We have a new school stove – Update from George Hutchings

On February 24, 2020, we were visiting Juanita School for Girls, in Jungle, Kenya. We had the morning off so we went to see orphan elephants in an elephant orphanage farm in Nairobi.

Jeremiah Gibbs had told me that the school needed a wood burning stove. I asked how much it would cost and he said $1300.00.

I sat down to watch the elephants and a man from Florida sat beside me. We engaged in conversation and the topic went to Vietnam. We had both served and had received The Purple Heart. I told him I was in Kenya to open a school we had built and showed some pictures of the school on my phone.

He asked if we would take donations and I said, “yes, buy me a stove for $1300.” He said okay and we exchanged contact information. Two months later he called and sent me a check for $1500 to include pot and pans and food.

The pandemic hit and we could not travel to Nairobi to purchase the stove. Not the lockdown has been lifted and stove stands proudly in our school’s kitchen as seen in these photos.

Never underestimate an old Vietnam Vet.