As the crow flies, it is about 10,000 miles from Los Alamitos to Narok, Kenya so it was a shock for a local teen humanitarian and her family to defy a billion-to-one odds as they serendipitously bumped into a couple in their Kenyan hotel that they had never met.
As it turns out, the local couple, from Signal Hill, however, had been one of the first to make a contribution to her African humanitarian project back in January.
“It’s kinda crazy,” said Jessica Ridgeway, the teen whose idea sparked the African Sisterhood initiative. She said the rendezvous with a donor happened because “we were early” trying to check out, and “believe me, we’re never early.”
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Ridgeway, the Los Al teenager honored by the Los Alamitos city council in July, was in Kenya with her family this summer to deliver hundreds of feminine menstrual pads to orphanages and schools in western Kenya.
Ridgeway is the founder of “African Sisterhood,” a registered nonprofit that earlier this year, organized hundreds of volunteers and organizations, including the Rossmoor Woman’s Club to create sewing parties to sew together the all-cotton pads for young African women.
Also, during this process, newspaper articles about her efforts attracted private donations as well.
In June, the family packed up crates of the finished pads and flew from Los Angeles to Paris, then from Paris to Nairobi, Kenya to distribute the pads to the girls who need them.
From Nairobi, the family packed up a large, four-wheel drive Jeep, filled with the crates of pads, soap, towels and underwear, and they headed to Narok, a smaller city from which they could easily reach schools, orphanages and Maasai villages they planned to visit.
Meanwhile, local couple Marguerite and Galen Walker, were also on a one-month trip to Africa and were staying in Narok.
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According to Marguerite, they were in the hotel lobby when they noticed a young woman carrying a “Wilson High School” bag. “We knew that was Long Beach,” said Marguerite. Their son struck up a conversation with Jessica, amazed that they may have run into another local family so far from home.
“She asked me if we were from Long Beach,” said Jessica, “and I really didn’t know what to say.” Jessica was standing with her cousin, who accompanied the family to Africa, and her cousin does attend Wilson.
Then, it got more intense, said Tricia Ridgeway, Jessica’s mother. She said the only reason they were still in the hotel is because the business office had not prepared their bill on time.
But during the conversation, Bill Ridgeway, Jessica’s dad, walked up and said, “actually, we’re from Los Alamitos,” and then the lightbulb went off in Marguerite’s head.
“Oh no,” she said, “are you the young girl doing the Africa project? We made a donation in January,” said Marguerite as Tricia burst out in tears. “It had to be a God thing,” said Ridgeway as both parties began hugging and could not believe what had just happened.
Nearly 10,000 miles from home, in a tiny Kenyan resort, following a delay from a hotel clerk, these two families linked to the same humanitarian effort, found each other at the checkout counter. It was a moment they will remember for a long time.
In fact, the two families, now both back home in California, reunited last week along with others who contributed to the effort as the Ridgeways held an appreciation luncheon in Los Alamitos.
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“Jessica is a little rockstar,” claims Marguerite, who said they donated because they read the story in the paper, and “started thinking about the incredible impact” of what she did.
Galen Walker, her husband, said he was impressed that “Jessica not only thought about the idea, but noted that while it was simple, but brilliant, and she followed through and did it.”
Ridgeway and her associate Madeline “Maddie” Navarro, along with Ridgeway’s family and friends, traveled throughout the region, handing out kits for young women including three reusable menstrual pads, soap, a wash cloth and a plastic bag for cleaning to hundreds of young African girls.
In addition to the life changing menstrual products, the Ridgeways brought soccer balls and other gifts for the young boys at the various schools and children’s homes. Ridgeway teared up as she recalled finally distributing her first batch of “menstrual kits” to the young African women.
“I can’t help every one of the young women in Africa, but I can help the ones I can. Better some than none at all,” she said. Ridgeway, who has now enrolled in Grand Canyon University, said she is already planning a return trip to Kenya for the summer of 2020.
The Los Alamitos city council honored Ridgeway at their meeting in July, and Mayor pro-tem Richard Murphy attended the appreciation event last week. “I have a great deal of admiration for what she’s done,” he said.
Ridgeway says her nonprofit is already making plans to return to Africa next year with more feminine pads and more gifts for the young boys.
Meanwhile, Ridgeway has been nominated for a CNN Hero Award and a documentary film entitled “Stitched by the Heart” will chronicle her story.
The film will be premiered at the Art Deco Theater of Long Beach October 19. Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com. More info about Ridgeway’s charity can be found at www.africansisterhood.com.