Exactly 5 years ago today, I was on a trip to Acadia National Park in Maine with my daughters and my niece. I woke up early and worked in the lobby while they slept, putting the finishing touches on the Articles of Incorporation for the Konkourona Alliance Foundation (KAFO), Inc. before sending them out, leading to the birth of KAFO.
At that time, we had planned to build a few elementary school classrooms, build a one room health post, and drill a well in this one remote village. These were manageable projects that we thought we would be funding personally and that could be finished in just a few years.
Soon after KAFO was formed, the community of Konkourona formed the Mami Siara Na Association (MSN) to partner with KAFO to help guide the development efforts. MSN’s leaders communicated with us openly about what they needed most, and it was far more than we ever imagined.
We added housing for teachers, community fountains, a much more comprehensive health center, a library, a pharmacy, latrines, a middle school, a headquarters building, a multi-purpose center, bikes, books and backpacks for students, tutoring, electricity, water towers, and so much more.
All of this would not have been possible without the support of our many friends, colleagues and family members, who reached out to us to see how they could help, and supported us in so many ways. KAFO has grown so much over the past 5 years and accomplished more than we could have ever imagined.
Thank you all for joining us in this journey.