We are blessed with three sons here in USA - Matt, John and Scott. I feel doubly blessed to also claim three African sons - Tsuma, David, and Clement
In 2012 on my first trip to Taru, Kenya I met Tsuma Jira. His life plan was altered because he happened to be wearing a Real Madrid jersey on the day this FC Barcelona fan visited the school where he was a volunteer teacher and that jersey caught my eye. You can read the story here. La Liga in Kenya. We were proud to sponsor him through his college years.
Flash forward 10 years, Tsuma has now graduated from the University with a degree in Secondary Education specializing in mathematics and physics. He is teaching at a secondary school, is married and has a two year old daughter.
His wife has a small business selling food stuff. As the firstborn of 8 children, according to Kenyan culture, he is responsible for his parents. Because of his success, he was able to build his parents a house in Taru and has started building his own home.
If anyone ever doubts the value of an education, just look at Tsuma!
Several years later I was again in Taru and was ready to take on a new student as Tsuma had graduated. We met with a group of young men at the boys's school. Rinda knew how shy they often are so she reminded them that if they saw any of us on campus, they should tell us hello and talk to us. It is readily apparent who the visitors are! No blending in here! Many of these young men had never spoken to a white person before so being courageous enough to initiate conversation was a scary request. Later that day, I was walking on campus and saw that I was going to pass by one of the young boys we had seen earlier in the day. I literally saw him square his shoulders and prepare to say hello. We had a short but pleasant conversation. Later I learned that this was David, a freshman whose widowed mom was no longer able to pay his school fees. He needed a sponsor. Again a match made in heaven.
We sponsored David through high school and through college where he obtained a degree in Tourism Management and was an intern for Natural World, the safari company that Kenya Keys uses for all the US teams. He had a promising future with the company, unfortunately he graduated in 2020 just as the world and the tourism industry fell apart. Two years later, he still doesn't have a job in his chosen field but because he has an education he has been able to support himself through a series of part time jobs. Once again, education has contributed to his success. I am sure that when the tourism industry rebounds, he will be employed in his chosen field.
One funny thing about David, he loves my camera and often asks to borrow it for the afternoon. I gave it to him during the 2019 Girl's Conference. When I looked at the photos he had taken, my memory card had MANY photos of cute girls! Boys will be boys! He took this photo of me meeting his Mom in 2019.
Our 3rd sponsored student, Clement, was one of the founding members of the Save Our Brothers Club which is the group at Taru Boys School who meet to encourage each other to study hard, stay safe from drugs, alcohol and early sex, and to stay in school. While his test scores qualified him to study engineering, he made the decision to study secondary education with an emphasis in chemistry and physics because he wanted to be able to mentor other young men from humble backgrounds like his. Impressive young man!
He is in his final year of the university and will graduate in May. We will be praying that he gets a teaching job quickly but normally it takes several months, or sometimes even years. While he waits for his dream job, I have no doubt that he will be able to be employed at some type of job to support himself. Again, education matters.
This is Clement when he received his Kenya Keys laptop computer. A happy young man for sure!
Kenya Keys motto is 'unlocking potential'! I have certainly seen the potential in these 3 outstanding young men! I'm happy that we could in some small way help to 'unlock' it!
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