I’m a high school teacher in intercity Portland Oregon. As you know, it isn’t easy coming up with money to donate on a teacher’s salary, but after Brent and Rinda Hayes did an outstanding presentation at our school and showed us what a huge difference a sponsorship could make to an eager Kenyan student, I knew I had to come up with the money somehow. My students were so moved by the presentation and their new insight that they also wanted to pool their resources to sponsor a student as well. We’ve loved following our students over these past three years. It feels great knowing that someone’s entire life has been changed because of your simple contribution.

Kenya Keys has presented a perfect opportunity for our family to give to others in our own individual style. Some of us like to go to locations throughout the world and serve in the various communities. Others of us know we will probably never choose to do that, however, instead of doing nothing, we can sponsor a student and make financial donations to help fulfill the mission of Kenya Keys. We have been given the opportunity to sponsor a young man named Gabriel. One of our daughters was able to go to Sanburu and actually meet Gabriel while she volunteered for Kenya Keys last fall. It was one of the touching experiences she had ever had. We have complete trust and great respect for the individuals who are working to bring education to these young people.

Our family has had the great opportunity to support three students through Kenya Keys for the past two years. Our daughter Shelley spent time her senior year at Lakeridge High School collecting coins that raised $4000 to build a classroom at Magale Primary school as well. It has been great hearing from the students and seeing their pictures. What a wonderful thing it is to know we are making a difference in the lives of these children!

We have come to believe that we need to do more to help others, not out of obligation but out of love.  The small annual cost to sponsor a student, and the obvious difference this makes in a child's life, have made Kenya Keys a program that makes us feel like we are using our resources to maximum advantage.  The periodic letters we receive from Sombo, and the dreams that he talks about for his future, have become precious to us.  He will graduate from school in December and we have some of the same feelings we had when our sons graduated.  We feel pride and excitement to see his life continue to unfold with so much more promise than if he had not been able to continue his schooling.

We have felt so privileged to be able to help Sombo that this year we decided to sponsor another student.  We are glad to help - the cost of providing support to Richard's education is much less than the joy we feel in helping someone with few financial resources but a wealth of initiative and dreams to succeed.

In May 2010, sponsor John Hester was able to go to Kenya and meet his student Dominic in person.  It was a touching experience to see John and Dominic greet each other for the first time.  John and his wife, Paula, had sponsored Dominic for two years, watching him grow and mature through his letters. John was able to visit Dominic's home and meet his family.  During the same trip, John was touched by a story that inspired him to sponsor a second student as well.  John describes it like this:

"An experience that sticks out in my mind is the day I met the deputy headmaster at Fuleye Primary School.  He has a large family and a number of years ago his brother and sister-in-law were killed in an accident.  Without a second thought, this humble man and his wife took in seven additional children to feed and care for them as their own, for a total of 15 children.  His oldest daughter and oldest niece both graduated from primary school and achieved the two highest test scores for girls in their school. But the government does not pay for secondary school.  The cost can be between $300 and $500 per year for public school.  Both of these girls qualified for some of the better schools in the area but the cost was prohibitive for a family that makes maybe $150 per month.  The community of teachers were trying to raise the money for tuition for the second child but had not yet been successful.  So Kenya Keys agreed to sponsor one of the girls so they could both attend.  When I heard this story, I saw a simple opportunity to make a huge difference in a young girl's life, all for less than a dollar a day.  When you see the desire these children and their families have for an education, and how hard they work just to survive, it is impossble not to help."