Amelia Moore ’14

While many of us spent interterm lounging around and catching up on our favorite television shows, Amelia Moore ‘14 flew to Kenya to volunteer with the non-profit organization Children of Kibera. Kibera is the largest slum of Nairobi, Kenya. “My old history teacher from high school is from Kibera and he was sponsored to go to high school and then later college in the U.S., so he started a program called Children of Kibera, which provides scholarships for the top students in elementary schools to go to good high schools in Kenya.”
 
 
Amelia taught art at the Red Rose School, which provides an educational environment for orphans and children from impoverished families. The Red Rose School does not receive any money from the government and relies on the Children of Kibera and donor gifts. These donations help cover tuition, teacher salaries, and accommodations such as classrooms and libraries.
 
 
Amelia had never witnessed such horrible conditions as the ones in Kibera. Houses were made of mud and tin. Piles of burning trash appeared to stretch on for miles, and feces littered the streets.
 
 
Mercy, one of the students at Red Rose School, took Amelia to visit her house. Mercy is only twelve years old. She lives with her six siblings and aunt (her parents passed away) in a room that is “probably the size of a social bathroom.” They only have one bed, and most of them have to sleep on the floor. They have no electricity or plumbing either.
 
 
Amherst students can get involved and help Children of Kibera by checking out the website http://www.childrenofkibera.orgor the Facebook page. “Really little amounts of money will do a lot,” says Amelia. Just $35 can provide a full school uniform for a child and $100 can purchase five pairs of shoes. $320 dollars pays for one child’s tuition and meals for a whole year, which is extremely important since many of these children do not receive nutrition at home.
 
 
“I really want to go back. It’s a weird feeling flying out of there and feeling like you’re leaving all these girls.” Amelia hopes to be able to Skype with the older girls in Kibera who run a girls club about women’s empowerment. “I’m sure they would like to meet a lot of Amherst girls.” On campus, Amelia tutors with Girls, Inc. and is pursuing an American Studies major. She enjoys practicing art and exercising as well.