Kenya

Fall 2019

Jimmy & Nelly and Friends

iU Director, Jim Powell, has always felt the call to Kenya... it’s why his ringtone is “Africa” by Toto. Since he was a young boy, Jim has wanted to see a generation rise up in Kenya to help usher in positive change throughout the country.

This year, he and Nelly, our partner in Kenya, have answered that call — to positively impact the next generation by starting a school, iU Academy.

By partnering with local community leaders and providing a safe space to grow and learn — we believe students will find a path, a purpose, and a life filled with hope. Jimmy and Nelly will be starting a school, iU Academy, as of January 2020.

Nelly has been faithfully leading a program for kids in Soweto, a slum in Kenya, on Saturdays. She does a lesson, snack, and activity for over fifty children each week. Out of these fifty children, she has been able to select seven kindergarteners to begin iU Academy in 2020.

Of course, our goal is to provide a way for all of the kids in her program to attend iU academy, but you’ve gotta start somewhere to get anywhere.

Would you like to teach in Kenya?

Nelly and Jimmy plan to have international teachers go one to three months out of the year to teach at iU Academy. Please click here if you are interested in teaching at the iU Academy in Kenya. 

We know not everyone is prepared to live in Kenya for a few months but would still like to be apart of the iU Academy. Our budget to start iU Academy in 2020 is $24,000 for the year.

This includes covering the space for the school, the teacher’s salary, supplies for the students and teachers, and anything else needed to start a school. We would like to raise this amount by December 2019.

If you would like to donate to the iU Academy, click here and in additional information put “iU Academy” or “Kenya”. We are planning some exciting events to raise funds. As soon as we nail down dates, we will send out flyers so keep an eye out for those!

Trail-Blazers

A small iU team is headed to Kenya in October to help plan the school and document the trip. The team consists of Jimmy, the fearless leader and visionary; David, who has not one but TWO master’s degrees in urban planning; Holly, photographer extraordinaire whose heart breaks for Kenya; and Chelsea, who plans to record everything possible in order to share with you. So be on the lookout for that update in our next newsletter!

Read a letter from Nelly here.