Let's Help Sara in Kenya Finish School...and Improve the life of her son and her family!

This is Sarah. She is from Nairobi, Kenya.

***Fundraiser closed! Sarah starts school on October 7th thanks to you!***

Keep Reading!

By the way, I asked Sarah to make this video to share a little about herself and show off her son. I love what she put together (she did this all on her phone) and that we have the opportunity to help her come up with her final year of school fees ($338).

Keep reading to learn more about Sarah, how she and I met and how to help this lovely young woman change her life!

**Our STORY**

I met Sarah, age 23, in Nairobi, Kenya one of my last days in Africa last August, 2018.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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She worked security at a popular patio restaurant/ shop. It was nearly a monsoon outside when I ran into her guard house dripping wet as I tried to escape the rain. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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She pulled up a chair for me and for 90 minutes as I waited for my uber we got to get to know each other (Traffic is horrible in Nairobi, worse in the rain). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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During our time together I learned Sarah works 6 days a week from 6am - 6pm in that hut checking bags and providing security detail. There are no breaks for lunch or otherwise. She is originally from the east of Kenya and left a 1 1/2 year old son with her mom so that she could come to Nairobi to work. Because she only has one day off a week, she rarely saw her baby.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Her job earned her 1000O Kenya Shillings a month, around $3 a day, and because of the "high rent" district she worked in, she traveled into work from much further parts of Nairobi. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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At the end of her shift, I asked how long it would take her to get home. She said 90 minutes. She takes the bus sometimes, but today she didn't have fare so she would walk. I asked, "You will walk in this rain?" and without hesitation and with much indifference as if she did it all the time, she replied, "Yes."⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Bus fare was "100 bob" or one dollar. Imagining working 12 hours in the rain and then walking home in the rain, only to turn around and be back by 6am the next morning, I reached into my bag and handed her a 200 shekel bill. The delight in her eye from that SMALL gesture would have made you think I gave her far more. Her genuine appreciation of such a small gift filled my heart. We had already become friends (sharing WhatsApp #s :) ), but my small gesture and her greatness of gratitude solidified it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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A few months after our meeting, Sarah wrote me to say she was going to back to school to finish her studies. She wrote," I will work hard to pursue my goals." I knew she would.

During one of our catch-up text exchanges over WhatsApp she wrote, "I wish one day we meet [again]. Thank you so much for all your advice. You really helped me. God Bless you. I joined college all because of you. Despite the challenges, I am working so hard."

A few weeks later, I texted again to see how she was doing and to check in on her now 3 year old son, Ryan. She informed that that, "Baby is doing great." and then included, "I have dropped from school for some months due to fee balance. But I'm working hard. God willing I will finish my college. Thank you for your concern. God bless you."

Wondering what her fee balance was, I wrote back and she responded with "35,000 KSH" or $338.

That is when the idea of having this fundraiser to help Sarah popped in my head! I thought it could be fun and meaningful to have my customers get to know this special woman, and as a community help raise what to us in the USA is a relatively small amount of money to help Sarah in Kenya change her life and the life of her family.

Sarah now lives with her son in a slum outside of Nairobi called Kawangware. Because of the daytime class schedule, she had to take another security job at a hotel called PrideInn Hotel working nights, 6pm - 6am (like before no breaks and only 4 days off a month). Her income has decreased to 8000 KSH, or a little over $2 a day.

Her favorite food is Chicken Pilau, a chicken, rice and vegetable dish, and she loves to play football (soccer). I had her do another video of her playing soccer in her neighborhood with some of the neighbor kids too :). You can find that one below.

**What Finishing School Means to Sarah**
A college degree ensures a better life for Sarah and her family. By completing her final year of college, her income will more than quadruple. The hotel she works at has already indicated they would hire her once she has her diploma in "Business Procurement."

Sara is the oldest in her family and feels it her duty to look after her family as well. The opportunity for a better job and income will help her do that. 

**How To Contribute to Help Sara**
I am structuring this fundraiser like I do most charity pop-up events I do locally and around the country...but this one supports my friend:
- 20% of your *Full Priced* Product purchase will go to Sarah (all we have to raise is $338)
- 20% of your Gift Certificate purchase will go to Sarah
- I also created a $10 Donation button for those that want to just give (you can get as many as you would like)

To get to the $10 Donation Option Click Here. (currently disabled)


**How I Will Show Gratitude to You**

- All *Full Priced* product purchases will include a free gift (I have some lovely silver hoop earrings form Mexico that will likely be the surprise).

- All *Full Priced* Product purchases AND Gift Card purchases will also receive an exclusive 25% Off Discount code that will be valid all full price products until October 15, 2019.

 Let's see if we can get Sarah her school fees between now and Friday, September 20th!

*Note:  If you haven't had a chance yet to get yourself one of the amazing jewelry pieces from Kenya, this would be a great way to mark the moment with one of these artisan treasures!

Shop them HERE.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for being part of this community where we have the opportunity to affect the lives of those around the globe. Your support and generosity is inspiring.