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STLPR reporter connects with Kenyan-born teens from St. Louis during their service trip

Geoffrey Soyiantet, Sally Gacheru and Gracemary Nganga compare their Kenyan beed bracelets. Several teens from the St. Louis area are now in their home country of Kenya for about two weeks through Soyiantet's Vitendo4Africa organization.
Ryan Delaney | St. Louis Public Radio
Geoffrey Soyiantet, Sally Gacheru and Gracemary Nganga compare their Kenyan beed bracelets. Several teens from the St. Louis area are now in their home country of Kenya for about two weeks through Soyiantet's Vitendo4Africa organization.

Updated Aug. 20 with follow-up conversation: On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh spoke with St. Louis Public Radio education reporter Ryan Delaney upon his return from travels in Africa, where he caught up with some fellow St. Louisans.

Listen to their conversation:

Original story from Aug. 10:

Education reporter Ryan Delaney
Credit Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Education reporter Ryan Delaney

On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh talked briefly with St. Louis Public Radio education reporter Ryan Delaney, who is currently traveling in Uganda after spending time in Kenya and Rwanda.

While in Kenya, he connected with a group of Kenyan-born teens from St. Louis who are back in their home country on a service project.

“It’s been quite the homecoming and reunion for them,” Delaney said over the phone from Africa.Host Don Marsh talks with reporter Ryan Delaney, who is currently in Uganda.

“They’re going to get to see their families early next week and over this weekend,” the reporter explained, adding that for some of the teens it’s their first time back to Kenya. “But these are kids who count themselves incredibly lucky that their families won green cards through a very competitive lottery system to move to the United States, and they’re going through a mentorship program with some older African and Kenyan immigrants in the St. Louis area.”Delaney said the service trip “was all their idea” and that they have helped build two new classrooms at a school in central Kenya during their visit as well as donated many supplies and renovated a small hospital in the southwestern region of the country.

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary EdwardsAlex HeuerEvie Hemphill and Caitlin Lally give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Caitlin Lally is thrilled to join St. Louis Public Radio as the summer production intern for "St. Louis on the Air." With a bachelor's degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Caitlin also freelances for area publications like Sauce Magazine and the Belleville News-Democrat. In her career, she's covered topics such as Trump's travel ban, political protests and community activism. When she's not producing audio segments or transcribing interviews, Caitlin enjoys practicing yoga, seeing live music, and cooking plant-based meals.
Evie Hemphill joined the St. Louis on the Air team in February 2018. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 2005, she started her career as a reporter for the Westminster Window in Colorado. Several years later she went on to pursue graduate work in creative writing at the University of Wyoming and moved to St. Louis upon earning an MFA in the spring of 2010. She worked as writer and editor for Washington University Libraries until 2014 and then spent several more years in public relations for the University of Missouri–St. Louis before making the shift to St. Louis Public Radio.