacted the lives of over 6,500 people.

And lastly,
a massive THANK YOU to all of you who supported Charles. Without you Jambo Toto school would not be a triumphant reality.

Shalom & Amen

 - JB