By Sydney Gray (First Fifth Advocate)

I could hear the chink, chink of metal hitting dirt as I sat down on the afghan covered chair.  Leaning forward to look out the door, I could see the men by the road, digging trenches.

These trenches are the first step necessary to lay the pipes and bring the water from the borehole to the new kiosk that we’re building on Pamela’s land.

Pamela found it hilarious that I was having problems with my camera.

Pamela lives directly on the main road, centrally located within the village of Kadiju.  A water kiosk on her land means bringing potable water to a greater number of people in the community.  Her generous offer will impact thousands of lives.

Sitting back in the chair, I focused my attention back onto Pamela.  In a community where growing your own food is essential to survival, land is a precious commodity.  I wanted to know why Pamela gave up a piece of her land so that we could build a water kiosk.  She gave me a smile and answered.

“Giving is as good as receiving.  You cannot receive without first giving.”

I smiled.

She cannot tell me her age nor does she remember when she was born.  But she does know the ages of all four of her children.  Her youngest, Donato, is 10 years old and not her child by birth.  His mother gave birth to him in Pamela’s house, shortly before leaving him orphaned.  Despite being recently widowed with three children still in the house, she took Donato into her family.

Elliot and Donato, two of Pamela’s children.

Pamela’s days are spent in the garden, exhausting work for a woman who believes she is over 50.  The majority of her income is made through her land, growing vegetables to sell for income and keeping goats for milk.

But vegetables need water, as do goats and children, so several times a day she must walk over a kilometer to a hand pumped station at an old borehole, pump water and then bring it home.

She admitted that it is very exhausting and becomes more difficult as the years pass.

The breeze blew in through her open door with the scent of dirt and goat, causing me to sneeze.  She laughed.  I smiled ruefully before asking her how she expected the access to clean water to affect her life.  The answer was so simple, and it never would have occurred to me.

Income generation.

Without any irrigation systems, all of the vegetables Pamela grows are hand-watered.  During the dry season this means walking to fetch enough water every day for the entire garden.  If the water was closer, she could grow more produce to sell.  With Donato’s school fees to pay and a leak in her roof to repair, water will mean a change in her whole world.

Pamela knows so much about giving, and I hope that with kiosk she will soon know much about receiving too.

Help Pamela bring water to her community by building a kiosk on the land she so incredibly donated.  Donate and help us reach our $2,000 World Water Day goal!

Read more about Sydney’s real time experience in Kisumu, Kenya at: http://mamamaji.com/

Hi Friends,

I am writing you from Kisumu, Kenya! It’s my fourth year back and feels like I have never left. Upon arriving I was welcomed with open arms from Anastasia (my Kenyan mother), the OLPS staff, and many friends. Every year seems to get better as my network grows bigger and stronger. Mama Hope has now completed twenty two projects with seven projects in process. We are continually expanding and reaching out to more communities to provide basic human rights such as clean water, health care and education.

Unlike any of my previous years, this trip is very special. This time I am traveling without Nyla, Founding Director of Mama Hope, and Bryce, our amazing photo journalist. Instead, I am traveling with Thomas who has been an absolute delight so far! Most people know Mama Hope as just Nyla and I, two crazy ladies who are networking machines and always the ones to start the dance party, but Thomas is the third leg to Mama Hope’s tripod. It takes a special type of man to put up with Nyla and I, but he does it wonderfully. He has been working with us for two years as our Program Director and has been instrumental in the development of Mama Hope’s new International Development Training Institute called First Fifth.

Thomas and I setting up our sleeping quarters / mobile office on the living room floor in the First Fifth apartment.

Mama Hope has been working on the development of First Fifth for the past two years, it was just launched in October 2012 and is the reason for my trip to Africa. To give you a quick overview, First Fifth is a nine month fellowship that provides career training on the ground experience and all the necessary tools to jump-start a career in International Development; while making a true impact on a community in Africa. Each fellow, what we are terming Global Advocate, is required to raise $20,000 towards a project; one which they will work on with the community to plan, oversee and implement. Pretty cool right?

I used to joke around saying that we created this program because Nyla and I wanted to clone ourselves, but it’s really true!  I feel so lucky to be in Africa, doing the work I love, because it is luck that got me here. It’s quite a challenge to have a career in the international development sector. For those who are not familiar with my story, I’ll tell you the short version.

I had volunteered for international organizations throughout college and have always had a passion for Africa. I graduated from UC Davis ready to change the world! The spark that had been ignited quickly went out when I found that the only jobs I could get with non-profits were unpaid internships, where I would be stuck filing papers and sending thank-you notes. This was incredibly disheartening.  I knew I was capable of so much more, but no one would give me a chance with my lack of hands-on experience. Needing to support myself, I took a corporate job that I began to greatly detest. It was very lucrative, a job most were envious of, but I found myself lost and in a major depression. I saved up money, mustered the courage to quit my job and gave myself time and space to figure out what I wanted to do with my career and how to get my foot in the door. I was close to giving up on my dream when I sent my energy out to the to the universe and with a little luck and a lot of serendipity, I ended up meeting my business partner, Nyla… and well, the rest is history! I am so thankful for her mentorship and the opportunity to partner with her. And now I want to give the same opportunity to others so they can pursue their dreams.

Not only will this institute give opportunities for college graduates to make an impact on thousands of lives in Africa while boosting their resume so they can enter into a career they are passionate about, this will also allow Mama Hope to scale. Mama Hope has successfully completed twenty projects in five countries, with just the three of us. Think about the impact we could make if there were eight of us or eighteen.

Our first class of global advocates consists of five rockstar ladies. They have been placed at our project sites in East and West Africa. This trip I will be visiting four of them. Tom and I are here to make introductions, mentor them, get them acclimated, on the ground logistics in place and to ensure their project management is running smoothly.  For the past two years the development of this program has taken first priority and basically consumed my life (in a good way), so to see it finally launched is like having a baby and wanting to keep it close to you. This trip to Africa has already surpassed my expectations and I am so proud of these ladies who are giving so much of themselves to make sure these projects become a reality.

I visited two advocates this week, Katrina Borakto and Sydney Gray. Katrina is 24,  graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in Political Science and African Studies and currently lives in San Francisco. Four months into the program, Katrina has raised over $12,000 towards completing the Children’s Rescue Center, a rehabilitation home that will provide safety, food security and education  to hundreds of children in the years to come. To learn more about her project visit http://www.stayclassy.org/fundraise?fcid=217166.

Katrina and Sydney meeting with the Wandiege Water Company for the initial planning of the water kiosk expansion, which will bring clean water to the communities surrounding Chiga district.

Sydney is a UC Berkeley graduate with a B.S. in Molecular and Environmental Biology. Sydney currently lives in New Orleans, Louisiana and joined First Fifth to pursue her dream of finding a balance between the needs of a thriving community and the environment they inhabit. She is working on the Chiga Water Project extension which will bring fresh water and sanitation education to 10,000+ people in the Chiga community of Kenya. She has raised almost $8,000 towards her goal. To support her/this project visit: http://www.stayclassy.org/mamamaji

I have spent the past week living with and shadowing these amazing ladies. They are loving Kenya! I am so impressed with all they have accomplished at the project sites and how they’ve already become so close with the communities. This experience has reinforced how important and necessary it is to engage within the community. We are incubating the next generation of international development entrepreneurs and the time is now.  I am confident Katrina and Sydney will reach their fundraising goals, complete their projects and go on to do many amazing things in the world! This is their first stepping stone.

Katrina and Sydney spending time with the ladies at the caregivers garden. As you can see, they have become like family to these ladies who manage and maintain a Mama Hope sponsored food security garden. This garden provides food to 700+ people in the community.

It’s been so humbling and inspiring to share the experiences with Katrina and Sydney. It reminds me of my first time in Africa of all the little things that made me fall in love in the first place. On Sunday, I depart for Tanzania to visit two of our global advocates stationed there and I can’t wait to see their accomplishments. More updates to follow soon.

With love,

Amy