Kenyan Ambassador thanks students for charity work
Peter Ogego, the Kenyan Ambassador to the United States, visited Brighton High School last week to thank students for raising money to build dams in Kenya.
“I want to personally thank you for giving a dam,” Ogego said to laughter at an assembly in the school’s auditorium. “I want to tell you I can’t thank you enough and encourage you to continue this great American tradition of giving.”
The student body officers earlier this year selected a charity to which students would contribute money earned through various activities. Students chose the Utah-based non-profit In Our Quiet Way, along with its Give a Dam project.
The students’ fund-raising goal is $48,000, which would provide enough money to build four dams in Kenya. The high school’s first fund-raising event, a silent auction on Oct. 22, yielded $20,000.
The dams built with money given by BHS students will provide a water supply for 50,000 people each year. Brighton students, who will raise money until Dec. 19, also may name the dams.
Canyons School District Superintendent David S. Doty told student that he couldn’t help but think how the word “Canyons” sounds similar to “Kenyans.”
“I hope that we will find ourselves linked for a long time to come,” Doty said.
