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Helping others half a world away - Brattleboro Reformer
While Rev. Michael K. Gantt works in his office, surrounded by photographs of his family and stacks of paperwork, he seems like an ordinary senior pastor living in a small Vermont community.
But what begins in his Agape Christian Fellowship office on Canal Street, ends in a newly re-organized school for the deaf in Kenya. After leading a team to Cameroon earlier in the year, Gantt will depart for Kenya in October with an instructor for deaf children and two assistants in order to help with the evaluation process at the school.
About five years ago, Gantt began participating in a project that sent school supplies and financial support to the Kenya Christian School for the Deaf in Oyugis, Kenya. The school asked him one year if he could provide children's undergarments, which Gantt delivered without any hassle from customs.
Young deaf children in the developing nations of eastern Africa are usually hidden away, many tribes consider it to be a curse, said Gantt. "The children there are the poorest of the poor."
When he first became involved with the school, it was run by a Philippino woman and her Kenyan husband. Gantt, who has made more than 20 trips to the continent since 1991, began supporting the school for the deaf first-hand over the last few years.
In his time in Kenya, the pastor made friends with a local man whose talents were in microbusiness. In November 2006, Gantt approached him about establishing a business at the school in order for the institution to provide their own stable income and to have vocational training for the students.
Through the new business, the school opened a bakery, making as many as 700 loaves of bread each day. The bakery taught deaf students how to make bread, market the product and sell it within the region.
Unfortunately, there was an instance of corruption at the school by the Kenyan owner, who acted unethically while running the bakery after it became very successful, Gantt said.
"I basically found out he was robbing the place blind."
Just as the school was beginning to gain financial independence, the students were struck with neglect, malnutrition and unsafe living conditions after a dishonest handling of the money. To make matters worse, the owner made off with several thousand dollars and most of the baking equipment.
Although times seemed grim, the school managed to relocate under new supervision in Ringa, about 151/2 miles from the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Gantt consulted with officials from the Australia-based charity Deaf Ministries International and had the administrators fired from the institution in Oyugis.
In October, Gantt and his team will touch down at the new facility, known as the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf. The visit will provide him and the team of specialists to spend some time interviewing the teachers and students to ensure the newly re-opened school remains in good condition.
They also hope to re-establish the bakery project at the new school within the next calendar year to continue to provide students with marketable skills.
While checking in on the school is a major reason Gantt is making the trek to Africa, he will also participate in an ordination service for his longtime friend Michael Chege. One of the most influential men in the region, Chege started as a pastor in struggling Banana Hill congregation.
For almost two decades, Gantt has traveled to Africa as many as three times each year to a variety of nations across the continent. He said he enjoys doing hands-on leadership development in struggling countries. The pastor also works to network different agencies in Africa together, everything from medical assistance to educational materials.
Despite the dangers that often come from working in states with unstable regimes, and Gantt has the photos in his office to prove it, he continues to work in countries like Kenya to help their schools to function independently, as so they can someday support and manage themselves without having to rely on foreign aid.
While Rev. Michael K. Gantt works in his office, surrounded by photographs of his family and stacks of paperwork, he seems like an ordinary senior pastor living in a small Vermont community.
But what begins in his Agape Christian Fellowship office on Canal Street, ends in a newly re-organized school for the deaf in Kenya. After leading a team to Cameroon earlier in the year, Gantt will depart for Kenya in October with an instructor for deaf children and two assistants in order to help with the evaluation process at the school.
About five years ago, Gantt began participating in a project that sent school supplies and financial support to the Kenya Christian School for the Deaf in Oyugis, Kenya. The school asked him one year if he could provide children's undergarments, which Gantt delivered without any hassle from customs.
Young deaf children in the developing nations of eastern Africa are usually hidden away, many tribes consider it to be a curse, said Gantt. "The children there are the poorest of the poor."
When he first became involved with the school, it was run by a Philippino woman and her Kenyan husband. Gantt, who has made more than 20 trips to the continent since 1991, began supporting the school for the deaf first-hand over the last few years.
In his time in Kenya, the pastor made friends with a local man whose talents were in microbusiness. In November 2006, Gantt approached him about establishing a business at the school in order for the institution to provide their own stable income and to have vocational training for the students.
Through the new business, the school opened a bakery, making as many as 700 loaves of bread each day. The bakery taught deaf students how to make bread, market the product and sell it within the region.
Unfortunately, there was an instance of corruption at the school by the Kenyan owner, who acted unethically while running the bakery after it became very successful, Gantt said.
"I basically found out he was robbing the place blind."
Just as the school was beginning to gain financial independence, the students were struck with neglect, malnutrition and unsafe living conditions after a dishonest handling of the money. To make matters worse, the owner made off with several thousand dollars and most of the baking equipment.
Although times seemed grim, the school managed to relocate under new supervision in Ringa, about 151/2 miles from the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Gantt consulted with officials from the Australia-based charity Deaf Ministries International and had the administrators fired from the institution in Oyugis.
In October, Gantt and his team will touch down at the new facility, known as the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf. The visit will provide him and the team of specialists to spend some time interviewing the teachers and students to ensure the newly re-opened school remains in good condition.
They also hope to re-establish the bakery project at the new school within the next calendar year to continue to provide students with marketable skills.
While checking in on the school is a major reason Gantt is making the trek to Africa, he will also participate in an ordination service for his longtime friend Michael Chege. One of the most influential men in the region, Chege started as a pastor in struggling Banana Hill congregation.
For almost two decades, Gantt has traveled to Africa as many as three times each year to a variety of nations across the continent. He said he enjoys doing hands-on leadership development in struggling countries. The pastor also works to network different agencies in Africa together, everything from medical assistance to educational materials.
Despite the dangers that often come from working in states with unstable regimes, and Gantt has the photos in his office to prove it, he continues to work in countries like Kenya to help their schools to function independently, as so they can someday support and manage themselves without having to rely on foreign aid.