Dear Sandy and Kenya Youth Team,

My name is Sr. Mae Kierans and I am from North Bay. I was working in Kenya 2004-2008 with Sr. Carolyn Schan in Kibera and Ngong when I first met that amazing woman, Sandy Foster! One of my favourite activities in Kenya was to visit the staff and students at St. Aloysius School at least once a week. In the attached photo I am at the old school giving a class of St. Aloysius students pens donated so they can write their government exams.

I have returned to Canada to help my elderly father in St. John's for as long as he needs me but Sandy has continued to help as much as she can the people we were helping in Kibera and the Nairobi area, especially the children and their mothers. With so much to do, you wonder where to begin, but we just tried to help those we could see right in front of us.

When Sandy told me this morning that she brought you young people to Kenya I was thrilled! I am retired. There isn't much I can do now at my age to change global structures, so I help small groups and individuals in small ways. But you young people have the time and the vision to push for change in the social and political structures in the global community to eliminate the obvious injustices you have just witnessed. We have to start somewhere. If everyone on the planet lived the way we in North America live, we would need two more planet Earths. Won't happen. So we all need to make drastic changes in the way we in North America live ourselves.

Youth going to other parts of this small planet to see the true cost of our North American lifestyle will spread the word and will want to start to make changes so no one on our planet has too much and everyone has enough.

I love it when I hear young people have visited the people on this planet who live in the shadows. You have seen down and dirty what we all need to see. That was very courageous and generous of you! Congratulations to you and to Sandy and all the best!

Mae