Over the past few weeks I have been overjoyed by a continuous stream of emails from former volunteers announcing their desire to return to Flying Kites’ mountainside home. Each time I learn that a volunteer plans on returning, my heart skips a beat; this is one of the ultimate goals of the Volunteer Program- to attract people who will volunteer again and again, who will become lifelong role models for our children, and vital ambassadors for our cause. A string of inspiring interviews with prospective volunteers has accompanied these mission-affirming emails, and this combination prompted a new round of reflection on my part about the incredible souls who make up the ranks of successful FK volunteers.
If there is one thing I’ve learned after a year directing our Volunteer Program, it is that to truly excel as a volunteer at Flying Kites, you have to be an extraordinary person. And I mean really, truly extraordinary.
To make the most of a volunteer stay at FKLA, you have to be able to watch and learn the ways of our center while simultaneously jumping right in to the day-to-day workings of a family of 21 children and upwards of 6 adults. You have to adapt to a small-town, rural setting where you are one of the lucky if you have running water, three meals a day, western-style toilets, and electricity at night (all of which we have) and you do this while tutoring several children in English each day. Those who leave the largest legacies do a remarkable job at balancing their daily priorities (tutoring, assisting in classrooms, engaging the kids in new & different activities, chores) with self-directed side projects as varied as collecting statistics on education levels across our district, building a compost heap, or running a soccer clinic for the kids. The mightiest of volunteers manage to carve out time to get to know our staff, and they share their own gifts and passions with the kids through creative lessons and activities.
As Toby, Co-Executive Director & founder of Flying Kites, likes to say, you cannot hold other people to a higher standard than you hold yourself. It only takes a cursory glance at the lives and characters of my colleagues to know that each and every person on the FK team holds themselves to nearly impossible heights. And this is why I have no qualms about our incredibly high expectations for volunteers- that, and even more importantly, the children. Our volunteers live alongside and become daily fixtures in our children’s lives. This is both a great gift and an enormous responsibility. It means you are there to tuck the children in at night, to clap and cheer when they score a goal in football or perform well on an exam, and to hug & comfort them if they get banged up along the journey; in many ways, the privileges usually reserved for parents. It is for this very reason that the first words a volunteer hears when accepted into the Volunteer Program are “Welcome to the Flying Kites family.” It is also why we only want the highest caliber people filling that privileged position. And lucky for us, people of just that astounding character continue to learn of Flying Kites and join our daring endeavor.
I can’t think of a better way of getting my point across than by highlighting a few of the individuals who have shone very, very brightly in the role of volunteer. If I were to write about every one of the remarkable people who’ve come through the Volunteer Program over the last year, you would still be reading on Christmas morning, but please know that the following people are just a sampling of the wonderful volunteers we’ve been graced with.
Bethany
Let me start with the indefatigable Bethany. The legacy Bethany left behind is unbelievable. Though her first days at FKLA were marked with considerable doubt that she’d make it the full ten weeks of her scheduled stay, in the end Bethany extended her stay and demonstrated unparalleled adaptability. She was just as willing to tutor as to canvass surrounding towns promoting our Day of the African Child celebration, and to mop or sort beans as to hike to the river with the kids. Bethany showered the kids with genuine love & affection daily and she connected personally with every one of the FK staff members on the ground. At the mention of Bethany, everyone from Oliver, one of our security guards, to Francis, our managing director, to Rebecca, one of our matrons, cracks a smile a mile wide and recalls a warm memory of her, usually having to do with her notorious laugh and effusive enthusiasm. Bethany embodies the mantra “live everyday to the fullest,” and she channeled this energy into orchestrating daily adventures and activities for the kids. Bethany was on the ground from May through July of this year, and is slated to return on January 10 for another three-month stay. In the interim, Bethany held fundraisers, gave talks, shared the Flying Kites story with every person she knew (and if her first rate networking skills are any indication, probably a great many that she didn’t previously know) and created a great website to document her journey: http://www.fear-lol.com/Life_is_too_short.html. Extraordinary.
Devon
And then there is Devon, a remarkable model of devotion both to our kids and to Flying Kites. Devon has made two trips to FKLA to date, and she is currently planning a six-month stay with us after she graduates from Salve Regina University in June. As an education major, her mission during this extended stay will be to help us enrich our school’s curriculum. When here in Kenya, Devon demonstrates a rare level of self-directedness, and an attention to detail when tutoring and working with the kids that makes my heart soar. When at home in Massachusetts, or at school in Rhode Island, Devon is a tireless advocate for Flying Kites, heading up Salve’s MyTurn chapter, a fiercely passionate group of students who do everything from hold fundraisers in Newport to create photo albums for each one of our kids. To top it all off, the Flying Kites kids occupy such a huge part of Devon’s heart that she will up and send me an email, a full six months after her last visit, with carefully thought out ideas for how to improve one of the kids’ behavior, or with a creative approach to tutoring another. She makes time to do this in the midst of her senior year of college, a full time teaching practicum, and working a part-time job to save funds for her upcoming trip. Extraordinary.
Mike
Mike Behan is another young person who has been a tremendous supporter of Flying Kites for many years, regularly attending our stateside events and even helping to organize them on a few occasions. Mike’s first trip to FKLA didn’t take place until this past summer, but Mike arrived in Njabini in July and immediately plunged headlong and heart first into any and every job, task, and chore that was in need of attention. Mike is a legend here for the work he did battling our August mice invasion, a supremely unglamorous job that he unflinchingly tackled with his relentless work ethic. Throughout his time at FKLA, Mike displayed an intuitive understanding of what needed to be done and when, and that is NOT a trait to be taken for granted (I am still trying to master it myself.) As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Mike took the idea of the self-directed project to the next level and beyond by establishing Njabini Apparel (http://www.njabiniapparel.org/) a non-profit social venture which aims to create sustainable development by paying Njabini-based wool spinners a fair wage to create various products (primarily hats & scarves) which are then sold in the U.S. All Njabini Apparel profits are donated to Flying Kites. This type of venture is hugely needed in a poor, rural community like ours. Education, entrepreneurship and the resultant job creation are the most effective ways to combat poverty, in my opinion. The positive ramifications of Njabini Apparel will ripple across this community for a long time to come. Mike is returning to FKLA in January for six months to focus his considerable energy and brain power on our community-strengthening program, Magnet Effect. Is it overkill to say it? Perhaps. Nevertheless- extraordinary.
Tamia
Tamia Sullivan is a resident of Newport, RI, a mother, a grandmother, volunteer extraordinaire, and easily one of the kindest & most compassionate women I’ve ever met. Tamia spent the month of April at FKLA; a seriously rainy month during which our little wild things were on school vacation yet she rose up to each frustration and challenge that presented itself with amazing grace. Tamia sewed adorable dolls for each one of the kids, which many of them carry around to this day. Tamia became very close with our matrons and shared a bond that transcended language with Esther, the heroine who washes the kids’ clothing BY HAND all day, six days week. Tamia sends a batch of clothespins for Esther every time a volunteer from the Rhode Island area travels over. To me, that sweet act speaks of unbelievably deep consideration and thoughtfulness. Since returning home, Tamia, among other things, has held clothing drives for us, hosted the US based FK team for wine & cheese & barbeques, sent each kid a present on their birthday, and written a beautiful article about her volunteer experience: http://wisewomennow.com/2010/12/17/paying-it-forward/#more-1433. On a personal level, she has become a tremendous and unwavering cheerleader for me, whether I’m in seaside Newport or mountainside Njabini. Tamia plans to return to FKLA this spring. Yes, she too is extraordinary.
All four of these people are an integral part of the Flying Kites family, as are the many other incredible volunteers, and the immense work that they have all done on our behalf is invaluable. They embody our Adventure Challenges motto, “Live Beyond Yourself.”
Flying Kites and its Volunteer Program has been forever impacted by the energy, ingenuity, and love of a great number of volunteers. To the four above and the many, many more extraordinary people who volunteered at FKLA this year, I would just like to say that I am eternally grateful to you and proud beyond words to count you as someone I’ve gotten to know and work with.
We ask you to be patient, resilient, creative, hardworking, adaptable and dedicated. And I am blown away by how many people fulfill these very high expectations and then go further.
You are all the gifts I need. Happy Holidays!
All my love,
Julianna
Lucy proudly showing off the beginnings of the Carly "Pie" Liptak Memorial Clinic
Francis & James, leaders in every sense of the word
Awake My Soul 
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