The Story

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One Way Out was born from a visit to Kenya in January 2009, a wild hair so to speak, a desire for a real and raw cultural immersion experience.  The plan was to go on an adventure and come home.  Period.

During my visit I met many orphans, but one child, Kevin, reached out for help just days before I was to leave his village.  In his letter he asked that I buy him a pair of shoes so that he could walk with me to my country.

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Kevin lost both of his parents to AIDS and was living with his elderly widowed grandmother, Mama Maria.  His grandmother lost several of her children to AIDS and was left caring for six or more surviving grandchildren and a disabled daughter-in-law.  Some of the grandchildren, including Kevin, participated in a feeding program at Dago Dala Hera Orphanage, but even so, food was scarce and it wouldnt be unusual for Kevin to have just a cup of porridge in a day.

     

Kevin is a bright child, but the education he was receiving at the local government-run primary school was poor at best and the chances of him continuing school beyond the eighth grade were slim.  And so I made the decision to pay for Kevin to attend a private boarding school located in a nearby town. This would not only provide Kevin with a roof over his head, clothes on his back and food in his stomach, but would also give him a higher quality education and the chance to continue his education beyond  primary school.   In my mind it was simply giving him a chance in life.

     

Upon returning home I naturally shared my Kenya stories with friends and family, including the story of Kevin.  Within months three more children were sponsored and more friends were expressing an interest in helping the orphans. I realized something needed to be put in place to better manage these sponsorships and began to consider starting a non-profit.
     

Less than a year after my first adventure, I returned to Kenya and brought my husband, son and daughter with me.  There we spent the most meaningful Christmas Day of our lives, playing in the rain and having a very special treat of biscuits and juice with the orphans of Dago Village.  During this trip we were able to identify and document over 80 orphaned and vulnerable children in Dago and realized that starting the non-profit was now a certainty.  The following year One Way Out became a North Carolina Corporation and registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization
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One Way Out is a North Carolina Corporation and a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization.