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When 9-year-old Jake and 7-year-old Luke Smith went to Kenya with their parents and others from their Menlo Park church in late October, they brought gifts for 230 orphans attending a school there, including a backpack for every student.
What the boys, both students at Oak Knoll School, returned with was even more important, though, said their mom, Jen Smith: memories of an experience that will last a lifetime.
Along with the backpacks, 110 of which were collected by Oak Knoll students, the boys brought pen pal letters from some of their classmates.
For the eighth-graders at Achungo, who will soon graduate and go off to high school, the backpacks were filled with the supplies needed for their new schools.
The brothers shared their experiences with their fellow Oak Knoll students a few days after their return. In the presentation, Jake said the orphans at Achungo “were the happiest people I ever met, even though they had very little.”
Luke said he loved being able to give out the backpacks. “It felt so good to work together in our school and do something for kids all the way across the world,” he said.
Jake said he and his family learned from those they met in Kenya “about living in community and having true joy.”
Luke ended the presentation by saying: “Our hearts will forever be changed.”
Jake later said his favorite part of the trip was playing soccer with the Achungo students. “They all just wanted to play,” he said. “They were so good at it.”
They were good, he added, despite their equipment. “Their soccer balls, most of them, were made out of plastic bags,” he said. “And cups,” Luke said.
Among wild animals they saw in Kenya were hippo, crocodile, giraffe, zebra, water buffalo, gazelle, elephant and lion. And, they just happened to drive by at the exact moment to see “an elephant having a baby,” Jake said.
The trip was organized through the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, led by the church’s Monte Fisher, who is executive director of Achungo Community Center, U.S.
Mr. Fisher leads teams of volunteers to the center twice a year, in June and October. In addition to Jen and Nate Smith (Luke and Jake’s parents), four other volunteers participated in the trip.
The Achungo center is in rural Kenya near Lake Victoria. The school’s students range from 2-year-olds to those in the eighth grade.
In additional to their memories, the two Menlo Park boys brought back 70 letters from the Kenyan students to their new California pen pals. Oak Knoll students were eagerly writing back, said Teacher Renee Lavezzo.
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Oak Knoll student Chiharu picks up a thank-you letter from an orphan in Kenya. Oak Knoll students received letters from pen pals at the school after collecting and sending backpacks to Kenya. Michelle Le/The Almanac -
Oak Knoll students received these thank-you letters from pen pals in Kenya who each received a new backpack collected by the Oak Knoll students and delivered by two brothers from the school. Michelle Le/The Almanac -
Luke Smith reads a thank-you letter from an orphan in Kenya for a backpack he and his brother Jake recently helped to deliver after the backpacks were collected by Oak Knoll students. Michelle Le/The Almanac -
From left to right, Jack, Kianne and Valen read a thank-you letter from an orphan in Kenya, at Oak Knoll Elementary School. Oak Knoll students received letters after sending backpacks to an orphanage in Kenya. Michelle Le/The Almanac -
An Oak Knoll student works on a letter to a pen pal at an school in Kenya where two brothers from the school recently delivered 230 backpacks. Michelle Le/The Almanac -
Luke Smith, left, and his brother Jake respond to thank-you letters from orphans in Kenya. The brothers brought 230 backpacks to students at a rural Kenyan school in October. Michelle Le/The Almanac -
Students at Achungo School in rural Kenya show off the new backpacks brought to them by Menlo Park students Jake and Luke Smith. Photo by Jen Smith. -
Eighth-grade students at Achungo School in rural Kenya show off the new backpacks brought to them by Menlo Park students Jake and Luke Smith. The eighth-graders’ backpacks were filled with all the supplies they will need for high school. Photo by Jen Smith. -
Students at the Achungo School in rural Kenya with Jake Smith, 9, who visited with a group from the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. Photo by Gary Shaffer. -
Luke Smith, 7, with a student at the Achungo school in rural Kenya. He and his brother recently visited the school, which is attended by 230 orphans, with their parents and a group from the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. Photo by Gary Shaffer. -
Students at Achungo School in rural Kenya with Oak Knoll students Jake (blue shirt) and Luke Smith (back right). Photo by Gary Shaffer.
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