Harambee

I have a friend, and her name is Janet Johnson. You may remember her from this post. If not, here is a picture of her.

Look at that traditional dress. Under the pineapple apron of course =) 

There are two things, in the course of my friendship with this wonderful woman, that have become evident. 

One is that she really goes with the flow. I am that neurotic type A who has her life planned in hour increments, and dropping a pre-planned day spontaneously really scares me, even if it leads to random fun, as many of my friends try to remind me. Janet, however, lives life to the fullest, and sometimes she'll walk into work and tell me she went to a great jazz concert last night, and when I ask her how she knew about it, she'll say she and her husband Mike saw a commercial for it the night before just as it was about to happen, and they decided to go. That never happens in my life. But you never know what you're missing until it happens. Case in point, when she tried to convince me to go to Africa with her last spring break, I politely declined. It was too expensive (I'm that girl who sometimes has to live off eight dollars a week til she gets paid next after bills and gas and food) and it was too long of a trip (it takes two days to get there. I had seven days to play after I got my RA ish out of the way. So four days of traveling, three days in Africa? Not even fair). But part of me wishes I didn't get so hung up on the minutia of obstacles and just live a little. So to do my part, I'm trying to help her out.

The second thing that has become obvious about Janet is her generous giving attitude. Her acts sometimes are small, like sharing a lunch or offering her jacket. But they are often large, like when she casually told me she was trying to raise enough money to help the school she is supporting in Kenya get a new library and computer lab. Granted, it may be cheaper there to do so than here, but it's still several thousand dollars. I will open up and say that my first thoughts would be "that's a mountain of a task" and "what about my own bills?", but Janet never sees these great acts of love as impossible, she just gives as much as she can to the place where she grew up, in the important area of education.

I read a pretty compelling article here the other day about President Obama. Love him or hate him, Kenyans are disappointed in terms of the amount of support they thought they would get from the President once elected, and the help they have actually received. The school that is even named after him is falling into disrepair. The school Janet is trying to help is thriving thanks to her and the aid she aims to give.

This is where you all, my lovely readers come in. There are numerous ways we can support Books and Bricks, the organization Janet and Mike have started with their church St. Johns to help the Mulundi Village School.

For starters:

- Visit their website, www.booksandbricks.org, to learn more and see what more you can do to help.

- Contact them at BOOKSandBricks@rocketmail.com for more information, stories of people who have been, and ways you can help.

- Janet and the organization are always looking for creative ways to help raise funds and supplies for the school. Recently they held a book drive to get crucial materials for the library that is being built. What are other ways you can think of to raise money? (A celebrity sing-a-long cd comes to mind. Too bad I don't know any celebrities!)

- Donations are always accepted and appreciated! $5 can buy 100 bricks, a textbook or a day’s labor

$100 pays secondary school fees for one year!! To find out how you can help, visit the website for the address that is accepting donations (it's her church).

I have counted on my readers for so much support. From the trivial (like naming my car haha), to the ultra (like buying my books). I would really love it if we could extend this to others! You're all gems!

Our common life depends upon each other's toil - BCP pg. 134