Our Daughter's Kenya Project
Alexander Hammer (汉力山)
Director of Economic Analysis Unit, International Trade Administration
Dear Friends & Family:
As some of you may know, in just a few weeks, our daughter Maddie will be celebrating her Bat Mitzvah, a Jewish rite of passage in which 13 year-olds are welcomed into the community as adults.
As part of Maddie’s associated Mitzvah (good deed) Project, she has chosen to help residents of the remote Village of Lweya in Kenya, which is the family home of our dear friend, Maggie Nyamweya. Specifically, Maddie is collecting monetary donations which will be used to buy and install (at least one) rainwater collection tank inside the village, so that the residents can have closer access to clean water. At the present time, school-aged children (particularly girls) miss hours of school time every day to walk far distances to collect water for their families. Amazing that a simple solution exists to alleviate this problem, but they simply don’t have the means to make it happen.
In addition, Maddie will be collecting school supplies, primarily pencils and erasers, to provide directly to the Lweya Elementary School. We recently learned a shocking statistic that due to serious lack of supplies, school children in Lweya only receive ONE pencil for the entire school year, which they must be very careful not to break or lose!
The goal of Maddie’s Mitzvah Project is to help alleviate the worries and distractions of the children of Lweya, which will allow them to spend more time in school on their studies and become more productive citizens. As Maddie’s project will run through the end of May, our hope is that the residents of Lweya will start reaping the benefits as soon as possible.
If you wish to learn more about Maddie’s project, provide a monetary donation (large or small), contributions to her pencil drive, or simply encourage Maddie in the process, we invite you to visit her project website. We note that 100% of the proceeds will go for this cause, and in no way will be used to promote any religious views.
Thank you in advance for your support!