Zipora Alidise (class 7), Teresa Lusiana (class 2), and Melon Atieno (early childhood development) live with their mother Grace Ayot in a mud home a fifteen-minute walk from their school, Chulaimbo Primary. They have received support from Umoja in the form of school lunch, uniforms, a blanket, and a solar lamp. On the day that…
After years of feedback that boys need a program to support them during their adolescent years, GIP’s Umoja Project is able to make it a reality thanks to a starter grant through the Power of One. This summer our Duke interns and two interns from Indiana University are conducting stakeholder surveys with our male Umoja…
by Bailey and Courtney Sanford, 2018 Duke Divinity Interns Hello friends! I hope you all are well. Below are some updates from our last few weeks in Kenya: One of our internship tasks is to conduct interviews with students and stakeholders regarding a “Boy’s Empowerment” program that Umoja will begin this fall. For many years…
Update from Courtney Sanford, Duke Divinity School Intern Dear Friends and Family, When I arrived in Kenya last Tuesday, I joined Bailey at Mama Fransisca’s. She welcomed me by slaughtering a chicken for us. Bailey wanted to learn how it was done, so she taught us the Kenyan way. Fransisca has been teaching Bailey lots…
Elvis is in class 1 (the equivalent of first grade) and is already the primary caregiver in his home. He cooks, cleans, fetches firewood and water, washes clothes, and cares for his ill grandmother and three younger siblings. Elvis was abandoned by his parents when he was just three years old. AIDS has orphaned most of…
Hear the 2018 Duke Divinity interns share their hope and expectations for the summer in Kenya.
Jambo Marafiki! Hello Friends! We’ve arrived in Kisumu and are having a great time settling in and going through our orientation with Leonard and Linda, the Project Director and Deputy Project Director of Umoja here in Kenya. We have visited many schools that are supported by the Umoja Project. Umoja partners with 18 local primary…
This year the Umoja Project is pleased to have three interns from Duke Divinity School working with teachers, guardians and staff in Chulaimbo. Courtney Sanford, Bailey Sanford and Vanetta Dunn are second-year seminary students, who are assisting link teachers and helping with psychosocial events for Umoja Project students this summer. When they return to the…
One of our recent secondary school graduates has had a particularly difficult spring. He lived in an earthen home with family members until recently when torrential rains washed away much of the family compound, leaving Bryan and his extended family without any shelter. Each summer GIP hosts interns from Duke Divinity School work with Umoja…
On May 10, 2018, the one year anniversary of Ellen Daniels-Howell’s death, the Umoja family planted five trees at each of the 18 primary schools served by the project. The five trees represent the branches of the Umoja Project: Students, Head Teachers, Link Teachers, Guardians, and Umoja Staff. As these trees grow and flourish, they…
