Directors Journey To Kenya

Ascot Group Director’s Joel Egan and Andrew Kavanagh recently travelled to East Africa with the Edmund Rice Foundation (ERF). Joel and Andrew were participating in the Foundation’s ‘Gone Fishing Program’.
Whilst in East Africa, Joel and Andrew visited existing ERF supported projects located inside the Kibera, Mukuru and Embulbul slums of Nairobi, Kenya.
Kibera is the largest slum in Africa, home to some 1.2 million people. The first steps and a first glance of Kibera does not tell the full story of this extraordinary community. Mark, a Headmaster from WA also participating in the program, summarised it best with the following piece relayed to his school community upon returning:
‘Kibera is not a place people think you can learn from. According to the media and my pre-reading, it is a hopeless place; a place where nothing is good; nothing is happening; a place where the world has abandoned. But when you walk through Kibera and experience life you can see a different picture. There are operating schools and health centres, people sharing the little they have to make a difference in the lives of their neighbours. This is what I learnt about living in a community which may appear dysfunctional in our eyes, but operates on the premise on sharing to survive.
Kibera is full of humanity. Anyone walking in there will notice they love each other; people are friendly because they understand each other’s struggles and do not compete against each other.’
Joel and Andrew have returned from this journey with enlightenment and a commitment to further our support of the great work being undertaken by the Edmund Rice Foundation.
A big thank you to Frankie, Neil, Sally, Ben, Julie, Mark, Illenna, Emily and Marilyn who all shared this journey with us.
We encourage you to visit the ERF website to learn more about how the Foundation is making a difference, not only in Africa but across many other of the poorest regions in the world.
https://erf.org.au/