Archive for December, 2009
Daraja Strength
There is strength in this new world that I call home. A quiet strength I hadn’t anticipated, a strength that I needed to know existed. Slowly, incrementally it is revealing itself to me.
I’d traveled through many African nations. I had lived in Tanzania for six months after college, before I broke my leg for the second time. However, I’d never seen strength worn with such nobility until Daraja Academy introduced herself to me. The reasoning behind this, I think, has less to do with Daraja Academy than the remarkable human beings that have been selected to attend the school.
As finals wrapped up and end of the year parties were thrown, a cloud passed over the school. News trickled in concerning a family member of one of Daraja’s brightest stars. Without naming names, a beautiful leader of the campus, sponsored by three incredible Marin County sisters and their giving circle, found out her 20 year old brother had just passed away, a victim of pneumonia.
The tragedy is compounded by the fact that this young lady lost her mother to a headache (most likely meningitis) three years ago, and her father last year when he was struck by a vehicle on a busy Kenyan highway. In three years she has gone from being the second youngest in a family of five… to the family’s 15-year-old matriarch. Other than an aunt and an elderly grand mother, it is a family of her and her 10-year-old little brother.
What a downer. Why share this on the Daraja Academy BLOG?
As we try to define what the Daraja Academy BLOG is, I can honestly say that I may be wrong to share this, but the fact of the matter is… this is real. Life isn’t always smiles and songs and frankly, it shows just how strong and amazing these girls are. It shows the sort of obstacles that Jenni and I, the Carr Educational Foundation board and all of Daraja’s supporters face. This is not a bubble gum charity… which is why our successes are so powerful.
Our beautiful star has gone home and she will mourn with family. Knowing her, she will return and be stronger than ever, more resolute to succeed. But now, there is sadness on campus and she is in our thoughts and prayers.
Perhaps I was wrong when I wrote that her family is just her and her little brother. Three Daraja students and members of the staff traveled miles into the Aberdare Mts. to attend the funeral. They held their classmate while she cried for her deceased brother and they kissed away some of the pain. Daraja Academy, the students, staff, and administration has become a family. In one year, bonds have been built that are strong… and growing stronger. In January we will travel across Kenya locating 25 more wonderful girls who will join the family.
Perhaps the time for you to join has come as well.
Jason Doherty
Filed under From the Founder : Comments (5) : Dec 3rd, 2009
Facebook Holiday Drive
A lot has been made in the last year about the successes of Facebook and Twitter as modes of communication–and not just for meaningless communication, but the type that can empower change. Organizations like Charity: Water have very effectively utilized this powerful form of spreading a message of hope.
We at Daraja Academy would like to step up our own involvement in Social Networking this holiday season by initiating a Facebook Holiday Drive. The concept is simple: my name is Mark Lukach, I am a board member for the school, and I have 500 friends on Facebook. If I am able to convince each of those 500 friends to donate just $5 over the next month, then I will raise $2,500, which is enough to sponsor a student at Daraja for an entire year of school. Our first academic year has finished, and for the remaining weeks of 2009 our administration in Kenya will be eagerly conducting admissions interviews to find 25 new girls to add to the Daraja family. While they are hard at work, I figure that I can be doing my part here in the United States, by updating my Facebook status, tweeting about Daraja, and in general, spreading the Daraja message–to involve more people in our social web.
Just by reading this blog post, you are already taking part. If you have your own Facebook account, go get busy! Below are a list of things you can do to help promote our Facebook Holiday Drive through Facebook:
-Become a Facebook fan of Daraja. Doing so will add updates from Daraja to your facebook news stream–a great way to stay updated on campus happenings, as well as how our Holiday Drive is going. (You will probably be prompted to log-in when you click on the link.)
-Check out and join our Facebook Causes Page. This is Ground Zero for our Holiday Drive. It is here that you can donate to our holiday campaign. You can explore around, see who is donating, invite other friends to join the cause, add a “badge” to your own Facebook profile, and various other fun stuff.
-Update your own Facebook status, regularly, and encourage people to check out this blog post, so that they too can learn about the Holiday Drive and get involved. You are welcome to use this abbreviated link in order to direct traffic to this site:
You can also get involved via Twitter. Daraja is on Twitter, so you can follow us, Retweet us, mention us, and all those goodies. A great thing you can do via Twitter, similar to Facebook, is broadcast our campaign by sharing links and information about the school and the Holiday Drive.
Lastly, if you have your own blog, you are welcome to re-post this entire entry, so you can share it with your audience as well.
Thanks for your support of this Holiday Drive. Keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for updates on how the Drive is progressing!
Tags: daraja, daraja academy, facebook, fundraising, holiday drive, kenya
Filed under Donations, Video :
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Dec 1st, 2009
