Need jewelry? Indulge yourself without feeling the guilt by going to Annabelle’s Jewelry and Accessories. Annabelle’s is featuring beaded necklaces and bracelets from Envision Kenya, a non-profit committed to expanding educational opportunities in Kenya. 85% of your purchase will go toward funding tuition scholarships for underprivileged children in Kenya.

Envision Kenya was founded by Michigan alumna Annalisa Leibold and her sister Nikola Leibold after they traveled to Kenya last summer. Annalisa and Nikola were volunteers at the Olorien Primary School, a rural impoverished government school in the Kaijiado District of Kenya. The two were impressed, charmed and touched by the students at Olorien.

“These students succeed in learning despite the fact that classes are overcrowded and teachers are overworked…The students have a deep motivation to continue learning and often walk more than an hour each way to the school to take advantage of their free primary education,” Annalisa said.

During their month-long stay in Kenya, it became evident to Annalisa and Nikola that Kenya’s school system is in desperate need of repairs. “Many students cannot afford to continue their education past the eighth grade because secondary school in Kenya is too expensive for poorer members of the community,” Annalisa said, “Some of the brightest students at Olorien, for example, are HIV/AIDS orphans with little to no means of subsidizing their education.”

And so began Envision Kenya. The organization’s main focus is on providing tuition scholarship to students who could not otherwise afford to attend secondary school. While in Kenya, Annalisa and Nikola organized a committee composed of Alex Munyere, the headmistress of Olorien, teachers at Olorien, and some interested parents from the community to help determine which students would benefit most from the assistance, ensuring that the money raised would go to the neediest children.
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For more information, visit Envision Kenya’s website. To donate money to the Olorien Scholarship Project make checks payable to Staff of Hope, with “Envision Kenya” written on the memo line. Send checks to Staff of Hope, 3062 Lone Pine Road, Medford, OR 97504.

Photos courtesy of Envision Kenya.