Notes from Nairobi

2025 Service Trip to Kenya

As I entered into the Kibera slum, I felt the dirt and mud beneath my feet. I tried to balance myself as best as I could, trying not to bounce off of the side of the homes along our path. The ground is uneven, the paths are narrow, and tin roofs stretch in every direction. In the middle of that commotion, I discovered a simple act of faith and kindness can create a life changing miracle.

I was in Nairobi volunteering with the Centre of Love Foundation, where I serve on the board of directors. The Centre’s work is vital. In Kibera we provide clean water, sanitation, safe spaces, and education for families. Since 2017, the Centre has grown to reach thousands of locals with programs that bring dignity to their daily life.  You’ll see mother’s stopping by to fill jugs of water, a neighbor might pass by to use the toilet facilities, as they often lack toilets in their small homes, and of course the children are running and playing in the only open space to play in for miles.  Each weekend, and daily when school is out, the Centre also feeds approximately 600 children each weekend.

I arrived carrying books gathered through Books for Kibera and friends in Washington, DC, including parishioners from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and from friends from USAID. Each book had its own story in more ways than one.

I was able to give quite a few books out on this trip.  At the Kariobangi Cheshire House for the Aged, run by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa (read more here), I met a man who was Oxford educated but found himself homeless when the family he worked for left Kenya. When I handed him War and Peace and The Pelican Brief, his face lit up. The books were heavy in his frail hands, too much for his fragile body to carry when he walked, but he clutched them tightly. He was eager to begin reading them. A simple act of kindness restored this man’s dignity and intellectual curiosity.  Reading can restore something personal, even late in life.

Later our group traveled to visit the nonprofit Friends of Ngong Road, whose education programs keep children in school and guide them toward employment. Their team knows what poverty can do to young lives, and they know how education changes that path. The books we delivered will benefit these children’s educational journey.

Back at the Centre of Love in Kibera, I read Fiona the Firefly to a small group of children. They crowded in close, touching my hair, almost like making sure I was real. One boy, Trevor, stood out. He leaned into the story, smiling as the pages turned. He reminded me that the simple act of reading aloud can make a child feel seen and valued.

We might not change the entire world, but we spend moment after moment with new friends that touched our hearts and made an impact in our lives. An elder eager to read again. A child listening intently to a story in the slum. A student in Ngong staying on track for graduation. All of these souls benefiting from something as basic, and as powerful, as a connection through books.

Here is what you can do:

I came home with dust on my shoes and memories I won’t forget. The Oxford scholar holding onto his novels. Trevor smiling at a firefly in a storybook. If you believe in literacy, in dignity, in opportunity join us. Support our work.