The Kenya Project By Alaina Loughridge You often hear of people going off to third world countries to help those less fortunate than us. I have always wanted to do this myself, as I hear the return tales of how rewarding the experience is, not to mention life-changing for the people who went and returned with an acquired knowledge of just how lucky we are. Yes, we have our day to day trials and tribulations of fighting traffic, fighting with a spouse, or problems with the kids. There are people in this world whose daily trials and tribulations include finding a decent meal, drinking water, and a safe place to stay. Makes our problems trivial in comparison, doesn’t it? I had the opportunity to sit down with Steve and Bethany Kellam who recently returned from such a trip to Kenya, Africa. Both the Kellam’s were looking for an opportunity to make a change in their 34 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | MAY 2017 lives, and when Bethany’s sister, Autumn Davis, told them about Joey Potter’s mission trips for the Fellowship Christian Athletes group, the Kellam’s were excited to become a part of this. There is a lot of planning into going on such a mission and with 30 people signed up, including nine students from North Carolina State, five of which are players on the football team - preparation is key! All participants were broken up into groups in charge of collecting a variety of different items to donate to the school they were headed, Mountain Park Academy. The Kellam’s decided to collect dental care items and were hugely successful. A giant shout out to Dr. Jessanna Smith at Tybee Teeth, as well as Dr. William Trout and his wife Brandy at Dental Wellness Center and the Effingham Dental Association for donating an enormous amount of toothbrushes and accoutrements. Along with those donations, Tybee locals were key in donating funds by way of purchasing handmade bracelets from Bethany, and Bahama Joe’s went above and beyond with their donation as well. All told, 30 people flying to Africa hauled in their luggage and on their backs and carry-on’s with 4,000 POUNDS of stuff. WOW!!! Steve said the only thing they packed for themselves was literally the clothes on their backs and one change up. Amazing! This is for a seven day trip! When the group arrived in Kenya, they traveled to the Mountain Park Academy where they would be staying for the week. Meeting the teachers and staff was great, but meeting the children was emotionally overwhelming!! Swahili is the primary language, but everyone spoke English and it was love at first sight for everyone that visited. Hugs and stories were exchanged immediately. Friendships were formed and forever bonds were made instantly. The group spent $420 on 500 loaves of bread and 42 cases of soda. It was Thanksgiving and Christmas all together!! What a special treat for children that have this on a typical day: School is six days a week at 10 hours a day. Breakfast is 1/3 of a tiny cup of porridge, lunch is a donut sized biscuit with a small side of beans. Water is from the faucet in the yard. Both orphans and children with parents attend the school. Approximately 450 orphans live on the grounds, where there are four houses with 16 people to each house. The
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