While we filled our glasses with wine, the children were dying. While we ate our bellies full, the floods were raging. While we raised a lot of money for One Village at a time, people were drowning and the rivers and Lake Victoria continues to sweep entire villages away. I can’t make sense of all [...]
I know that most countries are born of blood. No one cedes territory easily. I guess the French were happy to get paid for Louisiana, but by and large it’s fought over and someone wins. The war in South Sudan breaks my heart. For so long the north and the south have been fighting, and [...]
It began with Lillian really. I fell in love with her, her courage, the dignity of her mother. And I fell in love with being able to give in a way I could see. Lillian was part of our first project. I had one donor, $4000 and was feeding 22 children. I thought I was [...]
I had dinner with a friend the other night. We both come from the land of misfit toys. We still believe we can make a difference in Africa, but it is getting harder and harder to explain ourselves to our peers. Going to places where grenades go off and people are routinely killed with machetes [...]
Imagine finding out you are pregnant and then wondering if it will also kill you. That’s a cold hard fact where I work. Never has that been more true in Kenya than now. Healthcare is not great to start with. You all remember the broken leg story of Mama’s in November. Broken equipment, long lines, [...]
I’ve been thinking and writing a lot about kids lately. They are never far from my mind, whether they are American or Kenyan. It will soon be suicide season for many kids because this is also the time when acceptance letters come out. A couple of months ago I was saddened to see that 3 [...]
We grew prize-winning roses in our backyard when I was a child. I pored salt down holes in the rock garden to kill the weeds. And then the gardener did the rest. I was back in Virginia this weekend. I forget how riveting the countryside is. I got to the horse country during photographer’s light, [...]
School has begun in Nambale and Siaya. Our kids are back in school and a new year begins. I am so far away from them and yet they are with me every day.I see their ragged uniforms, I look down at their unshod feet, I cringe at the disease I see in their eyes and [...]
I just had lunch with a lady who helps non-profits get the word out. She had some good suggestions all of which I will honor. As we were talking about the industry of charity and non-profits, I posited this dilemma. We are very small. Our budget is $25,000 a year. It costs about $3000 to [...]
30 November 2011 What you say? What happened to the past 10 days? Ok I didn’t come back to the US in one piece, actually it was 3 pieces but that is a different story entirely. I wanted to wrap up the trip for you all. That Saturday after we had finished visiting all the [...]
One Village operates on a very small budget and 100% of all donations go directly to helping the villages we serve. Even the smallest donation can have a large impact!
