This is a colossal thank you to Elgin and vicinity residents, businesses, churches, and others for helping to catapult a fledgling Kenyan school, some 8,000 miles away, into a resounding success.
It all started in early 2024 with a phone call to Rick and Jane Schuchardt, rural Elgin organic farmers, from East Coast friends Ed and Suzanne Koucheravy with a request. Would we host a young, energetic man from Kisumu, Kenya wanting to learn environmentally friendly, sustainable, small-scale food production practices?
Engaging in a jam-packed schedule of hands-on learning and fun, Elly Opondo along with the Koucheravys, were in rural Elgin for an extended stay in September of 2024. That’s when the magic of generosity with sustainable benefit began.
Inspired by his elderly ‘mum’, who was feeding hungry children from a large pot over an open fire in her backyard about five years ago, Opondo started a school and feeding program primarily for the Luo Tribe (one of some 45 ethnic communities in Kenya). The St. Jerome Emiliano Preparatory School, which provides pre-primary and early primary education, is part of the St. Jerome Emiliano Centre, a community-serving project also offering basic health care and adult education.
Today, the school serves about 270 young children who trudge through dusty, rocky terrain that turns into slippery slopes during the March torrential rainy season.
Many come from squalor huts with floors and reinforced walls of dirt and a tin roof over their heads. Water is carried from a murky lake in clumsy containers on the backs of children or donkeys, sometimes strapped to beat-up motorcycles.
Thanks to the Elgin Public Library which purged its holdings to make room for the new, hundreds of children’s books were donated. The children, most of whom are trilingual (English, Swahili, and native tongue) now have a library with shelves and a check-out system.
Thanks to Elgin’s Sandi Henn and Bethany Miller, who both sell chicken eggs locally, the school now produces nearly all of its eggs as a valuable protein source for the children. Previously, all eggs were purchased with donations, definitely not a sustainable practice for the long haul.
For some little ones, the school lunch program is the only substantial meal they get each day. On weekends, there is a backpack program to send children in need home with a loaf of bread made at a new bakery at the school.
Thanks to knowledge gained from Nebraska Extension, the chicken manure goes on the new tiered gardens used to grow fresh vegetables such as cabbage and kale. Ugali, a thick cornmeal porridge, is a staple there and provided at most every meal as well.
Though near Lake Victoria, water was desperately needed at the school for drinking, cooking, and hygiene. Thanks to the faith community at Immanuel Zion Lutheran Church (IZ), rural Albion, Opondo used donated funds to purchase and install a rainwater catchment system and giant storage tanks. A well project is in process to bring fresh water to the school and community as a supplement to rainwater.
Thanks to training by Linda Kerkman, Elgin, who is a whiz at creating sturdy, absorbent diapers from castoff cotton tee-shirts, IZ made 180 diapers as part of a “God’s Work, Our Hands” effort. Kerkman also provided a how-to video so students could learn to sew by making diapers. Several vintage Singer sewing machines came to the school from another donor.
How do books and diapers get shipped to Kenya? Thanks to the Elgin Bargain Box for a grant to cover some of the postage and the Elgin Post Office for expert assistance getting the boxes to their destination.
The Bargain Box also donated clothes and school supplies that Opondo hand-carried via air travel back to his homeland.
This is not a complete list of all the welcoming support this community extended to Opondo during his visit. In March of 2025, the Schuchardts and Koucheravys traveled to the school and experienced life in a Luo community firsthand, as guests, not tourists. This March, Opondo met with them via WhatsApp video chat to give an update.
In addition to Elgin and vicinity contributions, the Koucheravys’ received kudos for seed funding for an indoor food preparation facility and another building. The latter is awaiting furnishings so children can enjoy their school lunch seated under cover from the scorching sun and, in season, the pouring rain. Previously the food was cooked outside over an open fire, children ate standing up or perched on rocks, and tableware was washed in pots on the ground.
During the March 2025 visit, Suzanne Koucheravy, a scoliosis therapy expert, gave a powerful presentation to health professionals on causes and mitigation. The St. Jerome Emiliano Preparatory School also includes a health facility designed by a Catholic nun. People of all ages, primarily suffering from malaria and respiratory issues, come from miles around for care.
Bubbling over with excitement and sporting a broad smile, Opondo asked that the people of Elgin and vicinity be sincerely thanked. These Kenyan children have a bright future as a result to your generosity.
