Fall 2019
Jambo!
Full Time Executive Director in Kenya!
Kenya Keys has another big announcement!   Joseph Mwengea
Joseph Mwengea
has accepted the full time Kenya Keys Executive Director position in Kenya.  As the Kenyan founder of Kenya Keys, Joseph has volunteered countless hours as both a mentor and administrator.  Throughout this time he has worn two full time hats as both the Kenyan Executive Director and the principal of one of the top primary schools in the area.        
Joseph with his young students
Now as a Kenya Keys full time employee he can focus entirely on Kenya Keys.  Joseph is not only the biggest advocate for education, he is also the most informed person on academic opportunities in the region.  He has placed hundreds of students in good colleges who   would have never gone past the eight grade without his help. Joseph
Joseph accepts his contract
has also guided many students toward meaningful internships and careers, making a huge impact on the lives of students and their families.  

Kenya Keys is blessed to have such a leader as Joseph to head the Kenyan side of operations full time.                                                                                                                                                                   
Run to Mtulu--Youth Fun Run
Join us for a great family event on October 5 
to raise money  for the Egu Dormitory washing compound!  
Have fun, learn about Kenya and help provide a critical need, 
 all at the same time!!
Register by September 22 and receive a free t-shirt
Dream Team Heading to Kenya
A group of dedicated board members and ambassadors will begin traveling to Kenya on September 29.  Mark Friess, the new US Kenya Keys Executive Director and Brent Hayes will work on all administrative interface between the US and Kenya.  The rest of the team will interview students and assist Clemence Budala, the director of girls programs, in preparing for the International Day of the Girl Conference on October 12.  As part of the conference, where 300-600 girls will attend, fifteen to twenty Kenya Keys female college alumni will speak to the girls as role models and local leadership will distribute 300 sanitary kits.  

Read about each team member and their focus here.




       Brent Hayes &            Marilyn Lewis               Linda Allen                   Bill Allen 
       Mark Friess   
         
       
   
              Alisa Herbert                      Alayna Herbert                   Michelle McMurray
 
 Student Letters
It's not too late to send a 2019 letter to your student. 
       Email letters to [email protected] or mail to            Kenya Keys, 5314 Tualata Ct, Lake Oswego, OR 97035 
by September 25 to be hand delivered in October.
Sewing to Stay in School
An additional obstacle for female students in
    Anette sewing liners
Kenya is how to stay in school while they menstruate.  They can miss up to 16 days a term due to a lack of sanitary products and many students drop out of school because they can't  catch up.  To make matters worse, the Kenyan government recently discontinued the program which provided disposable pads at schools for students to use in case of emergencies.  
Rinda Hayes & Mama Patience in front of her home/sewing school
When Anette Packer heard the call for reusable sanitary liners (pads), she got busy sewing!  Anette, a sponsor who has been involved with Kenya Keys for seven years, sewed  800  liners to pair with
Joy over receiving safety pins.  Mama Patience & Anette discussing patterns

180 shields (holders) made by Mama Patience Meri and friends.  This is the first combined effort within Kenya Keys to alleviate the female hygiene concern for Kenyan students.  With Anette and Mama Patience teaming up together, they will help female students to stay in school!! 
Feeling Hot Hot Hot No More
classroom destroyed by cyclone
Imagine trying to learn while overheating in a tin shack, seated so close to your fellow classmates that you can barely breathe. Taru primary school students experienced this intense heat and overcrowding until a cyclone came through and destroyed their tin walled classroom (it ended up in a tree!).   Soon after the cyclone, two beautiful classrooms were completed through funds from a Kenya Keys Global Classroom project.  Thanks to the incredible fundraising by Merit Academy in Utah and generous matching funds by the charitable organization School Rising, Taru students now can learn in a comfortable setting.    
New classroom in Taru

As Stephen Kabani, member of the board of governors for Taru primary school shared,
" Great appreciation for our dear donors to enable such a project...and now pupils can learn, sing and dance on top of their voices, quite an amazing feeling of how environment can influence the learning process of a student and teacher too."
Want More Inspiration? 
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