Category: blog | love | philanthropy

In life our legacy is how we give back.

Our Campus is Growing!

On June 15, 2017

I am very excited to share some pictures of our growing campus at Flying Kites in Kenya! Thanks to the very generous support of Alex and Ani (Alex and Ani), we have a new building on campus! And THANKS to the support and donations of our many friends and family, the campus continues to grow so that we can provide the necessary education and life skills to some of the most vulnerable children in the world.

And if you would like to make a donation you can donate on either Jeanne or My Fundraising Page:

Jeanne’s Fundraiser

Steve’s Fundraiser

Asante Sana! (Thank You in Swahili)

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building momentum

By Stephen

On May 30, 2017

In blog | love | philanthropy

This year marks the 10-year anniversary for Flying Kites! This September 2017, I am headed back to Kenya to celebrate this momentous occasion! This year we are raising funds for a new school bus, so that our students can get to and from the Flying Kites Academy safely. I have made the 2-mile hike to school with our kids, and I know how difficult it can be – the weather can be cold and rainy; using a fallen tree to cross the river can be dangerous and slippery; and you are often faced with walking the dirt road/path in the dark.

To support our efforts – go to our fundraising page: We need 2 Busses!

And here is a short video to tell you about some of the great things that are happening at flying kites.

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skin in the game

By Stephen

On November 8, 2016

In blog | love | philanthropy

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A letter from our Executive Director . . . I added the names of our grandchildren to a desk, will you?

Dear Friends,

Our social worker Edwin has recently been working on his fitness. He set-up a make-shift gym on campus and the kids roar with laughter when he does his squats and push-ups. How he keeps his concentration amidst such ridicule is beyond me.

A few weeks ago, Edwin invited me on a run. It was about 11 am on a Tuesday, a time when you would expect most children to be in school.

Except in Njabini, many children are not in school. There’s nothing like seeing an eight-year old child and his grandmother – each carrying 40 lbs of firewood on their back – to make you feel like a total loser during your run.

Recently, I was telling a potential donor about our plans to build more classrooms when he suggested that we consider a model whereby community members donate their time to help construct the new school so that they have “skin in the game” when it comes to valuing our efforts in education.

I thought of this boy and his grandmother. I searched my mind for someone in our village who would need to be convinced that education saves lives. From the father who chooses to pay school fees over buying food for himself, to the teacher who stays at his desk long after the sun has gone down, to the young boy herding sheep who followed me home asking “for a chance to come learn” – if there is one thing Njabini has, it’s skin in the game.

We are ready to expand our campus with six new classrooms – enough space to allow us to serve a further 100 students a year. Today, we ask our Flying Kites family to join our campaign to get 100 kids into school in 100 days by donating a desk. Each desk represents a student who we will be able to serve as a result of our expansion.

Please consider adding your name to a desk and showing some of the world’s poorest children that when it comes to their future – you have skin in the game.

In gratitude,

Leila de Bruyne
Executive Director

monday afternoon

By Stephen

On July 14, 2016

In blog | love | philanthropy

We are actually on our way to Arusha and it’s Thursday morning, so I hope I can get you all caught up on our adventure to date. And hopefully I won’t have too many typos as the road can be bumpy at times.

After greeting the new Kili climbers and having lunch, we were off for a nice walk to school so we could meet the children. The walk to school is always so beautiful. I love the lush countryside, the river, the farms and the forest. And I am happy to report, there is now a bridge – a fallen tree – to cross the river. On my last visit, the only option to cross was to navigate slippery rocks in the river, and needless to say my foot would always slip off and go into the chilly river. This time I stayed dry – the tree is so much easier, but still a little challenging when it is wet out.

As a side note – Njabini is in the foothills of the Aberdare Mountains – an isolated volcanic range – and because of this, the land is rich and fertile.

One of the many farms and cabbage fields along our route.

The Lush Countryside

The new Bridge

The Forest

When we arrived at school the teachers and children came out to greet us. They all gathered in front of the school and welcomed us with a song. Their voices are so beautiful and their smiles are so magical – both always fill my heart with joy. After our amazing welcome, the children toured each of us around the school grounds. We saw classrooms, the shamba or garden, the kitchen and the athletic fields. Next on the agenda – a very competitive game of football. It was fun, but these children have gotten so good since I last played with them! Francis, Peter, and Alex – to name a few – are so good now – I grew up playing soccer, but I was schooled in football today. Final Score: 0-0. Before you knew it, it was time to walk back to the house.

The Flying Kites School

Our Amazing Welcome

My Tour Guides in their Classroom

My Tour Guides Group Photo

Steve with his Tour Guides on top of the School.

Soon after we arrived back home, we had dinner, then had our nightly family meeting. Family meeting is led by one of the children – they begin reading a book, then ask the family – What they are grateful for? Did they see anyone do anything nice? What they may have learned that day? and we finish with questions or comments. But as we had some new visitors – we finished by asking them into the center of the room, then the children and volunteers – danced around them singing our welcoming song.And The meeting concludes when the leader proclaims we are D – O – N – E, Done.

Since many had traveled a bit to join us in Njabini – it was an early night. I decided to hang out with the other volunteers and work on this blog.

So next on my agenda Tuesday – and what a day Tuesday was…..

monday morning – my lunch project

By Stephen

On July 11, 2016

In blog | love | philanthropy

I was up early as I had a lot to do in the kitchen. I really wanted to blog, but I wasn’t getting the best internet connection (only 2G and I need 3G to upload pictures), so I wasn’t able to post my blog. I decided to head to the kitchen to start my project.

From the day I arrived, everyone was taking about the pizza that we made on my last visit. Truth be told, it was the creation of the former cook, Moses, but I think everyone thought it was me. So I promised to make pizza on Monday as our cook Damaris was working and I could teach her.

Our pizza starts with a traditional pizza crust – the sauce, a jarred pizza sauce – and the toppings, a variety of vegetables – and I finish the top with some dried oregano and black pepper. Our pizza typically did not have cheese as we didn’t have refrigeration, however with electricity came a refrigerator. And there was some cheddar cheese from Lucy’s farewell BBQ, so two of the pizzas had cheese on them.

For the toppings – I sautéed the red onion and the green pepper with some herbs, and I then sliced the tomatoes and the zucchini.

I was a little concerned about the dough rising, as the kitchen is cold. But I put the pan with the dough near the stove and it worked like a charm. Once the dough had risen, and I was ready to assemble the pizzas, I enlisted the help of two of our volunteers – Robbie and Morgan. And at the same time Damaris prepped the oven.

The oven uses large charcoal bricks to heat it up – there are not temperature controls, outside of how much charcoal you add. I was a little worried, as I had never used the oven before, but it worked great!

Pizza Oven – fired by charcoal.

I rolled out the first pizza and then showed Robbie and Morgan how to assemble the pizzas – first spread the pizza sauce on the bottom, almost all the way to the edge, then a layer of the sautéed green pepper and red onion mixture, and lastly we alternately placed the sliced tomatoes and zucchini on the pizza. And as I mentioned before – for two of the pizzas, we added sliced cheddar cheese.

Our Vegetable Pizza, ready for the oven!

I also took the opportunity to teach Damaris, how to assemble the pizza as well as how to roll out the pizza. She did a great job, in fact I think she did a better job than I did with rolling out the pizza. I told the team that I plan to leave her the recipe for the pizza dough.

Damaris also made Spaghetti, Sukuma Wiki and much to my surprise she replicated my beef stew. I was pleasantly surprised as when I asked her what she was cooking, she said your beef stew. She did a great job with it, the only missing ingredient was peanut butter as we didn’t have any. I decided that with the curry powder in the beef stew, fresh chopped cilantro would be a great addition. So all in all a productive morning!

As we finished up making lunch, the other Kili climbers arrived. I will write more later when I have time . . .

sunday at the house . . .

By Stephen

On July 11, 2016

In blog | love | philanthropy

It’s Monday evening and I started this blog this morning, but I was having internet issues and then I had to get into the kitchen and cook. So my apologies for getting this out late.

I started Sunday morning out doing my wash – and how electricity has changed things – we have a washing machine and dryer. No more washing your clothes in a tub, but I still opted to line dry my clothes in the sun and not use the dryer.

Then after organizing my clothes for the climb, I decided to venture into town and buy some vegetables as I promised to make pizza for everyone on Monday. I bought tomatoes, red onion, zucchini, cilantro and green peppers. My time in town was short as I quickly overloaded my backpack with produce and decided I was not going to walk around town with a heavy pack! So off I walked back to the house – but as I did, I began to tighten the straps of my $9 backpack, only to have it break, and my bag went crashing to the ground. My immediate thought was that the tomatoes were smashed, but I found out later that the lens protector on my camera shattered. This was a great investment as that is what it is intended to do.

When I got back to the house, many of the older boys were there, including Peter, the boy we are sponsoring. My has he grown! He is doing well and looks good, although a little thin. I am happy I got to see him and that he was not off living at school.

My reunion with Peter.

After a nice reunion, I decided to attempt a run. And I am happy to say I did ok – despite the rocky road and the high altitude. I was able to get a 5K run in, and I ran a pretty decent time. I ended up taking a cold shower today as the shower with the electric heater was occupied and I wanted to get in the kitchen and see if they needed any help.

My running path.

Later in the day two of our Kili Climbers, Lilly and Lacey, arrived with Edwin, Flying Kites Social Worker. Lilly is a scientist and works at Boston Children’s Hospital and Lacey was a former intern for Flying Kites and now works in Rwanda for the National Cycling Team. Then at family meeting we welcomed our new guests to the house.

After family meeting, we made a fire, at bucket loads of popcorn and played cards until the European Cup came on. I opted not to watch the match and went to bed. Tomorrow (or I should say today now) the other climbers arrive.

So until tomorrow…

good morning from njabini . . .

By Stephen

On July 10, 2016

In blog | love | philanthropy

a beautiful morning in Njabini

I woke up to the most beautiful Sunday morning!

Calla Lily.

We have the most beautiful Calla Lilies in the gardens around the house.

So yesterday, I met the other volunteers in the morning – Morgan, Kate, Taylor, Josh & Robbie – as they had returned from Diani Beach the night before. I keep hearing about the beautiful beaches here and need to make a point of visiting them on my next adventure to Kenya.

I then began the day by helping out in the kitchen. We made a traditional Kenyan dish called Githeri – it is a mixture potatoes, maize (corn), carrots, and beans. One of the children Mach (Elias) helped me as I made the dish. I think we have a new Master Chef Junior in Mach! We also had sautéed greens with the Githeri.

In the afternoon, I played tag with some of the younger children – Zippy and Thogu. It may sound easy, but I was quickly out of breath due to the altitude and these kids are quick! But I think this is good practice for Kilimanjaro!

And before you knew it, it was time for dinner, then family meeting. After family meeting, we made a nice fire as it was very chilly last night. The volunteers and I played cards – teaching each other card tricks and playing a round of Gin Rummy. Josh played the guitar and Taylor sang. It was a nice chill evening.

So, all in all, a nice relaxing day….

Wishing everyone a beautiful Sunday….

a day in the kitchen . . .

By Stephen

On July 9, 2016

In blog | love | philanthropy

I spent yesterday in the kitchen with the new cook, Damaris. For lunch she made a couple of traditional dishes – Ugali, a cornmeal mush, and Sukuma Wiki, which translates to push of the week. It is made with greens (Collards, Kale or Spinach), and then a variety of other ingredients such as carrots or tomatoes or onions. And then I made the lentils, adding a little spice to them with curry, onion, tomato and garlic.

Sukuma Wiki

Steve’s Lentils

Carrots – fresh from the Shamba!

One of the stoves we use – a coal fired stove.

Then for dinner, Damaris made a traditional rice dish – Pilau. It was so good! She used a muddler and muddled garlic, ginger, and cilantro, then fried this with fresh green onions from the Shamba. It was all cooked with a spice blend called Pilau Masala. She also made more Sukuma Wiki and I made Beef Stew. The beef stew was a hit – I sautéed ginger, garlic, red onion, tomato, curry powder, beef masala spice, and oregano. To this I added the beef and the broth it was cooked in. As the meat began to get tender, I added sliced carrots, thickened it with roux and then finished with Peanut Butter. The peanut butter addition was a big hit with the matrons and Kenyan staff.

All in all a productive day!

if it’s thursday, it must be njabini

By Stephen

On July 7, 2016

In blog | love | philanthropy

Stanley picked me up at 10 am this morning – first stop the Nakumatt for some water; candy for the children; and snacks – Cadbury Chocolate (for some reason I always gravitate to this); peanuts; and Haribo Happy Cola Gummies (a tradition from the first Kili trip).

Nakumatt Village Market

It’s funny, as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I recognized this mall. On my last trip here, I had a few hours before I had to leave for the airport, and went to lunch at the nearby Tribe Hotel. I also remember there was a swimming pool/water park here, where we took some of the older kids. (The pool/waterpark has since been demolished, making room for an expansion of the mall.)

Next stop – the ATM for Kenyan Shillings and finally Safaricom to buy a wireless modem and SIM card for my computer. It’s the cheapest way to buy data and critical for me to send this blog each day!

With these few errands complete – it was a straight shot to Njabini. My things have changed- the road to Njabini has been repaved and isn’t speckled with giant potholes! On my last visits – cars would weave from one side of the road to other as they would try to avoid these pothole. Most of the drive was familiar – there are a few new buildings going up and there were they periodic police check points – today there were THREE. For these check points, the police lay spike strips across the road, ask you to pull over, they look at your vehicle registration, your drivers license, scan your car to make sure it is road worthy and that you are not carrying any contraband. Needless to say, we “passed” each time.

The road north from Nairobi to Njabini.

As we got into Njabini, I became more and more excited to see the kids, the matrons and everyone at Flying Kites! Unfortunately the road to the house isn’t paved, but since it was dry, it wasn’t too bad. (During the rainy season it is impossible to drive up the road)

When we pulled into the compound, I felt like I was back home after a long journey, although there were some evident changes. But I guess after 2 1/2 years from being away there are bound to be some changes.

The first thing I could not help but notice was a new roof going on the house – they clay tiles were being replaced by a metal roof.

I was immediately greeted by many of the children as today was a National Holiday and they were not in school. However, I did notice that there were not as many children as I had expected. I soon realized that many of the children had graduated from our school, and were off to secondary school for the semester. Also, the boys are now living at our school, leaving only the younger girls at the house.

So as I reconnected with the children, I was surprised (although I should not have been) at how big they are getting. I was given a tour by Mach (Elias), who has grown, but not as much as some of the other children. It was wonderful to see his smiling face again.

The next big change – all the rooms have moved around! I think it will take me at least a day to get familiar with the new layout. 😂 The family room has moved to the old boys dorm, the kitchen and dining room are now where the office used to be, and the volunteer lounge is where the dining room was.

I also noticed that with the addition of electricity, living at the house is not so rustic. There is a refrigerator and microwave in the volunteer kitchen, and there is a water heater for the shower!

Another addition to the house – Rabbits, Rabbits and more Rabbits!

Today I also met some of the volunteers – Steve who is helping with the construction of the new dorms, and then two friends Mandy and Alex. Tomorrow I will meet the other volunteers who are off to Zanzibar for a short holiday.

We finished the night with family meeting – Mary and Serah lead the meeting. It was a small group – Lucy, Tabby, Virginia, Rahab, and Thogu – but they all made me feel so welcome.

Well, although it’s not getting late, I am a little tired and will go to be early. Have a great night!

good morning from nairobi!

By Stephen

On July 7, 2016

In blog | love | philanthropy

It’s funny how things come back to you so quickly – and being back in Nairobi is like riding a bike, somethings you never forget – even after 2 1/2 years!

Let’s start with the notorious roundabouts from the airport to the city centre. To the average Kenyan – it’s part of life, the traffic congestion, and maneuvering through the roundabouts – it’s orchestrated chaos. To the average person who is not accustomed to this – it’s like being shot from a canon into a spinning wheel, you close your eyes and hope you don’t hit any spokes on the way in and that you make it out of the other side in one piece. I guess I am part Kenyan – it’s just part of driving here – and it didn’t phase me.

Then upon arrival, I was presented with a glass of mango juice. There is something about the juice here that is sooooo good! And for breakfast I had my fill of fresh fruit – there is just something about the fruit here – it is so fresh, so sweet, ripe and so delicious. So it should be no surprise that I had two large plates of fruit this morning – watermelon, papaya, mango and pineapple.

My Hotel – The Sarova Stanley Hotel

This morning I was up bright and early – 4:00 am to be exact. I tried to go back to sleep, but with the travel and time change that was not in the cards. So I decided to take advantage of the hotel wifi and cleared out my email, got caught up on Instagram and browsed through Facebook. Then at 6:00 am I was off to the hotel gym for a great workout – 20 minutes running on the treadmill, followed core and ab work, followed by upper body strength training. It felt good to be traveling and not to neglect my workouts.

Feeling the burn at the gym!

After my workout, a nice shower, yes a shower. You may ask the significance of this – well this will be the last time in two weeks that I will have the luxury of a long and warm shower like this. I can shower at the Flying Kites house, but it’s quick and the hot water is hit or miss. Funny the things we take for granted back home.

Breakfast was next on the agenda – I splurged and had a couple of Kenyan Donuts, Mandazi, with my coffee – another thing that brought back memories – that strong, dark Kenyan coffee – half a cup coffee, half a cup warm milk – it’s that strong! I then enjoyed two eggs – cooked to order, served over wheat toast and drizzled with a spicy pickled mango oil (my own egg creation!) – fresh juice and that fresh fruit I mentioned earlier.

So I am off to get my gear ready as Stanley will be here at 10:00 am to drive me to Njabini!

until next time…..