A few weeks ago, we shared the emotional side of our trip to Kenya.

The birthday songs. The little girl’s voice calling out from across the school grounds. The moments that stay with you long after you’ve come home.

If you missed that post, go read it first. It sets the stage for what we’re about to share.

Because today… we want to tell you the part with the numbers in it.

How We Got There

My husband and I traveled to the village of Mungano, Kenya through Choice Humanitarian and Thrive Life.

Thrive Life has had a long relationship with this specific village. Years of investment. Years of showing up.

When the opportunity came to be part of that… we said yes.

We spent about a week in Mungano. Living alongside the community. Working. Learning. Seeing things we’ll never unsee.

What We Did While We Were There

We weren’t there as tourists.

We helped with the construction of a new school building.

We presented the Days for Girls program to the female students.

We fed the students and their families a celebration meal.

We planted trees on the school grounds.

We taught games and crafts.

And I personally taught the students a lesson… using bubblegum.

(Yes, really. It touched on everything from math to life skills. And they loved it.)

What We Learned About Water

This is the part that humbled us most.

The village has two sources of water.

The first is rainwater collected in cisterns. It’s considered the cleanest water available. Cisterns are also extremely expensive… so it’s rare for a family to have one. The school had two large ones. That was remarkable.

The second source is what they call water pans.

Think of them as ponds.

The same water pans where livestock drink. Where wild animals swim. Where families bathe. Where people walk up to a couple of miles just to carry water back home for drinking, cooking, and cleaning.

That water contains parasites.

One of them is called a liver fluke. A parasite that attacks the liver.

It’s also why so many of the children have a yellowish tint to the whites of their eyes.

We came home to clean water pouring out of our taps… and we have thought about that every single day since.

Something Beautiful About How They Learn

Interacting with the children, we discovered something we hadn’t expected.

Most of them are growing up learning multiple languages.

They speak their village language at home. Then they begin learning the more widely spoken Kenyan national language.

English doesn’t come until around 3rd or 4th grade.

By 7th or 8th grade, many of them know some conversational English.

Walking around the school grounds, we’d often hear the same phrases.

“Hello, how are you?”

Because when you’re learning a new language… those are the first words that come.

When we sat down with the teachers at the school, they were direct about what they needed most. English learning materials were at the top of their list. That stayed with us. It’s part of why, since coming home, we have made it a priority to build out our vocabulary and spelling curricula. Those kids gave us a reason to keep going.

What We Left Behind

Through Choice Humanitarian, we donated curriculum to the school in Mungano.

Here’s what that looked like:

Kindergarten through 9th grade Education Guides. A full K–9 curriculum covering every grade level.

The Cube Course. Gardening Curriculum. Home Economics: Cooking Basics. Home Economics: Preparedness. Christmas Curriculum. Entrepreneurship Course. Sports K–12 Curriculum. Sight words and vocabulary for grades K through 3rd.

Here is every grade that received curriculum, and how many students it reached:

• Kindergarten: 82 students
• 1st Grade: 49 students
• 2nd Grade: 41 students
• 3rd Grade: 35 students
• 4th Grade: 41 students
• 5th Grade: 39 students
• 6th Grade: 36 students
• 7th Grade: 66 students
• 8th Grade: 52 students
• 9th Grade: 47 students

488 students across 10 grade levels.

The total value of the donation came to $215,788.

Choice Humanitarian expressed their gratitude, and the gratitude of the school in Mungano.

We’re not sure what communication from the school will look like going forward. They’re a village doing the best they can with what they have.

But the curriculum is there.

And the kids are learning.

Why We’re Telling You This

We’re not sharing this to check a box or collect praise.

We’re sharing it because we believe something deeply.

Education changes lives.

In your kitchen. In your living room. In a village in Kenya where kids are learning English one phrase at a time, drinking from water pans, and walking miles just to get to school.

Every family that chooses to invest in curriculum… every mom who homeschools her kids because she believes it matters… every purchase that keeps a small business like ours going…

Makes something like this possible.

That’s not marketing. That’s just the truth.

Thank you for being part of this with us.