Nicole Gaudynek thought it would take months to raise enough money to buy 43 goats to give to widows in Kenya.
Within a month and a half, Oak Park High School students had collected $4,500 — which was enough to buy 43 female goats, two males and two years’ worth of deworming medicine.
Gaudynek, 17, said she was amazed by the support from her school after she and a group of 39 other students and five teachers went to Kenya in March.
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Oak Park High School students have collected $4,500 — enough to buy 43 female goats for widows in Kenya, a country racked by poverty and unrest.
Gaudynek saw flyers around the school for the Thailand trip and London trip offered by the school, but the Kenyan option stood out to her most. It focused on learning about service, unlike other school tours that are meant for sightseeing.
In March, students built fences and steps, painted classrooms, dewormed goats and built a mud house for a widowed mama in East Tsavo during their two-week stay in Kenya.
“I’ve always wanted to go on a trip like that ever since I was little,” she said. “It’s been one of my dreams.”
The student, who will study Grade 12 next year, said she wants to go on similar trips in the future. Gaudynek’s time in Kenya inspired her to continue giving to those less fortunate than herself and change the way she looks at her life.
“I thought I would get culture shock when I was there, but it actually happened when I came back here and realized how much we have here compared to everyone else and like, how miserable everyone here still is even though we have so much,” Gaudynek said. “Then in Kenya, there’s kids who have literally close to nothing and they’re the happiest people in the world.”
Abby Johnston, who completed Grade 11, said she was drawn to the trip for similar reasons.
“To me, it was super impactful that we could be able to kind of help these people instead of just going and being another tourist that they see where we’re just looking at how they live but not helping them,” Johnston, 16, said.
While learning how to bead and make elephant dung paper, the group asked the community matriarch, Mama Mercy, what she would ask for if she had one wish.
“She said she had 43 widows in the community and she would love to provide each of them a goat,” said humanities teacher Darren Klapak. “We kind of looked at each other and said, “Done. We’re going to make this happen.”
Gaudynek and Johnston were excited when the idea was presented to them after they had returned to Manitoba.
“We wanted to help,” Johnston said. “These women were so kind and welcoming to us and we thought if there was anything else we could do for them, we’re on board.”
Each goat cost about 8,000 Kenyan shillings, equivalent to $84. The group started an adopt-a-goat program and had sports teams, groups and individuals buy goats, said Klapak.
It marked the fifth time Oak Park High School ran the trip, with plans for another excursion in two years. They work with Camps International and go to different communities in Africa each year.
The school has sponsored a girl to go to school for four years through Kisaruni Girls Secondary School and has raised money for times of drought in the communities they’ve travelled to.
“(Students) come back with a real understanding of how lucky they are and the position they have in life. There’s a responsibility that comes with that,” Klapak said. “It’s such a small thing for us to do, but it was life-changing for that community, for those 43 widows to have goats that could provide income for them.”
jura.mcilraith@freepress.mb.ca