What is Daraja? Daraja is a free boarding high school that serves 103 bright and motivated Kenyan girls from low-income backgrounds. This is honestly the most excited I've ever been about a service opportunity. To learn more, you can check out the website and a gorgeous documentary.

How did you get involved? My school (Marin Academy) is sponsoring a student trip to Daraja – we’ve been working since October assembling a group of 14 students to travel to Kenya for 3 weeks starting on June 12th. Though this is the second MA-sponsored trip, it’s the first time I’m going – in fact, this will be my first ever visit to Africa!

How are you fundraising? On Sunday, May 20th, our group will participate in San Francisco’s famous Bay to Breakers 12k race. One cool feature: all of the Daraja girls will run a 12k in Kenya at the same time!

Who’s in the photo? My partner for the race is Joyce Luata (she's on the left). Joyce is 16 years old and has always wanted to be a lawyer, but she and her 14 siblings have struggled to get by ever since her father passed away. After earning the highest grade in her school on her 8th grade national exam, Joyce started at Daraja last year, and she's currently a Form 2 (sophomore). I feel honored to run Bay to Breakers on Joyce's behalf!

What will you do in Kenya? Once we arrive, our group will work on a wide variety of activities, from teaching computer classes to learning Swahili to composting in their garden. Everyone who’s been before just raves about the experience. It's sure to be a rich cultural and educational exchange for all involved - I can't wait!

Sounds great! So where does my money go? All donations will directly benefit Joyce and the 102 other amazing girls at Daraja. As you can see, my goal is to reach at least $1,000. Just $25 buys one girl a school uniform, and $100 provides a student’s meals for an entire month. That said, whatever you can give is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

More donating deets:

1) If you like, you can set the “optional processing fee” to $0, since that money goes to Crowdrise – not Daraja

2) Your donation is tax-deductible  Daraja is part of the Carr Foundation, which is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit

3) If you'd rather write a check, please make it out to "Carr Education Foundation"