By Yehudah Kimani
Read more: A Family Mitzvah Trip to Kenya
Yehudah Kimani is the leader of the Kehillat Kasuku Jewish community in Kenya. Born and raised in the city of Eldoret, he has been working with this Jewish community since 2012. Yehudah’s main role is to connect his small Jewish community to other Jewish communities around the world, and to work on community establishment and development. Yehudah also raises funds to help disadvantaged children be able to attend school.
It was a warm evening when our guest family from the USA, with whom I had only connected a few months before, arrived and was welcomed by my wife Miriam and me to Kehillat Kasuko in Kenya. After planning with Kulanu and the family for days and weeks for the special social hall and kitchen project, we were so excited to have them here with us. We were also very grateful that this family’s friends and relatives joined them in supporting our project to celebrate Wyatt’s bar mitzvah.
It was a special time for both our guest family and Kenya’s Kehillat Kasuku Jewish community. We shared so much about our lives and experiences from our two different countries. We showed them around the community and we received gifts that they brought especially for the education of the children of Kehillat Kasuku.
I remember that Eric and Michelle mentioned that they would like to participate in the building of the social hall and kitchen, so we gave them a chance to do so. On the second day, it was well-organized so that Eric and his son Wyatt, the bar mitzvah boy, joined other workers carrying cement blocks to the building site. Michelle joined the women to prepare food for the workers, about forty people. It was a beautiful lunch that showed our appreciation to our community and all the workers who were of many different faiths. We felt that this was a Wyatt and his family have set a very good example for other organizations and families around the world who would like to do a mitzvah project for Kulanu communities that need them. The social hall and kitchen will be of much help. We look forward to being able to use our new larger space for cooking in all different kinds of weather—now that we don’t have to cook out of doors anymore—and having a large hall for all our events, parties, services, and our seders. Wyatt and his family will always be a special part of our community and we will always treasure our memories of our time together here. When we received the plaque to put on the building, and especially the mezuzah, we could finally say “everything is done!” Our sincere thanks go to Wyatt, Michelle, and Eric. We will always cherish the day we met.
Read more: A Family Mitzvah Trip to Kenya