Kendall Ciesemier: A Teen with a Vision

A few months ago I had the opportunity to chat with Kendall Ciesemier, the 15-year-old founder of the Kids Caring 4 Kids organization, which provides impoverished African children with food and education. This past September, she appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with former President Bill Clinton, who came to her high school and spoke at a surprise assembly.

Kendall felt moved to fight for justice in fifth grade, when she watched an Africa special on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” about orphans. One girl her age had lost her family to AIDS, and now she carried the responsibility of raising her younger sibling. Compelled by the orphan’s pain and grief, Kendall signed up to sponsor a child through World Vision that day. Later she expanded her sponsorship to include an entire Zambian village. Her charity eventually grew into a nonprofit organization, Kids Caring 4 Kids.

“It’s gotten so much easier for people to join the force to fight AIDS,” Kendall said at a coffee shop in January 2008. She recommended PRODUCT(RED) and the ONE Campaign as examples of other organizations fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS. “These people in Africa are our future. It’s just deciding to take responsibility to change someone’s life.”

Kendall pointed out that it doesn’t take a lot to transform life for a kid in Africa. “Ten dollars, school uniform, right there,” she said. “If [these kids] don’t have ten dollars for a school uniform, they don’t get an education. . . . That can change their life, give them an education for as long as they can fit into the uniform.”

The summer before sixth grade, Kendall, who was born with a liver disease (biliary atresia), went to the hospital for a liver transplant. She ended up spending most of her summer there, asking family and friends to donate to her cause instead of buying her gifts.

Kendall triumphed over the disease; now she says her hard experiences help her relate to kids in Africa. “I feel empathy for them,” Kendall said. “I know how they feel and I want to help.”

Kendall, who has raised $680,000 so far, also stressed the importance of channeling empathy into action. “Teens have to find a cause they’re passionate about,” she said. “You have to get in contact with people and see how you can help.”

She pointed out that teens don’t have to launch an organization to change the world, and then added, “It can start with people at your school. There’s always people in school—even knowing who’s the loner in your science class and asking them to be your partner. You can change their life. High school is a hard time . . . but that in itself is enough to make a difference.”

Read my full coverage of Kendall’s story here on the Chicago Tribune's TribLocal.com.

HOW YOU CAN HELP KIDS CARING 4 KIDS AND AFRICA

• Visit Kendall’s web site at www.kidscaring4kids.org. You can donate to her organization, buy a Kids Caring 4 Kids T-shirt, or write to her through her online guest book.
• Recruit friends to support Kids Caring 4 Kids through the Facebook Causes application. You can find the Kids Caring 4 Kids Cause page here.
• Check out how you can get involved in World Vision at worldvision.org.

Letters from Faizo of Kenya

Here are a couple of letters I just got from Faizo, the child I sponsor through Kenya Children's Fund. A few words of explanation: "P.S. Kevin" has the "P.S." in it because I wrote it on the bottom of the page as a P.S., and it never occurred to me that Faizo might think it was part of my brother's name! Also, there are a lot of references to Christmas because it takes a few months to get the letters through the mail.

Please feel free to share your child sponsorship letters in the comments! :)

"Dear Catherine Newhouse,

I hope you are fine and well too. I thank God for keeping us alive including your family and friends there. May God help you in your work and strengthen your heart too.

I am glad and happy for the Christmas gifts. You are so caring and may the Lord God bless your work and add you more as we live in this world.

My family are so glad with you and they bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite being happy, I too enjoyed my Christmas holiday by buying the Christmas gifts you had offered to me.

During the Christmas holiday I received twenty-five dollars which really helped me enjoy and share with my family and friends too. I bought the following items including clothings, school items and food stuffs too. I bought a school bag, shirt, inner ware, tea leaves, sugar, wheat flour, maize flour, bar of sopa, cooking fat and two toilet papers.

I ask God Almighty to bless your work and keep you safe for the rest of your life. Good bye!

Your sponsored child,
Faizo"

"Dear Catherine Newhouse,

"Hallo dear!" I hope you are fine and well too. I hope Jessica, P.S. Kevin together with Cat are well and fine too. It is pleasure for me to see them sending in letters which are very interesting and amusing.

It is so well and fine that God has kept us alive and safe. Many wished to be alive but they are not.* That isn't something to worry us for the Lord our God knows why He created us and we should appreciate that.

I'm happy for sending me letters, photographs from geographical world and stickers too which are very attractive and eye catching. May God bless you for that and I pray to you always for the blessings of the Lord to shower your heart and life too together with the lives of your friends and families.

Although there isn't something to send you back I will only say thanks for the many Christmas and Happy New Year gifts. They are attractive and interesting to see. They reflect one's eyes and make you happy whenever your heart hardens.

I too appreciate the writings from Cat for she is really a writer as she pleaded in her letter and may God bless her so much for I would like to see some of her writings.

Biblical scriptures from P.S. Kevin were really good and blessings too. May the Lord our God bless him. Let all of you be blessed, your work, families, and life too.

Your sponsored child,
Faizo"

*Here Faizo is referring to the post-election violence in Kenya, which you can read about here.

Alek Wek: The Sudanese Refugee Turned Fashion Star

Guest blogger Keri S. from Wheaton, Illinois wrote this week's Teens with a Vision blog.

After finishing Alek Wek’s autobiography Alek: From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel, I was astonished. What she went through, the odds she overcame, were unbelievable. Not only did she survive the Sudanese violence in her childhood, but also she succeeded in breaking into the fashion industry and making a name for herself.

Alek was born in Wau, in the southern Sudan. She enjoyed a few years of peace with her family until war broke out. Between the ruthless militia armies and the unstable government, there was no one to be trusted and no place considered safe. After running from their homes for fear of being killed, the Wek’s fled to their tribal relatives. During this time, the health of Alek’s father was steadily deteriorating because of a hip surgery he had. It worsened to the point that the Wek family decided to return to Wau and try to catch a plane to Khartoum. The journey back was long, and treacherous; the whole family was on foot. Even after they made it to Khartoum, their situation was not much better. Her father’s condition eventually claimed his life. Left with her mother, brothers and sisters, they again decided to relocate to a safer place. Alek and her sister went to London to stay with other family.

For Alek, who had only seen two flushable toilets her whole life, flying to London was a terrifying experience. Even upon arriving in London and reuniting with her older sister, Ajok, she was still incredibly disoriented. After being thrown into “modern” life, Alek decided to get a few odd jobs to pay for her sister’s kindness. It was at one of these jobs (working in a café), that Alek was spotted by a model agent. Again, her world changed drastically. She began her modeling career a little unsure of what to expect. She was afraid that she would be taken advantage of. Even her mother, who had finally made it to London, was unsure about the situation. With strong persuasion, Alek and her mother finally came around.

Alek’s modeling career started out slowly. Designers and photographers were afraid to use a face as exotic as hers. She began to lose hope and almost left the agency because it was not going anywhere. It was only after an amazing shoot with Steven Meisel from Italian Vogue that her career began to change. Although go-sees (when models visit designers and photographers to be noticed) still filled her days, people began to take interest in her appearance. Her biggest break came when Elle magazine decided to take a chance and put her on the cover. The copy sold millions and Alek was a hit. Newspapers reported that it challenged the traditional conceptions of beauty. Alek benefited greatly from all the press. Larger names like Chanel and John Galliano hired her for shoots and runways. After a few years, Alek decided to use her supermodel status for a good purpose. With a film crew, she returned to the Sudan. Her efforts have greatly increased awareness about the grave situation in the Sudan.

Today Alek graces the pages of the most glamorous magazines, and walks the catwalk for the biggest names in fashion. She still lives in New York and has her own handbag line, Wek 1933: the name of her father and the year he was born. Even though Alek has reached superstardom, she still remembers that she only barely escaped death because of her family’s strength.

Alek Wek has started her own nonprofit organization, W.E.K. Working to Educate Kids. Read about it at alek-wek.com.