A big Thank You goes out to everyone who attended Rock The Cause at The Double Door last Thursday. Following two great performances from It Is What It Is and 28 Mansions, we managed to raise close to $2,500 to help complete construction of the House of Hope orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya.

Along with your donations, many of you expressed interest in taking a trip to Kenya to volunteer at the orphanage once it's completed. Although there's no guarantees in Africa, i'm hoping that the House of Hope will be fully staffed an filled with kids by the end of summer 2010. So if you are interested and beginning to plan vacations and short-term leaves for the upcoming year, plan to head to Nairobi sometime after July. Above all, however, please contact me directly regarding your interest so we can discuss the multitude of questions which I imagine you may have.

Special thanks goes out to David Selmer and Denise Andras for making the Chicago Fundraiser a success. I look forward to seeing everyone at our next Chicago fundraising event in the new year!

Construction Update - 27 October

Before leaving Kenya, Irene took me one final time to see how the construction is going. Friends Annie, Katie and Tami joined us, enjoy the photos!

Construction Photos!

*PHOTOS ARE NOW POSTED! ENJOY!
Now I was really excited to post photos for this post, because I know that there are many people back home who are interested in the status of Lord's House of Hope orphanage in Waithaka. Hopefully I'll be able to come back later and get some images uploaded in order to show you how wonderful everything is looking.
First of all, the land is just superb! Joe has told me all about it and I've seen photos but until I didn't fully appreciate its beauty until I was actually standing on it. The big trees and green hills are a far cry from Kibera or the IDP camps around Nakuru. What a wonderful environment in which to raise 40 kids!
The construction is really moving along and both Irene and I were thrilled to see how much has been done. I was able to walk out on the roof of the first floor and to really take it all in. The six men working on the project, employed from the Pipeline IDP camp, have been working extremely hard and were proud to show off what they've accomplished. It was such a wonderful moment - standing on the roof of the orphanage and looking out over all of the beautiful land on one side and the buildings that are beginning to take shape on the other. (Joe, I tried to call you to let you share in the moment but I got your voice mail.)
I've talked to Irene and we are going to organize a couple of days in the next couple of weeks for my friends from Chicago (and other volunteers if they're interested) to come and help with the manual labor. I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty (or dirtier, seeing as no hands that spend their days in Kibera can be considered clean) and leaving my mark on the building.
To Judy, Karen, Joe, David and all others who have given of themselves to this project: well done! I know that if you could see it now, it would leave a huge smile on your faces!

Jambo from Safari Jenn!

I hope everyone is doing well back home! After much too long of an absence, I'm finally back in Kenya! I visited the site of the Lord's House of Hope on Friday and have posted about it on my blog Safari Jenn. Please check it out to see more photos and read all about it. Feel free to follow my time in Kenya.

Until next time!

Foundation of Hope!

The Lord's House of Hope Foundation started on July 27th after the Ground Breaking Ceremony. Around 16 workmen began the process of digging the foundation by hand, bending and cutting the wire with a homemade device made out of a tree stump to make the pillars and mixing the cement by hand by adding cement, stones and water. The workmen work very hard getting paid around $5.00 a day, and are very happy to be able to work so they can feed their families. We are very blessed to have an excellent contractor and security guard to make sure that the work is being done correctly and the materials are protected. Irene, who we have partnered with in Kenya, is a tremendous help and we "thank" her for all that she has done and will be doing. The foundation will be completed by the end of October and then the next stage of construction will begin after funds are raised.

Ground Breaking!

Jambo!

I'm delighted to pass on wonderful news from Judy and Karen in Kenya - The Lord's House of Hope has officially broken ground! A beautiful and moving ceremony took place at 10AM Kenya time on Monday, July 27th and everyone is extremely excited!