Lavender’s Story
Lavender is a 14 year old girl from Rehema Orphanage and Children’s School, located in the Korogocho slum in Nairobi. We met Lavender when we held 2 weeks of intensive Creative Arts workshops during August 2011 that were lead by the GoodMakers Street Team and benefited Flying Kites Global, an NGO that provides support and resources to children’s homes located in Nairobi and outlying areas.
Lavender quickly stood out as someone who transcended her bleak environment and it was clear that Lavender had bigger plans for herself and her community. Lavender and three of her school mates organized the sale of chickens from the home’s chicken coop, which helped to raise funds for her fellow starving Kenyans. This effort caught the interest of local media and Lavender was invited to make a speech at the ‘Kenyans for Kenya’ closing ceremonies where Lavender said, ‘Even orphans have the ability to make a difference.’ Lavender and her pals were also later invited to be guests on a local talk show, the ‘Cris Wanjala Show.’
Lavender’s goal is to become a journalist and attorney so that she can fight for children’s rights and help to transform the lives of other orphaned youth living in her community. Due to this extraordinary leadership, Lavender and her 3 pals recently received the news that they are the recipient of GoodMakers Scholarship awards, allowing them to attend the secondary school of their choice for a year, with the goal of extending their scholarship so that they can graduate and go on to university.
GoodMakers applauds Lavender and her friends Alice, Ema and Elizabeth for their amazing courage and a special acknowledgment to the Rehema home director Pastor Erastus, who’s vision for creating change is so wonderfully modeled by the girls who’s achievements are making him so proud.
GoodMakers ambassador Nele Grossman arranged for Lavender and her pals to attend a very special conference at the UN in Nairobi to commemorate ten years ago, when the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) authorized Globetree, a Swedish NGO, to run a Children’s Meeting Place on the grounds of the United Nations, Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya. The Meeting Place is a beautiful acacia tree and a unique place where children and the world’s decision makers meet and dialogue the concerns of children.