This weeks blog comes from Governor Linda Sue Hansen of the Founder region! She talks about what it is to be a Soroptimist and a project she is involved with in Kenya raising funds for schools. 

Part of the reason I became a Soroptimist was the
international aspect of doing projects around the world. I, by myself, couldn’t
take on such projects but together with other Soroptimists, we could solve the
problems of the world! My first ‘project’ was digging water wells in Senegal
(yes that was a long time ago). I have enjoyed every S.I. project since then. After
the conference in Montreal, I wanted a specific project to tell our members about. We had President Alice’s project in the
South Pacific but that was a one-time President’s Appeal. I wanted, a long term, 10 year project
that belonged just to Soroptimist!

Flying home, I realized that we had the
ability to do a project with Founder Region heading it. Our Ruby Award winner,
Tricia Asayi, was in the process of building a secondary school in Shisasar
Community, Kakamega, Kenya. She and her husband had worked with the primary
school, sent orphaned children onto residential secondary schools and were talking about building one in their village. They just needed
the funding. Anthony grew up in Shisasar as a young boy. He was one of the
lucky ones that was sponsored by a Peace Corp worker and went onto secondary
school in another village. He knew first-hand the importance of continuing on
in school. After meeting and marrying Tricia, a teacher in Rodeo, CA, they
spent summers visiting his family and trying to make improvements in his village.

Young girls in his village attended primary
school through to the eighth grade. They then got married or tried to work to help
support the family. During the day, their mothers would pull them out of class
to go fetch water from the spring. They had no running water in the entire
village. Water was taken from 3 natural springs and carried to their homes for
use. Animals used the same springs. During the summer of 2011, Tricia and
Anthony took the $7000 that they had raised and went back to Africa. By the end of the
summer, they had a pipe system, dug by the women of the village, where they laid
a pipe from the closest village to the front of the primary school. They
installed the first, and only, running water pipe for the whole town. They
also refurbished the natural springs to make them sanitary and animal proof. Next,
they needed the secondary school.

As Soroptimists, our members were excited
when I told them of the decision to join in with the building of the school. I
told them I was going to nickel and dime them to death during the next 7
months! I gave out Pringle Potato Chip banks (old chip cans with holes cut into
the top for the money) with a description of the project pasted to the front.
Each club was given the charge to empty their purses of their change at their
local meetings and send the money off to the region. I was expecting that we
would raise $5,000 towards the project. Meanwhile, I sat on the board of Operation
Orphan International as the plans for the secondary school were formulated. The
architect drew up the plans and the school looked fantastic! Solar panels would
provide the electricity. We bought a brick making machine which, after making
the bricks for the school construction, would provide the school with additional
income capabilities. Things were going forward. Our members were getting
excited.

Then came our conference. Money kept being
handed to our treasurer even though we had an earlier deadline. By Sunday, we
had raised $18,700. Anthony cried as he and Tricia accepted the cheque. They are
over there now using the money we raised to lay the foundation and raise at
least 4 of the classrooms, the kitchen, the hall, and the start of the
residential building. This school, with the foresight of the planning, will
take in residential students which will make the school self-sufficient in the
future.

So by following the dreams of one woman –
our Ruby winner – and joining in with now 3 clubs in Kenya (thanks to the chat
line) young girls won’t be marrying at the age of 12.
They won’t have to walk carrying water jugs on their heads and they will have
an education. The world will open for them!

I encourage you to go to our web site – http://www.si-founderregion.org and look
at the project page. Go to: http://www.oointernational.org/
and see what has been done. We will be updating these pages as the project
continues to improve the lives of these women and girls.