For years, the Lipscomb community has partnered with the Made In The Streets organization in Nairobi, Kenya to enrich the lives of impoverished Kenyan natives.

This past July, senior Journalism and New Media major Leslie Newman traveled to Nairobi to capture the essence of the organization by shooting a documentary for Lipscomb Missions called Karibu Kenya: A Journey Through The Streets.

Made in the Streets is an organization that works with street children in Nairobi. The organization offers the opportunity for young people to learn a trade such as sewing or cosmetology and get a free education. It is run primarily by Kenyans.

As for the trip, Newman said that traveling to Kenya for the first time wasn’t the only thing that was nerve-racking.

“I was more terrified of failing to film the documentary than I was traveling far away,” she said. “I also had to have patience during the midst of putting it together.”

Karibu Kenya, which means “Welcome to Kenya,” explained the roles Lipscomb students have when visiting Made In The Streets and how the street kids have been impacted by the organization.

Not only are Lipscomb students able to bond with the natives, but they teach classes based on their major. For example, accounting majors can teach business-related classes while nursing majors teach hygiene-related classes.

After the documentary, Made In The Streets President David Wilson explained how seeing an impoverished community has impacted his life.

“It opened up my eyes to the rest of the world,” he said. “There are thousands of people we can’t take in because of capacity. (In the future), we hope to grow another campus just for skills training.”

Newman hopes that Karibu Kenya will inspire Lipscomb students to embark on a mission trip.

“My goal for this documentary was for students to step in my shoes and experience a little taste of what mission trips and going to Kenya is like,” Newman said.

For more information on upcoming mission trips, visit the Lipscomb Missions website or stop by the Missions Office.

Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Missions

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