Jude Ndambuki may have left Kenya for the United States more than 10years ago tofurther his education and earn a living for his family, but he never forgot his home country. That is most evident through the loaded 40-foot containers filled with refurbished computers that he has found and sent back to Kenya’s schools every year since 2001.
The 51-year-old Ndambuki, who has worked for The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY for much of his time in the U.S. after previously working as a teacher at a local school in Kenya, first began sending computers as part of the Help Kenya Project he founded in 2001 to help find ways to improve education and put an end to poverty in his home country.
“The children in Kenya have very few resources; even a pencil is very hard to get,” Ndambuki told CNN after he was recognized as one of the CNN Heroes in which they assigned him the title of “Defending the planet.”
“Being one of the kids who actually experienced very dire poverty in Kenya, I feel any part that I can play to make the life of kids better, I better do it,” he added.
In addition to the 2,000 computers that Ndambuki has been able to send to schools, his Help Kenya Project has also provided other valuable assets to schools, including 15,000 books and 20 pieces of medical equipment, according to the project’s website.
Also, instead of asking for any type of assistance from the recipients of the computers, the project asks that they plant 100 trees for every computer they receive. According to CNN more than 150,000 trees have been planted in relation to the Help Kenya Project.
“While I’m doing this project, I feel so much connection with the kids in Kenya,” Ndambuki told CNN. “I’m not just gone to America to enjoy the good life. This has been a very nice bridge for me so that I can feel I’ve not left them.”
