By David Rosen

In support of education for St. John’s Mission to Kenya, Books and Bricks Memorial Day barbecue kicked off on May 30. This event was a fundraiser to help raise money for schools in Mulundi, Kenya, which is the hometown of Janet Johnson, along with her husband Michael Johnson, who are the founders of Books and Bricks.

It all started about 10 years ago when Janet first moved to the United States from Kenya. This is the first year that Janet took locals back with her to visit Kenya and for them to get a first hand experience of the help that they are providing.

Amber Strehle, who went to Kenya with Janet and a small group of people to assist in the Books and Bricks scholarship program this past year stated “The villages are located in central Kenya and have approximately 800 families. When it comes to schooling for the children in rural Kenya, school fees and supplies from elementary to 8th grade are provided. In high school, it’s an additional expense that the students and their families have to pay, but due to the location of the high school and lack of funds it’s very hard to afford the tuition and many are unable to attend.”

The small group that was visiting the village were pleased to see that the money that they raised went straight into the community where it was needed the most. Another interesting thing that the group was happy about was how relatively little US money it took to support the cause and to make a contribution. While the group was there, a new classroom had been mostly completed. The Johnson’s estimated that one wall of the schoolhouse is 300 bricks. The approximate price of the bricks are $0.07 each. With this statistic, Amber Strehle’s daughters class raised money to help build the school. The high school is also working on building a science lab and the nearby elementary school needs a library.

About 600 students attend the elementary school in Kenya. Kwa-Muema is a coed school and is the closest high school near the village, in which about 60 students attend.

The actual amount of money to pay for school annually is:

Day School - $100.00
Boarding School - $300.00
College - $700.00