The Kenya Project

building homes for widowed women and their children 

"Thanks to your purchases, Pink Tool Belts, has built a total of six homes for widowed women and their children in Kenya, Africa. We're excited that a new home, for Lucy and her daughter, is scheduled to break ground soon.

The inspiration behind The Kenya Project began in 2007 during my two-week experience on Mfangano Island in Kenya where my daughter and I built homes for widowed women and their children. Day after day, I watched so many amazing women get up before sunrise and trek to the nearby lake to bring water back to their homes to start their day. After they cooked breakfast, they would sweep their dirt floor (if they were lucky enough to have a shelter to live in), start taking clothes down to the lake to wash, and continue to walk back and forth between the lake and their village to carry 5 gallon buckets of water balanced carefully on their heads. I had the pleasure of becoming friends with some of these beautiful ladies who I believe are the ultimate DIY women! Watching them work so hard to change the cycle of poverty and illness that has held them captive for so many years prompted me to seek out a way to provide them with ongoing support and encouragement.

When I returned home to California, I began looking for a way to fund the building of more homes for more women in Kenya. That's when I discovered Pink Tool Belts for sale on Craigslist and purchased the company from the original founder. Thanks to the profits from Pink Tool Belts sales, we've been able to build a total of six homes in Kenya by sending proceeds to an organization that manages the construction of these homes - The Lakeside Lampstand C.B.O. Ministry. We felt blessed in early 2010 when this organization honored our efforts, and their resulting impact, by naming their building program The T.I.E.S.A. Project, which stands for The Terri Ikeda Earnest Service Africa Project.

We are so fortunate to be a part of The Kenya Project and have found true inspiration from everyone who supports it, nourishes it, and helps it grow. At Pink Tool Belts, we believe that if you own a Pink Tool Belts product you should wear it proudly knowing that while you're hard at work - gardening, crafting, styling, riding, building, or finding new uses for your Pink accessories - a part of your purchase is hard at work building a home for another deserving Kenyan woman just like Dorcas, Martha, or Treezer."

Terri Ikeda

Owner, Pink Tool Belts

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