Olayinka, 16, USA
Basic need(s):
Education
Project:
Raising Funds and Collecting Materials for Schools in Kenya
By her account, Olayinka lived a very humble life in Lagos, Nigeria before immigrating to the United States with her mother in 2003 to escape a worsening economic and political climate. As she immersed herself in school she couldn’t escape the notion that her peers back in Africa were not so fortunate. “I felt very wrong for having the choice of education when somebody else doesn’t. I am not one to take school for granted and I really wanted to give somebody the gift that I have.” To do this, Olayinka is gearing up to build a school in Kenya. For funding, she sells snacks to her classmates as well as collects donated pencils, notebooks, textbooks, erasers, etc. The monies collected are sent to the Kenyan village that is partnering in Olayinka’s school construction campaign. These efforts have not gone unnoticed. In fact, because of Olayinka’s dream and her drive to fulfill it, an entire school community in Kenya has the materials it needs to impart meaningful wisdom and necessary education to its leaders of tomorrow. The most stunning aspect is that she is doing all of this by herself. “It’s great, but I can only do so much alone. I need better tools to promote the project because the more I know about promoting global peace the more effective I can be.”
