New Office Opens!
Did you hear Olalo of Hope-Kenya has its first International Office??? It’s true! We now have an office in Oyugis…we may not yet have a desk or a chair, a computer or a person on duty, but we have a sign announcing our presence (and right on a main road through Oyugis!)
When Sonko was back in Oyugis in November, he opened the first Olalo office in Kenya. He painted the sign by hand, hung it over the door, and now it announces to everyone passing by that Olalo of Hope-Kenya is alive and well in Oyugis!
Meet One of the Team....
September 2, 2013 Today is Labor Day. While most of us are enjoying a day off from work, I’m preparing to send over a pretty big list of “things to do” to one of our team members in Oyugis, Kenya. So it seemed appropriate on this Labor Day, to share some information with you about the person who is about to receive this long list.
His name is Kennedy Nyando – he is Luo and lives in Oyugis. He goes by Ken. Ken doesn’t work for Olalo…but he generously volunteers his time to get things done for us in Oyugis. He makes the tuition payments at the various schools, gets all the shopping done for school (books, uniforms at the tailor, school supplies), takes care of getting people medical treatments – many times paying out of his own pocket while awaiting reimbursement, then gets all the receipts copied and sent back to us here in Oregon. Just getting to a location to email us receipts takes a lot of effort, time and travel for Ken. Whenever information is needed for Olalo projects, he gets it done. And this he does is his spare time.
Ken is married and has a 3 year old son. He is a trained Primary School teacher and teaches at a local school. He also has his own business selling building materials, machetes, hardware items and similar products.
Ken is also part of the leadership of the Oyugis Soccer Academy – which works with boys ages 8-18, teaching them soccer skills as well as establishing mentoring relationships and Bible Studies. Ken has taken on the administrative duties at the Academy while Sonko is temporarily here in the U.S.
Kennedy Nyando is INVALUABLE to Olalo of Hope-Kenya! We are so thankful for Ken and very grateful for his faithfulness in assisting Olalo to provide hope and life change in Oyugis, Kenya. Ken is a real blessing to us and we can never thank him enough for all that he does!
Thank You, Ken!
Nyasaye Bless! Merry
It's time to get rolling!
Lots of exciting things are happening with Olalo and I haven't been sharing. Why? Because I've had LOTS to learn about navigating through all the computer stuff to know how to get things posted...but now I'm learning - so here goes! We did a test post last night while my computer-guru-son Mike was showing me how to do this...but then deleted it right away...after all it was only a test. If you've signed up to follow this previously non-existent Blog, then apparently you got our "test blurb" in your email. It was factual information...but not really meant for publication. So here's the real story...
One of the students supported by Olalo to attend Secondary School came down with malaria...a rather bad case. Through our Change for Change Medical Fund, we were able to pay for the medication needed to combat it. Unfortunately the meds weren't working and he was getting worse. Olalo donated the money needed to get him hospitalized and after a few days he was well enough to be released.
I hadn't realized how serious malaria could be. It is a mosquito-borne disease and left untreated may lead to severe complications and even death. A few years ago there was estimated to be 219 million cases of malaria worldwide and 660,000 people died. Over 90% of those cases were in Africa.
We are so thankful that through our Change for Change program we had the resources to help this young man.
Thanks to our supporters for making this all possible. Our pocket-change IS making a difference in the lives of the people of Oyugis.
Nyasaye Bless!
Merry
Our First Update!
Hello Everyone! We have our first two students attending secondary school due to Olalo of Hope financial assistance! The first two of many! Everything is starting to come together. The website and facebook page are up and running, and ready to take donations. Make sure to like us on facebook, and to share Olalo of Hope -Kenya with your friends!
We are excited to see God move!