Blog

Our bags are packed, our house is almost sold, and after 6 months of waiting for the airport to reopen in Kenya, the time is finally here–our family is headed to Kenya full time in September to help oversee the upcoming Grain of Rice Academy.  What was only a dream a few years ago, is…

Today is Good Friday.  In the Christian tradition, it’s a day for us to reflect upon the sacrifice of Jesus’ death in order for us to have eternal life.  As I was reading through my Common Prayer book today, this note about a past Good Friday event struck me:   Hundreds of Christians gathered on…

There’s been a lot of anticipation, and finally we’re moving forward with construction on the school.  I left Nanyuki on Friday afternoon after having spent another morning with the crew.  Building works differently here, and the protocol for starting a project like this is really different than in the U.S.  The first day I arrived…

Have you ever wondered how everything gets done here at Grain of Rice Project?  We’ve got some amazing staff in Kenya, but also there’s a whole little network of volunteers who make the wheels turn in the U.S.  too.    We want to give a shout out to Kelly, our graphic designer.  Kelly is the…

On Sunday, one of the dear sweet girls in our program was badly burned with scalding water when her siblings accidentally hit the jiko (charcoal cooker) as they were playing in the house and the girl was trying to study.  The burn looked really bad (3rd degree, bubbly, fleshy, white—I’m not a doctor, but you…

Yesterday I walked into Kibera.  It’s something I’ve done hundreds of times, but today it felt different. I haven’t been into the heart of the slum in over 6 months, and the last time I was in someone’s home was more than a year ago before Ellis is born.  Perhaps it is motherhood that makes…

She calls me her mzungu (white person/foreigner) mom, and when she says the word “mzungu,” it’s the one time I don’t mind the name.  I’ve been called mzungu a lot over the past decade, and while it’s not usually meant to be derogatory, it still implies a connotation of being an outsider.  I want to…

Did you see the news on Facebook?  We’ve raised $30,000 so far.  Wow, guys…that is AMAZING!  We still have a ways to go to reach $500,000, but I’m encouraged by the progress as we’re moving forward. Most mornings when I wake up, this goal seems too big.  But then, just when I need it most,…

Have you heard the news that we’re building a school in Kenya?!  Today I want to give you more of the why behind the vision–why is this our vision and why is it needed?  The best way to get a perspective, is to hear from someone who grew up in Kenya and experienced challenges with…

I can’t believe there’s only 12 days until Christmas.  Perhaps like many of you, I find this time of year a little overwhelming.  What I want in my heart is to be reflecting on the Advent season reminders of hope, joy, love, and peace, but instead everything just feels like a lot.   The lines at…

I love iMessaging—it makes the world smaller and easily allows our team in Kenya to send me pictures when I’m not there.  It keeps us connected.  Usually the pictures I get are the happy type: smiling kids, videos of them reciting poetry, and beautiful photos of their artwork. But the ones I received this week…

I know I’m supposed to write a lot when I’m in Kenya.  I know people like to hear about what’s happening–the good things, the funny stories.  And there a lot of those.  But in all honesty, sometimes once the end of the day has reached, I haven’t a morsel of energy left to spend on…

One thing I have learned on this Grain of Rice Project journey is that it is all about having faith, and being willing to take risks.  All of our programs, from the kids, to girls, to footballers, are exciting, but sometimes challenging, and always so much bigger than myself or anyone person.  Indeed it is…

It’s been great to start off 2018 in Kenya with all of our Grain of Rice team.  I arrived in Kenya on January 2, and quickly jumped into all that is happening.  We began the first day with a New Years party for all of our artisans, children, footballers, and staff who are a daily…

“I can’t believe I finally made it into the basement,” I happily told The Bridge store manager, Sara. Fourteen years ago, an art teacher, whom I was observing throughout the semester for one of my education classes, had gifted me a checkers set made inKenya with African fabric and Coca-Cola bottlecaps—my first fair trade gift, and…

Town…such a small word for such a crazy experience. “Town” is how people refer to downtown Nairobi.  “I’m going to town today,” they’ll say.  But to me, town is not really a place but an adventure.  I started having dreams at 5 a.m. this morning about going to town.  I’m blessed and have nothing to…

Last week it was the toxic smell of burning plastic drifting in our windows at 5 a.m. that just about drove us to the edge.  When it starts to become a daily occurrence, which causes a choking fit that cannot be stopped even when smothering a pillow over your face, I can assure you that…

This morning we returned from our 2nd annual GORP Retreat.  To say that the workshop, kids program, and football team programs are busy is an understatement, and some time away to bond, reflect, and rejuvenate was definitely necessary.  We’ve added four new people to our team in the past 6 months, and we wanted to…

If you’d arrived at our house this morning, you’d have wondered why Edwin and I were jumping for joy and praising God at 9 a.m.  It certainly wasn’t because of the bleating goat that someone is literally keeping right outside their house in this urban area, nor was it the squawking chickens and roosters that…

The workshop is calm and still right now.  I can hear Charles snipping fabric in the small sewing room behind the main building and the ticking of the clock on the wall behind me.  The neighbor’s gate across the street creaks as people leave for work.  A rooster is crowing in the distance and there…

Tonight we are heading out for Kenya, and if you’ve seen me lately, you’ve probably noticed the swirling in my head of all the things on my mind.  There is always a lot of anticipation on my end as I travel, and this year even more so as I push through wrapping up one chapter…

This is the post that  I have yearned to write the last few years but never really knew if the time would come.  When I went to Kenya nearly 9 years ago, my pastor asked me if I wanted to do missions long term.  My answer was a big fat NO!  I wanted to travel…

I am a crammer, or rather I like to think of it as a time maximizer.  I like to make full, purposeful use of my time.  But all this cramming sometimes sets my head spinning, and this week was no exception.  Although I’m had some nice rejuvenation time away this week, I came back feeling…

Today we celebrate International Women’s Day.  All around the globe, there women are making amazing accomplishments, in big and small ways.  Grain of Rice Project and myself are privileged to be surrounded by incredible women of faith, hope and perseverance, and I often think that the unsung heroes are the average people who are doing…

Last week my friend thoughtfully told me that it seemed like everyone was trying “win” their side of the argument in all the ongoing debates on social media and the news.  And she said, “I don’t want to win.  I just want to live in harmony.”  That seemed very insightful because amongst all the discussions,…

Independence.  Self-reliance.  Individuality.  Personal success.  These are some of the things that our Western, American culture values.  We set out to achieve great things, often for personal gain.  But I would like to offer an alternative idea: the idea of community, the idea of togetherness, the realization that our actions all affect each other. The…

My Kibera sister rises just before the sun begins to poke out from beneath the horizon.  She can hear the scratching of rats scampering around above her.  Her four children are still asleep in the crowded room, with its four red mud walls and tattered tin sheet roof trying its best to protect them from…

Collins with the some of the GORP Kids Today we are highlighting, Collins, who is an integral part of our team in Kenya.  Collins is one of those people who does so much for people and yet gets so little credit.  A faithful servant since the early beginnings of Grain of Rice Project, Collins started…

I could make out the faint noise as I stood at the bathroom sinking washing my face and hurriedly trying to prepare myself for the day.  I hoped I had misheard.  I dashed into the kitchen and cracked open the sliding door and waited, listening intently.  Nothing.  So I had been imagining.  And then, just…

I asked my husband why it is that so many Kenyans know about Kibera (where GORP works), and yet they have never been there.  Why is this slum right down the road from other government embassies, from Heifer International, from one of the main shopping centers in the city, from one of the poshest coffee…

The Barbershop Workshop Another new year is upon us, and today I had coffee with a friend who asked me what my goals were for Grain of Rice Project this year. My answer was to see growth in the amount of people GORP impacts for Christ, both in the U.S. and Kenya but to still…