Starfish Charities: Omeroi School

Recently, one of my dear Maasai Pastors informed me of a village that had started a school. I’m not sure how long this school has been functional, but they recently applied to the Kenyan government for certification so they could be officially recognized and thereby receive any benefits the government could provide. The government’s requirement for certification was that they must have books. They didn’t actually even specify what kind of books, they just said books. This village is so poor that trying to purchase books for 50 students was impossible.

We rose to the challenge of helping this community educate their children. I had six boxes of books sitting in my home, so we donated those books, bought some textbooks and traveled to their village. It was a very emotional day when those precious children and their parents saw us unloading the car.

I only bought enough textbooks for 10 students, not comprehending how serious their situation was. I was feeling guilty and sad until the teacher shared how amazing it was to have books. Their school only has four class levels at this point and we were told that they have only one book per classroom that is passed around from student to student.

Seeing so many books in one place was overwhelming to them. What a wonderful day of celebration – seeing their beautiful smiles and laughter.

The children lined up as we passed out cookies. Then the speeches began. It was such a happy time. The two men are Pastor John Shakai and Jeremiah. John is the one who first told me about this school.

Cookies are such a rare treat. These children were just overjoyed.

The head teacher told the children to sing for us. This is always special to me.

There was a certain segment in the song where the children all started jumping in unison. I tried to snap fast enough to see their feet in the air, but it didn't work. I was pleased to see so many shoes though!

These are the parents who turned out for the event.

My daughter Rachel was honored with a necklace and a pair of earrings made by the mother's in the village. This little girl was so excited about putting them in Rachel's ears.