Clean water- it's needed to survive. And yet I take it for granted every.single.day.

You would think that after being around these precious people, and seeing their very real struggle of capturing enough water to make it through a day, I would be more conservative with my water use. Somehow the endless abundance of water free flowing out of our piped in faucets washes away some of the intense memories I come home with. Still, I don’t completely forget, just enough to feel a bit okay with how we choose to use our abundance of water on a daily basis. I do wrestle with it frequently though… the knowledge and awareness of need around the world and the sheer abundance we live with. So, when I turn on the faucet I frequently find myself praying for those who are thirsty. Praying for those who are thirsty and hungry… walking miles for the hopes of a bucket full of water that will pass as “good enough”. But is it… good enough? Or can I do more to help easy their burden?

In Butere, Western Kenya, they are addressing these needs by putting in Fresh Water Stations. These locations are called "Tsisevere,” meaning “A GATHERING PLACE” in the local luhya language. People will walk miles and miles to water, after all it is needed to simply survive. Many times it is the children that are sent for the water because it takes a substantial amount of time and the Mama’s have much work to do. In most areas they are walking miles, with a bucket to fill from a marshy pond or a contaminated creek. Just getting the water into the bucket can take a substantial amount of time. Imagine the blessing of having a spout of fresh water pouring out. The ability to slip your bucket underneath and the joy of seeing it fill to the rim with fresh, sparkling clean, water.

Each clean water station serves 2-4 villages. A village consists of approx. 50 homesteads of families, so one simple, fresh spring water station can serve 100-200 families with their daily water needs. It is $400 to construct one station that serves up to 200 families. Assuming most families in the area probably have 6-8 people living with them that is a total cost of .25 cents per person. WOW - think about that for a minute. .25 per person for clean water that will serve up to 4 villages. The thought of that is humbling to me, .25 a day isn’t going to make or break it for me, or anyone else in my family for that matter. But people investing .25 cents per person in a two village range changes their lives FOREVER, and for generations to come.

We have started this project at $100 and as we gather 4 donations it will cover one station - but if you want to donate towards this with a smaller amount you certainly can. Just head over to our “DONATE” tab and leave a note in the comments of what project you want it to go to.

And can you do me a favor? When you turn on the tap will you join me in praying for those who are thirsty?

If you want to read more about other giving projects check out the links below, or head over to our giving catalog. Also make sure and join our FB page at Pamoja.love

Together we can make a difference!

Other Giving Catalog Projects:

Shoe Drive Project

Technology in Kibera Slum

Medical Clinic in Kibera Slum

Bananas for kids

Christmas Food Bundles for Widows

Thirteen years old and just receiving your first pair of shoes, EVER. This is the story of our friend. And he isn’t alone, for many this is their norm. Can you wrap your brain around that? Walking the streets barefoot for your first 13-14 years of life? And what would it feel like to finally put shoes on your feet for the first time after so many years without?

This is the reality for many. When we visited Western Kenya this last September we were reminded once again about the desperate need for shoes as we attended several jigger clinics. Children lined up by the hundreds to get their jigger-infested feet treated.

You see, jiggers live in the dirt, they burrow under the skin and lay eggs, the larvae spreads, they multiply, they itch, and eat away at the skin leaving big open, puss filled, sores. If left untreated toes can be damaged beyond repair. Once these jiggers take up residence within the body it becomes painful and itchy. The person affected loses sleep and any sort of comfort, it can literally drive you mad.

Shoes can really help to resolve this problem. By covering the feet the jiggers are unable to get to the vulnerable skin. One pair of shoes dramatically reduces the risk of jiggers. ONE pair of shoes. It is that simple. $10 can help keep a child’s feet protected for up to a year easily. Jigger free feet mean children can get a good nights rest. Jigger free feet mean children can walk themselves to school. Children attending school means they can achieve their dreams of a career.

This project brings the BIGGEST smiles. These kids are so delighted to have proper shoes. Just look at those smiles!

Our Giving Catalog project is listed at $50 - that amount covers 5 pairs of shoes for 5 kiddos. Here is the link to the Giving Catalog: Shoe Drive Project

If you can’t swing that you can easily click on the donate link and give a smaller amount to it - just make sure you leave a comment of what project you want it to go to: general donation page

We understand that this time of year can be stressful for many - giving financially may not be an option. There are still plenty of options for you to get involved in helping to make a difference.

1. prayer is powerful

2. sharing the different needs and giving options with friends in person, on FB, through email or messenger.

3. making your Amazon purchases on Amazon Smile and selecting Pamoja Love as your charity of choice.

We have had several Pamoja Love support team members come up with creative ways to raise funds for projects. Several chose it as birthday gift options. A member of our dream team is getting married and suggested people give to Pamoja Love in lieu of gifts. Others are donating their skills and talents to save us money from hiring the work to be done. We can’t wait to see what creative ideas other people come up with. We would love to hear your ideas!

We still have a few more project areas to cover before Giving Tuesday. So keep checking back! Share, share, share.

Here are a couple of the other project areas to check out: (just click the title and it will redirect you)

Food Bundles for Widows and the vulnerable

Medical Clinic in Kibera Slum

Technology Classroom in Kibera Slum - Kenya

Gathering together for a meal and celebrating is a favorite pastime for all people around the globe. It is a place to nourish your body and your relationships.

Can you imagine struggling to provide the most basic of food staples: flour, oil, sugar, and rice, to feed your family on any given day? Hungry children, possibly no food for days. It is unimaginable for most.

By giving a gift of $25 you can provide a nice supply of food that will bring a HUGE SMILE to the face of someone in need, and a full belly for them and their families.

We have the food blessing happening in several different areas in Eastern Africa, between Tanzania and Kenya. We are hoping that thousands of people will be served by this provision. Thousands…

and that means every $25 counts.

Would you please share this need with your friends and family? If you would like to purchase a meal in honor of someone else we would be happy to provide you with a digital graphic sharing what you purchased in their name.

What a wonderful and creative gift idea for 2019.

I remember after my second or third time visiting Saviour King Educational Centre, in Kibera Slum - Nairobi, that I had a pressure on my heart and mind to create some other learning opportunities for those kids at the school that may not excel in academics and testing. I knew from personal experience that there are a bazillion different ways to use your noggin and be successful earning a wage. Not every job out there will require the exact same kind of education. But nearly every job now requires some form of technology. Am I right, or am I right?

These kids have BIG dreams. A few years ago we took the older classes to an off-site location and had a Dream / Vision / Talent Day where we shared our personal dreams of what we wanted to do and we created vision boards to take home to remind us not to give up in the midst of the short term struggles. As we sat around talking one on one with these kids my heart about exploded as I listened to their creativity and ambition. As they shared their ideas my thoughts were confirmed, in order for the school to continue to help them meet some of their dreams we would need to work together to create a couple more learning opportunities for them. AND TECHNOLOGY was first on the list. Since then we have taken over a few laptops to create a mobile lab for them. This is okay, but it just simply isn’t enough. We need an updated tech center for these kids to be current with the times and prepared for their next steps. Not only that, but now it is part of the required curriculum. This unit is a very high need.

We would LOVE help spreading word of this need. It is a pretty big project but we have incredible faith that TOGETHER we can do this. Guys, it is seriously going to change the lives of generations to come, including this current generation. Let’s do this.

The school is hoping to construct a two-story modified shipping container unit that will house a medical clinic, as well as a technology and trade classroom. The technology center will be a double classroom size on the second floor.

Here is the GREAT NEWS! We have raised one-third of the cost of the technology container unit - so we just need to raise another $9.500, plus the cost of desks + equipment. That is just $300 per lineal foot.

Once these kids see how their dreams are matched with all of the additional tangible opportunities to accomplish them, and they get their hands and minds clicking and spinning away. Can you imagine the thrill of it? Like, I CAN’T WAIT TO GET TO SCHOOL AND GET BACK IN THAT LAB!

I just watched a movie on Queen of Katwe, which is placed in slum in Uganda. Phiona had a coach and was given the tools to excel in the area that her brain functioned highly in . She nailed it and changed the entire future for her family. Not only her family but her peers and the neighboring community that watched her. And today, we are all being inspired by her. I KNOW that these kids at Saviour King have incredible talents and skills just waiting to burst into a victory song. They just need the tools to get them there. They have the talents and we have some resources to help them - so let’s work together to do what we can with the little that we have.

Also If you have been following us very long at all you already have an awareness that nearly 600 children attend Saviour King Ed. Ctr. in Kibera Slum on a daily basis. And you have probably read our posts on Teachers help teachers around the world (link) and An extra special treat of BANANAS for school kids in the Kibera Slum that help give a taste of some of their life differences. If you are new to our blog then make sure and click those links to learn a little about Kibera culture.

KIBERA SLUM, NAIROBI - KENYA

In our culture well-checks have become a building block for our kids basic developmental needs. We check to make sure they are on track physically and mentally a minimum of four times within a child’s first year. Let alone seeing to any and all medical concerns as they arise.

In Kibera Slum the expense of getting to a medical professional for treatment is beyond what most can imagine. For crying out loud, just having dinner to serve is a frequent challenge for many.

Hospital scene from Queen of Katwe film

Last night my son and I watched Queen of Katwe again (thank you Disney Plus) and I was washed with in-my-face awareness once again. In this true story of a family living in a slum of Uganda we watch a little brother get hit by a Boda Boda (a motorcycle taxi), the older sister has to give another Boda Boda driver the rent money in order to get her brother to the hospital for urgent care. After they receive the care you see a conversation transpire where the Mom is approached with having to pay the bill immediately. The boy can’t have any further treatment, or leave, until the bill has been paid. But it took all the money they had to even get them there. (This is real life for most of the world.)

So, what does the family do? This ethical, caring and responsible mother is basically given no other choice than to have her daughter hobble her son out of the building and take off unnoticed. She had no way to pay the bill. In fact, moments later it is suggested by another Mama in the neighborhood that she find herself a Sugar Daddy - and sell her body to help pay her rent and feed her children. I am telling you, THIS too often is the only option they believe they have left. We can do better. We can all work together to help people find other avenues to improve their lives. I just know we can.

Every.single.time I think of each family’s story that I have been exposed to I am overwhelmed with a drive to DO SOMETHING. Of course it is too big for most people to tackle on their own. BUT together… TOGETHER we can help to build something that beautifully serves a very tangible need that is indeed LIFE-CHANGING to many. This isn’t the idea of some outsider hopping in and saying “Let’s do this”, this is people grabbing hands around the world to help provide materials of a dream the local leaders are already in the works of building.

The school has come up with an incredible dream to construct a two-story modified shipping container unit that will house a medical clinic, as well as a technology and trade classroom. The medical clinic would help ensure students would have good healthcare while also caring for the health of their entire family. Considering the many ways illness can create roadblocks for children attending school you can see the desperate need for this. An on-site medical clinic could make all of the difference In the world to this community.

The building cost for modified containers into classrooms is $7000.00 per classroom. Then we need to furnish and stock the space to care well for those entering the doors.Medical CLINIC cost is $30 per sq. foot - how many square feet would you like to sponsor?

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African Proverb.

If you feel compelled to join in this project and change a lot of lives, here is the link to the giving page:

https://www.pamoja.love/givingcatalog

If you would like more information about Kibera Slum: https://www.pamoja.love/blog/teachers-helping-teachers-around-the-world

Nearly 600 students attend Saviour King Educational Centre in Kibera Slum, Nairobi, Kenya. We have seen first hand how much these kids LOVE their school and their teachers. This place is beyond just a school. This center is filled with HOPE BRINGERS (teachers and staff) that speak into these children’s lives, bring them a solid education, along with the encouragement to DREAM BIG and GO FOR IT! No wonder these kids love school.

This isn’t the only reason these children love coming to school. They also come for the food. The meals they are provided at school can easily be the only solid meal they may receive that day. So imagine the thrill when 600 bananas arrive on the scene, along with an added dose of nutritional veggies for their lunch bowls.

That is what a $100 donation can achieve. The basic cost of one families holiday meal can light up the faces of 600 children! We would love to be able to offer this to the school kids once a month.

What if a classroom of kids gave $4 per child to cover one days food gift? Or what if co-workers came together and instead of a HUGE outpouring of food for the staff party you put some of the budget towards bananas? When many people are willing to invest their “little”, together it amounts to a lot. That is what we LOVE about our nonprofit. It is all about working together as we give with the little we have to accomplish something BIG in the name of LOVE. Pamoja Love. Together Love.

If this is something that makes your heart sing at the idea of - please click this link : https://www.pamoja.love/givingcatalog There you will find the 8 giving catalog projects we are highlighting this year. Click the “DONATE” button below the project you would like to join in. And make sure to keep checking back on our blog, we will be sharing more stories about the incredible people we are partnering with to make a difference around the world.

We would love to have you be a part of the Pamoja Love family!

If you didn’t happen to read our previous post on the Teachers Helping Teachers Around the World - then you will want to make sure and click that link (article title) and read up on what community this particular project serves.

Kibera is the largest slum in all of Africa, second largest slum in the world. It is about one mile square with an estimated 1 million people living within it. If you are one who lives on a plot of land this could be very hard to imagine. I’ll try to help you here, the average home is 12ft x 12ft, built with mud walls, a corrugated tin roof, and dirt or concrete floors. Some of these homes have a partition to create two living spaces within them. They do not have running water, plumbing of any kind, and many do not have electricity. And the shanties often house 8 or more people with many of them sleeping on the floor.

Kibera is filled with story, just like everywhere else: tight-knit families, broken relationships, joy, challenges, and dreams of a better life. However, the biggest struggle is probably finding an affordable wage to provide for your family. And with that kind of struggle you find all kinds of coping mechanisms, numbing agents, and desperate, risky, options to provide just enough for that day.

We are so thankful to work alongside local partners who understand what it is like to live here, and who are taking steps to help bring the change people are looking for. Thomas and Beatrice Omolo are bringing hope, dreams and opportunity to the next generation of Kibera. They founded a school in 2008 with 100 students attending, they now have nearly 600. These children are earning an excellent education but let’s not stop there. When families enroll their kids at Saviour King they are cared about and loved on as a whole unit. How could one couple possibly do this for 600 students? Well, they couldn’t. But the teachers, they are the ones carrying out the mission on a daily basis.

These teachers at Saviour King Ed. Ctr. don't just teach these children, they choose to live in their neighborhoods and do life with them. They daily pour their hearts and lives into the well being of these precious children and their families.

So Maddy, one of the Pamoja Love Dream Team Members, came up with a brilliant idea in October as she was in Kibera walking the school grounds and witnessing the teachers loving on the kiddos. She dreamed up the idea of the Teachers for Teachers Project. A project that a school, or a group of friends, could join hands to make a global impact with. We know teachers understand the joys and challenges that come with teaching, and then to imagine the extra demands put on these teachers when parents are struggling to provide the basics like food, medical care, etc.

But we can send them some encouragement and remind them they are loved and cared about. Every $250 donation will provide 5 teachers with a Christmas meal package for their families along with a personal gift. This will be such a huge encouragement to them.

We have made this giving opportunity super easy. You can go to our giving catalog page online and select Teachers for Teachers. Or if you want to each give individually to one teacher you can go to the “Donate” tab and make a $50 donation with a comment listing “Teachers for Teachers”.

We hope you will share this giving opportunity with people you know that would have a heart for It.

Click here to visit the Giving Catalog Page

Together we can make a difference.

-Pamoja Love

The holidays often bring a certain pressure with them, don’t they? Or is it just me? I feel like our culture (here in the U.S.) has created this need to, well…. to perform. To put in immense effort to please people, to out-do others, to have it all look and feel just so.

I’m not sure how fulfilling that is really. I mean, yeah, we can pull it all off and at the end of the day kick our feet up with pride. Plink… done. Yes, I am certain in the mix of events and thought-itudes (don’t worry, I made that word up) we succeeded in pleasing the people around us who were blessed by our efforts. And that’s good. After all, we want our people to know they are loved and cared about. Sharing love and life together is important.

But what if we are missing a ginormous piece of the puzzle? What if we are so focused on our inner circle we are missing the uncomfortable needs outside of our cushy little lives? What would be accomplished if we simply turned our gaze? Would we be able to forget with a blink and a nod… or would we feel pressed to be a part of something bigger than our norm?

There are a TON of opportunities all around us to expand our hearts. You can probably look outside your front door and find someone who can use an extra dose of love. I challenge you to do that.

I also invite you to look and listen to the different stories we have collected working alongside the local leaders in Kenya and Tanzania. They are doing some incredible work reaching out and loving on people who have no options, have perhaps lost hope, or simply need help problem solving a basic need.

Over the next 10 days we are going to highlight different giving project areas. If you feel a little tug to step up and get involved we will show you how to do that easily. Keep your eyes peeled, we are SO excited to have you join us as we share what has captured our hearts. (if you just can’t wait and you are ready to DIVE IN now - click here it’s the link to the online giving catalog)

TOGETHER we can make a difference.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. - Maya Angelou

In the last 24 hours we have had two people with upcoming birthdays ask if they could run a campaign to build widows homes. The concept is to have friends and family give a little, with purpose, to collectively accomplish a lot TOGETHER.

The goal is to celebrate these birthdays by raising funds to build widows homes. The project starts at $500 and goes up depending on location and type of home needed. Does this $500 cover total cost? No…. the recipients of the home begin by having some investment and end with some labor with the help of the local community and church. That leaves room for us to join in what they are already doing. Fabulous, right?

With $500 raised we can provide one dirt floor home for someone in great need. And it may not seem like much to you but trust me, it is HUGE to them.

So all it takes is 50 people giving $10, 20 giving $25… Or 5 giving $100.

What if we Could do even more… like raising enough to put cement floors in to guarantee it would be jigger free. (If you haven’t seen the video of this check out our FB Page) That would cost an additional $500.

Jen Hansen dreamed up the idea to do a campaign supporting a woman in Western Kenya for her birthday. ( see Team Members tab for details) She would love to see her friends and family donate towards a widows home vs. buy her a gift.

Linda Gist loves working with the Koko’s In Maasailand and for her birthday she would like to start a campaign. You can donate below by clicking the donation link.

We absolutely love the fresh new ideas people are coming up with to get involved. Let us know if you have an idea. Together we can make difference!

Please join these incredible projects and share some love by jumping over to the “Get Involved” link and make a donation to “most needed”, make sure to add a note letting us know who’s campaign you are supporting.

Linda working to build a home in Maasailand.

I sat there thinking “What? Who am I?” Did she really pick me to be on the prayer team because she thought I was a prayer warrior or did God tell her to pick me just because. I questioned this with every shaking bone in my body, I was terrified to sit face to face with someone who spoke a different language than me, lived in a different culture than me, would have expectations of me. I really didn’t feel qualified to offer a single thing. In fact, why was I going on this trip? Oh yeah, I wanted to meet our sponsor girls in person.

I often wonder if I would have been brave enough to make that first trip had it not been for the love I had for these little girls I had yet to meet. The love I felt for them drowned out a lot of those voices telling me I couldn’t / shouldn’t go. It helped me to think outside of myself. Those girls are what God used to get me out of my comfort zone and closer to His will.

To think of ALLLLLLLLLL the things that followed that first trip and are still being dreamed up. I could have simply missed the ride by not even showing up in response to fear, with no idea of what I missed out on. Actually, I wonder how many times I have done that?

I think the key to squashing fear in the face and stepping towards what we were designed to do is easier than we think, we need to love something more than we love ourselves. Being brave is much easier when we find something bigger than ourselves to care about. So… start looking around, see what makes a little stir, a little compassion, in your heart and try that.

Together we can make a difference.