By Marlena Szymczak Yes, there are good people left in this world; Make their actions known. I had a teacher in high school–Mr. Weiss. I had him for AP Macroeconomics. Yet, when I came into his classroom, he resembled much more than the everyday Econ teacher. He... read more
By Joshua Machinga There is no denying that deeply entrenched gender discrimination creates a bleak outlook for women and community development in rural Kenya. Through our work with village communities, we have realized that for larger payoffs, we have to put... read more
By Joshua Machinga Kitale, Kenya: Last year Elizabeth Namaswa received a small-business loan of $200 from one of Village Volunteers’ alumni volunteers, which she invested in the green banana farming project in her village near Kitale. This project, started by Common... read more
By Blair Sando My ten-week visit to Nepal was nothing short of remarkable … and I have Mountain View Eco Farm to thank for that. Though my journey to Nepal was not easy, after a few short days I began to really dive in to my role on the farm. I began to learn more... read more
BY JOSHUA MACHINGA Common Ground for Africa (CGA) started Lenana Girls High School (LGHS) to help provide quality education for bright, motivated Kenyan girls, who otherwise would not have access to secondary education due to extreme poverty, helping them, their... read more
BY DINA BENNETT Come Along With Me…… Sangita Dey was driven from her village home by profound poverty. Actually, that’s not strictly accurate. Profound poverty didn’t drive her from her home – it drove her to believe a man who came to her village and promised that he... read more
By Emmanuel Leina Tasur John Dewey said “Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.” How true that is. I strongly believe that education in whatever form is a lifelong quest and no one should ever be tired of learning until their day here ends.... read more
This post is written by an iron-willed young woman who refused to let go of her dream of getting an education. Anne Barbara Simiyu is currently a student at the extraordinary Lenana Girls’ High School in Kitale, Kenya, run by our partnering organization Common... read more
By Jeff Loehring I decided to venture to Kenya on September 4, 2013. I had never traveled outside of the United States…so arriving in Nairobi was eye opening and exciting, to say the least. My blood was pumping as I tried to take in the environment around me. No... read more
By Brett Weiss On June 8th I took off from O’Hare Airport on my fourth trip to Kenya in the last 6 years. I was joined by Emily Egan who is a Religion Teacher at St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, IL. I am a Social Studies Teacher at Bartlett High School in... read more
In 2013, a wonderful young man named Sterling Dragoo, a gap year student, was the first of our volunteers to go to Mountain View Eco Farm in Nepal. We are so grateful for this warm and poignant piece that Sterling wrote about his volunteer experience at... read more
By Joshua Machinga The chronic diseases of our era—from heart disease and diabetes to cancer and obesity—have their roots in nutrition. But it’s easily overlooked that nutrition has its roots in agriculture, in the very soil the food is grown in. Healthy soil grows... read more
By Sharon Simaloa Leina I count myself lucky to be a millennial. It is a privilege to be part of a generation that reaps the benefits of centuries of work and struggle around gender and racial equality. I feel that this stage we have arrived at might be the farthest... read more
