Does it really make a difference? Does the high cost of traveling to Kenya outweigh the benefits of donating the same amount of cash?  Couldn’t CT find locals to do ‘what volunteers do’ and in many cases do it better?
These are all worthy questions, and worthy of reflection. So why do we dare to argue that it’s incredibly important for us to run volunteer trips? Here are 3 reasons that stand out:

• Most good people have a remarkably limited understanding of global poverty. In stark terms, the world is populated with more than a billion people living in abject poverty. The cause of their poverty is nothing more than accident of birth. Traveling to Kenya and befriending the poor is guaranteed to broaden our sense of connection to the human family. At the same time, it is a vitally important learning experience for anyone who aspires to be a global citizen.
  
• To be a human being is to care about and to work for the well-being of others. A CT trip is designed to enlighten our shared purpose as human beings. While the focus is on building schools for under-served children, the broader objective is for individuals to bring the gift of energy, experience, insight, and talent to lift up the world’s children and be lifted up in the process. 
  
• Each time CT returns to Kenya with a group of volunteers, the teachers and children seem surprised and delighted that we have come back. They speak often of how much returning volunteers motivate, encourage and inspire them. It is a simple reminder that someone is thinking about them, someone wants a better life for them, and someone is committed to that end. It is the power of relationships. It is the heartbeat of Crossing Thresholds. 
  

So PLEASE join us on a CT trip. Learn more about the world. Share your talent. Build relationships that strengthen the web of life. Everybody will be better for it.   

Carter Via
Executive Director            

“If You Can Make a Difference You Have a Responsibility To Do So”
 
In 2004 I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to lead the New Canaan YMCA as it’s new CEO. In the spirit of the YMCA’s mission I set a goal of having an international partnership with a international organization that had a similar mission. I envisioned a very affluent community partnering with or adopting an organization that served a very impoverished community in another country.
 
Along came Crossing Thresholds who thought that vision could become a reality by suggesting we explore a partnership with a small branch of the Kenya YMCA that was in the heart of Kibera.
 
Through email, Skype, and phone a relationship was built with Simeon Ajigo, the then Executive Director of the Kibera YMCA. At the encouragement of Crossing Thresholds a trip to Kibera was planned and several months later off we went.
 
Like all who see Kibera for the first time,  we were shocked by the level of poverty, the lack of hope, and the bleak living conditions that we saw. What was unimaginable was seeing children trying to survive in this environment. Thriving was not an option.
 
We came home, our lives changed forever, and I promised my commitment and our Y’s commitment to Simeon Ajigo and the Kibera YMCA.
 
As time passed Simeon kept his passion in helping the children of  Kibera but now with a different organization that he founded called Facing The Future (FAFU). The New Canaan YMCA followed him.
 
For the rest of my tenure at the Y, we continued to support FAFU financially. We were making a difference. Another trip with Crossing Thresholds was executed and our commitment and support grew. Each trip reinforced our responsibility to make a difference.
 
I always felt that we could do more. But operating a large Y and serving many constituencies can allow you to do only so much. It was unsettling to me that I could not focus more on the youth trying to survive in Kibera.
 
My tenure recently came to an end at the New Canaan YMCA. Time to retire, I did my part with Kibera but felt not enough. Unfinished business.
 
As fate would have it, Crossing Thresholds reached out to me to see if I wanted to work with them where there was one mission; creating hope and giving opportunity for children in Kibera.
So from retirement to semi-retirement my passion to help the youth of Kibera stays alive.
 
After all: “ If you can make a difference you have the responsibility to do so!”

Craig Panzano
Chief Operating Officer

My first interaction with Crossing Thresholds (CT) was in 2011. From that time forward when I hear of the word Crossing Thresholds, I reminisce on the great work they do to transform my community through education and providing sustainable opportunities to all.

I am inspired and grateful for the generosity of CT that has reached and healed wounds that only the act of compassion and love can heal. Their proactive efforts to respond consistently and find solutions will never be taken for granted.
To echo the words of a wise soul, "No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others – those who are wise acknowledge this help with gratitude."

I will not give myself the credit for being a wise soul at this juncture in my life. But with utmost confidence, I want to recognize Crossing Thresholds for its enormous support that has immensely contributed to my success in life today.

As a grateful beneficiary, I have been fortunate to be part of their scholarship program that helped me obtain my Bachelors Degree in Communications. Similarly, I have worked with them on various community projects that have been deeply satisfying and impactful.

One of the projects that positively impacted my professional growth was working on the film crew for Light Within the Cracks -- a documentary that showcased life in the Kibera Slum, directed and produced by Philip Ennis, Senior Producer at Phillip Ennis Production, a brilliant, creative individual.

Through Crossing Thresholds, I was also given the opportunity to work with a partner organization, the Wangari Maathai Foundation -- a not-for-profit organization in Kenya dedicated to nurturing young people to be leaders of courage and character. Through their connection with Crossing Thresholds, they are working to bring value-based education to CT schools and to raise environmental awareness for the children. In the face of the global environmental crisis, this is a critically important initiative.
 
Lastly, I am delighted that through the ten years of friendship with Crossing Thresholds, I am now their social media coordinator!! I am beyond excited to share with the world the great work that CT is doing.

Mercy Otieno
CT Social Media Coordinator

Two years ago, I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya on my first service trip with Crossing Thresholds to begin a  robotics program at the FAFU Primary School and the WERU High School. As I was preparing to teach a  class at WERU, Teacher Dedan handed me a box of chalk. I jokingly asked what this was for, and let him  know I had not used chalk in my classes in many years! At Byram Hills HS where I teach, we use  PowerPoints, projectors, and web-based instruction. One of the most striking disparities in their schools  was the lack of technology in both the educators' presentation vehicles and the students' lack of  educational interaction with computers. It was then I felt the need to help the educators and students  begin to develop a more technology-based institution. 

Looking back on our multi-faceted initiative to integrate technology into the schools, I cannot believe  ‘how far we have come’. We partnered with the Microsoft Corporation to develop the teacher’s ability  to utilize technology in the classroom, and now have Office 365 licenses for faculty members and students in all four schools. FAFU has developed an E-Learning Center, has WIFI connectivity and is  utilizing projectors and PowerPoint instruction in two classrooms. Also, the students have begun  computer literacy training and have learned the basics of computer use. WERU has WIFI as well, and has  two multi-media classrooms in use. Two other Crossing Thresholds schools have been given projectors,  computers and have begun training on their use in the classrooms. And last but not least, S’Cool Sounds  is now beginning to develop a pilot program for remote music instruction and tech-based programming in each of our schools. None of this would have been possible without the added support from generous  donors and service organizations at Byram Hills HS.  
Last month, I traveled back to Kenya and was extremely pleased with the progress of the program in all the  schools. The students and faculty are so excited about this initiative! I taught over 290 students during  my week-long visit and held numerous teacher training sessions. As the PowerPoints and YouTube  videos of the lessons appeared on the screen, the attention and excitement grew with the students. The educators were equally enthusiastic as they discovered the benefits for everyone involved.  

As I walked out of Kibera to catch my flight to the United States, one of the teachers (Teacher Fred)  asked if I was going to cancel my flight and stay a bit longer. I told Fred I couldn’t stay now, but I would  be back as soon as I could. It was a poignant moment – my heart was open and grateful. And I thought to  myself, what an extraordinary gift to be a part of something that has come so far, and has already touched so many lives, not least of which is mine.

Ken Kaplan
Educator, CT  Volunteer, Technology Liaison, Chess Club Facilitator