Kenya Help, "Can ya help us?"

"Can ya help, us?" quipped Margo McAuliffe at a recent lecture for TED.  Http://kenyahelp.us is the website for the nonprofit McAuliffe established to address the educational needs of girls in Kenya.  After losing her husband, the recently retired math teacher began to daydream--seeing herself teaching in Africa.  She acted on her dreams and eventually raised more than a million dollars to open a girl's school in Kenya.

McAuliffe's first step was to visit a Catholic parish in the Naivasha District:

I interviewed 6 students whose circumstances were so dire that they were being sent home for lack of school fees. Their stories were heart wrenching: several had a single mom with no work; another’s mother worked in a stone quarry where she had been injured, breaking stones by hand. Her father was also unable to work. Several were orphans who had been taken in by family members unable to pay fees. One boy, highly recommended by his math teacher, had lost his father at about age 10 and had already been sent home. His mother had died at the exact time he was sitting for a crucial exam taken at the end of grade 8. His sister had tried to keep him in school, but had sickened while working at a flower farm and hadn’t been able to find other work. I told these students I was making no promises, but I would try to find sponsors for them.

Within a week after my return home, I had sponsors for all six! Even while I was in Kenya, “miracles” like that began to happen. Right before I left, I met a British woman who was a volunteer for Manos Unitas, a foundation based in Madrid whose mission was to fund programs for women and girls in Africa. It was just a few days after the still, small voice had spoken. Eventually Manos Unitas awarded us $55,000 to build 2 science labs.

McAuliffe credits a lot synchronicity and miracles in making the school possible.  She spends summers in Kenya teaching math.  Find out how you can help.