The whole PA-MOJA family is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Leigh Vierstra on Sept 29th, 2024. Not only was she an integral part of our organization but she had the most incredible positive energy and attitude for life. Below you will find a short interview with Leigh from 2022 for a project called “This is PA-MOJA“. The exhibit featured interviews and photos with the main people from Kenya, Canada and the US who either ran the organization or who benefited from PA-MOJA scholarships and programs.
On what turned out to be Leigh’s last trip to Kenya in 2023, she got to see the exhibit be displayed and then showcased in a full day event with students, OPC staff, the PA-MOJA team and other local stakeholders. She also worked with many OPC staff, visited scholarship students, enjoyed game drives including a night game drive for the first time, and of course, spent time at her beloved Pelican House. We will forever miss her energy, enthusiasm, wit and brilliance. However, our memories and the influence she had on all of us will be with us forever.
If you would like to donate in Leigh’s memory, please click the link below. All proceeds will go to paying school fees for students who live around the Ol Pejeta Conservancy to attend high school. PA-MOJA is partnered with the Langley School District Foundation (LSDF) who support our work and issue tax receipts. When you click the DONATE button below, you will be taken to the LSDF page on the CanadaHelps website.
2022 Interview for the “This is PA-MOJA” exhibit.
Leigh is an educator and an integral member of the PA-MOJA team. She first discovered PA-MOJA in 2013. After her mother died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Leigh wanted to challenge herself with an adventure to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. She decided to fundraise for an organization that aligned with her goals to support education and wildlife. Leigh found PA-MOJA online through the Ol Pejeta Conservancy website and that same summer visited OPC, met the PA-MOJA team and joined the organization.
On her return to Madison East High School, she decided that it would be a great educational opportunity for her students to travel to Kenya and experience another culture. The inter-urban school where Leigh taught high school Social Studies had a high poverty rate. Most students could not afford airfare to Kenya, so Leigh and the students fundraised to make it possible. Their hard work paid off, as they raised over $100,000. Leigh has taken three student groups and one group of educators to Kenya to learn and experience the culture, wildlife, beauty and challenges.
The Madison East School group stayed at the Rift Valley Adventure Camp, on the OPC grounds, where Kenyan students joined them for mountain biking, rock climbing, cliff jumping, wildlife safaris, and campfires under the Kenyan night sky. It was a genuine exchange of culture, shared experiences, connections, and team / friendship building. Madison East students also spent a day and night at a Kenyan secondary boarding school where they attended classes, ate meals, and slept in a dorm. Kenyan students usually wake at 4am! Though they let the US students sleep in until 6am. The cultural immersion was eye opening for the US students because simple differences in human interactions, like spatial relational awareness, became topics of conversation. They also were able to challenge racial stereotypes, learn about customs, and appreciate new food choices, every day.
One of the reasons that Leigh appreciates PA-MOJA is because it gives the decision making to local elders and leaders for all initiatives and scholarships and therefore Kenyans dictate what is best for their own communities.