Jared Allen, 16, traveled to Kenya and Tanzania last summer as a way to see part of the world and spend time with his family. However, when the Buckhead resident returned stateside, he realized there was a way to help the people he had met.

“Part of the trip was we got to go to these Maasai villages. My family was shopping and I didn’t have much to do, so I started talking to people my age,” he said. “They showed us their school. I realized the education probably needed a little bit of help.”

Jared, a sophomore at Pace Academy in Buckhead, reached out to the Seattle-based nonprofit ELAND, which provides scholarships to Maasai children.

Moses Kinayia, founder of ELAND, told Jared the kerosene lamps children study by in Maasai villages are a health concern.

“In the Maasai community, they live in huts made of mud and branches from wood, and the ventilation is very poor because they have very small windows,” Kinayia said in a phone interview. “They employ the small metal can and make a kerosene lamp out of it. They put a wick and kerosene in it. It emits a lot of carbon monoxide, which is toxic. Long-term exposure really hurts their respiratory systems. The children, when the try to read, it hurts their eyes.”

Jared began raising money to send solar flashlights, and so far has gathered about $5,500. Given the low cost of the flashlights — about $25 each — and the large number of people per Maasai home, Kinayia estimated Jared has helped about 1,200 have a clean, renewable source of light.

In addition, the lights have the benefit of continually saving a family money on kerosene.

“It’s saving almost $150 per year,” Kinayia said. “Most families in Kenya are living on under $1 per day, so to save even a few dollars per month, that’s huge for a family.”

Jared said he began sending letters to generate interest in the project and was overwhelmed by how much money he was able to raise.

“I really had no goal. I didn’t know what the response was going to be. It kind of threw me off guard,” he said.

Jared will continue to take donations, in the form of checks made out to ELAND.

Kinayia said Jared is exemplary of the difference one individual can make in the lives of others.

“Jared has done an impressive job. He went to Kenya and he did not want to keep quiet. He saw the need and realized he can do something about it,” he said. “He’s so young and he saw he can mobilize his classmates and his community. I think that tells us how we can transform the world by providing a voice for those who don’t have a voice.”

A closer look

If interested in donating, e-mail jaredallen@paceacademy.org.
Information: visit www.elandmaasai.org