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IT HAPPENED FIVE YEARS AGO... I was among the Maasai at our mission in Emuruadikir, Kenya, during some cele- brations when a thin young man walked up to me, folder in hand, and asked if he could talk to me about his education.


Education in Kenya is free until a child reaches the end of their eighth year (what we would call the end of middle school). Beginning with the freshman year of high school, children in Kenya must pay to go to school. The cost is very expensive by Kenyan standards. The vast majority of peo- ple simply cannot afford it.


It is almost unthinkable that one of the leading states of Africa will not provide its young citizens with a high school education at the state’s expense. To not do so is a crippling handicap to any coun- try because a nation’s most valu- able resource is its children. They are the promise of the future, and they pre-figure what will become of a country in the years ahead.


The name of the young man who approached me in Emuruadikir was Simel Francis. Simel is not the typically tall Maasai, but he towers over most due to his intel- ligence and fortitude. When he approached me five years ago, the folder in his hand contained a personally written presentation di- rected to me. This was a different approach —It was individual, direct, personal and planned. So there we stood in the bush as he made his appeal for help. I im- mediately recognized, given his very limited resources, what de- termination and effort it took for Simel to put these materials


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