Dear friends, I have some very sad news to share.  We recently learned that Zipporah’s younger sister Catherine, who would have been a senior this year (form 4) at the Graceland Girls School in Kenya and who is featured in my documentary Graceland Girls, took ill, was hospitalized and passed away rather suddenly just a couple of weeks ago.  We are stunned and saddened by this loss.  Catherine was a sweet, thoughtful, bright and beautiful girl.  In our conversations, she [...]

With limited e-mail access in the rural areas of Kenya, I have been communicating with the girls at Graceland through letters.  Recently, I printed off many of the photographs the students took last July during our classes together, and sent them to Nyeri along with additional camera supplies.   Enclosed in the package was a small photo album I put together for Zipporah to bring home of photos I had taken of her family during our lunch in Maragima.  I don’t [...]

Thank you for all who attended last night’s screening of the documentary, Graceland Girls and fundraiser to send two Kenyan girls to high school.  It was a great success!  We raised over $900 and are much closer to our goal.  We have now collectively raised over $11,000 and we are only a few hundred short of sending both girls, Filisha and Catherine, to school for all four years!  Our cup runneth over. Thank you again to Premier Bartending & Beverage Service [...]

Marcie and I are hosting a fundraiser tonight to benefit our two girls from Maragima, Kenya to attend high school at Graceland Girls School, the school in Nyeri featured in the documentary short Graceland Girls.  We are only about $1,500 away from our goal. Please join us to see the film (28 mins) and get a better idea of what life is like for these girls. Screening will begin at 8pm. This is a jeans and t-shirt event so dress [...]

Finally, the trailer for Graceland Girls is available for viewing!  Please enjoy and feel free to spread the good word.

“If you want to change the world, invest in an adolescent girl.” (The Population Council, Inc., Lloyd) Educating its adolescent girls has proven to be the cornerstone of Kenyan development, yet so many are denied equal access to education, social and economic equality and respect.  The half-hour documentary Graceland Girls provides an intimate look at how the high school students at Graceland Girls School in central Kenya have, so far, defied the odds.  Using a combination of video and digital [...]

As you may know, we have succeeded in raising money to send two girls from Maragima Primary School to Graceland Girls School in Kenya. These are girls who otherwise would not have been able to afford high school. Our girls began school on January 24th and are doing great! We could not be happier. Due to your generous contributions we have raised $7600. The tuition is $1500 per year for each girl so we still have a little ways to [...]

Here’s an update on our Maragima — now new Graceland — girls!  They are thriving in their first year of high school at Graceland Girls School in Nyeri District, Kenya thanks to your generous donations.  In fact, here’s a picture of the girls (right and left) with another sponsored student (middle).  You might recognize them from some of my photographs from our trip to Kenya last summer. We’re thrilled to have made an impact in the lives of these young [...]

I am packing my bags to return to Kenya for a second time in less than a year, and am filled with nervous excitement.  I have been honored with a second documentary project that is further connected to our mission of finding educational opportunities for bright but needy students. On Friday, February 3, 2012, myself and members of St. Denis Parish and Hearts Open to the World, a Christian-based non-profit group formed to help improve education and healthcare, as well [...]