During my time in Kenya with Crossing Thresholds (CT), I fell in love with the students and the community in Kibera. Kibera is home to children who are among the statistically poorest in the world, yet what stayed with me most was their joy. It was a genuine, contagious sense of optimism and pride that exists alongside very real challenges. The students’ curiosity, resilience, and belief in what education can unlock were deeply moving. There is a strength and hope in these classrooms that is impossible to forget, and it reshaped how I think about opportunity, purpose, and what it means to show up for one another.

Kibera is located in Nairobi, Kenya, and is widely recognized as the largest informal settlement in Africa and one of the most densely populated communities in the world. For many families, daily life involves navigating overcrowded living conditions, limited access to clean water and sanitation, food insecurity, and scarce economic opportunity. Limited access to education and consistent nutrition are among the most critical challenges facing the community - and also among the most powerful levers for long-term change.

Crossing Thresholds partners closely with local communities in Kibera to build schools and provide high-quality education, with a focus on academic excellence, leadership development, and creating real pathways to opportunity. At the heart of CT’s work is a belief that education extends far beyond the classroom - empowering students to shape their own futures while also addressing essential needs like daily meals that allow children to learn, grow, and thrive.

This trip touched my heart and inspired me as a cyclist to take on the biggest ride of my life! The distance between my home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and Kibera is 7,300 miles. In 2026, my goal is to ride those 7,300 miles - whether on my bike or on my Peloton - as a way of symbolically closing that distance and honoring the daily journeys CT students make in pursuit of their education.