I went back to PCEA Muniu Primary this morning, to check up on how things are going for the kids. Watching one of the teachers line them up for lunch was really heartening. It felt so good to know that they're heading over to a full portion, rather than half a plate. I'm told that before the generous infusion of cash from Project Archangel Julie's "Initial Angels," school administrators were starting to ration the meals. The children were getting half, or even a third of what they would normally get, to try and make the rice and maize and beans last.
Today I brought the second installment of PAJ funds. All told, Friends of PAJ have contributed $1,000! I've mentioned the tremendous generosity of Ron, and Deb and Glenda and Joan, and now I must add a few new names to the roster:
*Jenifer and Joyce are two young women I met about 15 years ago at the Detroit Free Press. They were great mentees and pals then, as a high school and college intern respectively. Now they're both great moms, both have a boy and a girl (Joyce's kids are my godson Ty and his sister Talia; Jenifer is mom to Jake and Molly), and both wanted to help support kids thousands of miles away.
*Dorothy grew up with my sister Julie back in Cairo. She was actually one of Julie's first and only friends back then, because they were both raised by Jehovah's Witnesses and had to depend on each other! Dorothy's support and concern for me during Julie's passing touched my heart, and her generous donation made Julie smile, I'm positive.
Well, you'll all be delighted to hear that PAJ funds will make sure there are school lunches until the end of this school term in August! What a wonderful thing you've all done. Thank you.
The other evocative thing about today was that this view of the school and the surrounding area really plugged me directly into the tremendous beauty of the Great Rift Valley, and the ironic juxtaposition of struggle and visual splendor it contains. I'll write about it in the next posting.
No comments:
Post a Comment