Harambee

Once upon a time, I produced news that aired at the NBC affiliate in Cincinnati. I was reporting on a mural being painted by a group of underprivileged kids. Their group leader didn't have much to say and I thought I would go back to the station without an interview. I stopped and talked to one of the youth leaders and asked him about the project. He answered with one word: Harambee. It means hope. Our Kenyan friends expanded for us just now and said it means that the community gathers together to help the one in need. If that's not the meaning of hope, I don't know what is.

In this country, when your jeep is stuck in the mud, the people on the road drop their wood and stop their cars to help you push it out. Similarly, the education of girls is proverbially stuck, but we are making progress. The J&J Credo tells us that we have a responsibility to the world community. Before we ever arrived in Kenya as a J&J teaching crew, other J&Jers stepped up to support WISER. The Diabetes Care Franchise has held galas and raised money. The Employee Resource Groups like WLI, AALC and GLOBAL have worked hard to contribute.

I hope you will comment here or go to wisergirls.org and let us know you're out there helping us, too.

We are pushing as hard as we can, but we need more to get us out. It takes a lot of muscle to achieve a little bit of hope.

Love,
The J&J WISER Crew in Kenya