It was a beautiful Thursday morning in Masai Mara when four parents and six kids boarded two open-aired jeeps. As we left Governors Camp in anticipation of visiting the Mara Rianda School just a few kilometers away, we all had a sense of excitement about meeting several hundred young students because we Packed for a Purpose.
Loaded in our jeeps were six suitcases full of school supplies that were collected by our
six kids. Prior to leaving for Kenya, our kids reached out to family,
friends, neighbors and sporting teams for donations. They wrote to each
group talking about a wonderful opportunity to help give a group a kids halfway around the world a chance at a better education. The generosity poured
in from all. The kids collected thousands of supplies such as pencils,
markers, crayons, colored paper, protractors to teaching guides to
calculators.
As we drove through the African plains, we saw the small villages of humble
family dwellings, where kids of Mara Rianda school must come from, intermixed with Kenya’s incredible wildlife. After 20 minutes of driving, a small cluster of one story buildings with a group of children playing outside in the near distance. At last, we had arrived at the school. We will never forget the memory as jeeps pulled near the school. What seemed like a hundred young kids swarmed the jeeps to happily greet us. They came to say hello with the same amount of excitement and wonderment of who we were and why we wre there that we had for them.What an incredible sight, as if we were celebrities, all of us began shaking hands with all these wonderful children of Rianda school.
After greeting the directors and teachers, the younger kids went back to play time, all the time keeping an eye on our group behind the corners of buildings and classrooms.
We had the opportunity to tour the school, sit in the classrooms, visit
the dormitories and kitchen. It is clear to us that we are very fortunate in
what we have. Each of us had a feeling of sorrow but knew with our small
support, we were making a difference in the lives of the students and teachers
by packing for a purpose and bringing these needed supplies.
As we emptied the bags onto the directors floors, there were clusters of
schools supplies everywhere. Our kids were so excited about how many supplies we
really had stuffed in those suitcases and we unpacked the suitcases, loading the supplies onto shelves.
After taking a few pictures, as we were saying goodbye, the teachers, directors and our crew had an overwhelming sense of joy that we made a
difference in the lives of a few hundred kids. That’s a memory that will never be forgotten. We can’t wait to return to Kenya and the Mara Rianda school to see all those remarkable kids once more.
