Juja Farm

Hi guys, sorry I have not blogged in a while but I have been crazy busy since I got back. I still have several blogs from my trip so stay tuned and I will post them as soon as possible. Here is one now:

Last week I went to visit Happy Life's 2nd campus, Juja Farm. Three years ago HLCH bought 5 acres of land outside of Nairobi in the countryside. The purpose of this campus is to provide a home like setting for the school aged children from Happy Life whom are not yet adopted and do not have school sponsors. Kenya school is "free" but parents are responsible for books, school supplies and uniforms which amounts to $30 a month or $360 a year. The 6 older kids I talk about have sponsors from various countries like Kenya, USA, Canada, Switzerland and Sweden. But most of Happy Life kids do not have sponsors. This campus servers as a home and provides a home school environment for these children.

Juja is located 30-40 minutes outside the city in a small rural community. The campus is beautiful. There is one finished home housing 17 kids and one remarkable mum, Grace. The second home is halfway complete. Across from the homes is an all-purpose building which holds church services for the kids and community members and various gathering events. At this time the children are schooled in the large building but this is a temporary solution. Plans for three classrooms are drawn but are on hold until funds are secure. The goal for Juja Farm is to be an asset to the community as well as the children that live there. A place to provide jobs, a place to worship, a school and eventually a health clinic.

I have a great passion in educating children in developing countries, especially girls. Globally Free is not just a blog but I am currently forming a 501c(3) non-profit with the same name. My first goal is to raise the needed money to build three classrooms at Juja Farm. It was inspiring to see these beautiful, charming, eager to learn children showing me empty land with goats roaming and describing a building that will one day be built to educate and inspire them. The total cost of this project is $25,000. This will give our 17 plus community children a school and will provide about four jobs for community women. My goal is to raise money for the school so when I start my junior year in August, these students can also start classes in their new school.