Layla and the Daisy Connection

I met Layla Farhat just over two years ago. She was in grade 10 at Philemon Wright High School and her guidance counsellor asked if I could speak to her about my work overseas; told me that she wanted to raise money for kids in the developing world; said she was an amazing kid. We met, she made her connections at her brother's elementary school where she intended to raise a large sum of money, and gave me a packet of letters to take with me when I returned to Kenya in January. My task was to find her a worthwhile project.

Finding needy children in Western Kenya is all too easy, but I wanted to find a project which would be sustainable. Again, there were several, but they had steady sources of funding. Then I discovered Daisy.

The Daisy Centre in Kakamega is a school for mentally and/or physically disabled children, and, more recently, for AIDS orphans. It is a happy place run by a physically challenged headmaster and a committed kind staff of teachers and care givers. In 2006 they were building badly needed dormitories. I decided that Layla's money would be well spent here.



Layla, her older sister Naj, and her younger brother have all been involved in Layla's fund raising projects, as have her friends, and now their group, Sound the Alarm, has been granted official non-profit status. To celebrate they are holding a formal gala at the Best Western Cartier March 14, 2008. All proceeds will go to the Daisy Centre. I will be posting more details later.

When Layla first told me about this, I thought, "What a great way to have fun and do some good," and I thought about the new kitchen Daisy needs, and about the workshops for vocational training.

Then reality hit. Kenya is in crisis. The first and most important need for vulnerable children in Kenya is not better facilities in which to cook food; it is food itself.

The news I am receiving from Kenyan and Canadian friends in Kakamega and the surrounding area is not good. Bullets and tear gas, arson and looting, store closings and fear have become part of daily life. The road between Kakamega and the airport in Kisumu is under siege. The shilling has plummeted and food prices are soaring. The Daisy children need even more help to survive now.

Thank heavens for Layla and the young people she has inspired.