Oasis of Hope Student Breakfast

For the last two months, Lydia {co-founder of Oasis of Hope--the primary organization I work with in Kitale} and I have been meeting once a week to talk about how we can unite the generations of team members that have fallen in love with the people and programs of Oasis of Hope.

We have TONS of ideas...but the first was to host a breakfast for the Junior High, High School and College students that have visited and worked with Oasis over the years.

We planned and shopped and organized...all for today...and it was a great event!

Last night, 10 of us {Lydia, my incredible friends: Phil, Bre and Chris...and four amazing students: Cory, Elise, Jordan and Ryan and I} worked for hours making sure the place was exactly as it should be for this morning.

I painted this sign...I kinda wish sign-painting were my full-time job.The sign was used to mark the location of the breakfast.
{It really bothers me that the second 's' in Oasis is lower than the first}

The hallway from the front door to the lunch room took students on an experience--from living with a family in Northern Kenya to living on the streets and finally, entering the Oasis compound--which was meant to be the lunch room.
We had printed, cut and laminated a photo of each of the children currently attending the Oasis of Hope Drop-in Centre. Bre made this display for the event.

My incredibly talented friend, Brian Hurst, has designed some beautiful things for us...and this is only the beginning.

He made the pieces of this sign which shows the different programs run by Oasis.
{Phil made this display out of the graphics}

Lydia brought in and posted many of the photos and art projects she has collected over the years...she also made a slideshow of the many, many teams that have visited Oasis.

Brian has been hard-at-work designing some logo options for us.
We hung them on the wall and asked students to vote for their favorite...

Sasha {a gourmet chef who has visited Oasis twice} made a giant, delicious breakfast.
And since it was a beautiful, sunny day, we ate out on the patio.
{One guarantee when you throw a party at a Landscape Company: the outdoor patio will be gorgeous}

We covered each table in brown shipping paper and left a tub of crayons next to a question...it was very fun to see what different people answered; how each person on a team has a unique experience.

This was my favorite table: "What song did you sing most often in Kenya?"

Lydia shared about the history and programs of Oasis.
Geoffrey even called to say hello.

Then Steve shared. His opening line was: "If tears and love and emotions could be converted in to shillings, Oasis would be the most well-funded place in all of Kitale."

At the end of the breakfast, students chose one of the pictures from the wall.
The round picture became the lid to their Mason jar project: "Hoping for Change"
We've asked them to fill-up a jar of change, so that change can bring about life change.

Here are Cory and Elise with their jars.
They chose to pray for P.I.G {"Peter Is Great"} and Lydia, respectively. Chris enjoyed a jar of chocolate milk while we cleaned up.

The breakfast was a success...my hope is that more and more students begin to experience the joy of giving...and thinking outside of themselves.


This last picture has nothing to do with the Oasis breakfast, but I think Scotty is really cute.