Under construction
The training center
A multipurpose building — with a wrap-around covered porch — for skills classes and for community and church gatherings. The foundation is laid and a thousand blocks have been molded.
Maryann's story
This is home.
"I can't help everyone — but I can help one village at a time. And this is mine."
My name is Maryann Kokes. I was born in Njama, a small village in Sierra Leone, into the Mende tribe and into the middle of a civil war. My family lived through things I still struggle to put into words. At eight years old, after time in an orphanage in Freetown, I was adopted by a family in California — and given a completely different life.
But Njama never let go of me. For years I dreamed of going back. In January 2025, my husband Petr and I finally did — the first time I had seen my village since I was a child.
When we met with the village council, I asked what they needed most. Their answer was clear: a place to learn skills that earn a living. That building is now rising from the ground — and this is how you can be part of it.
"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help."Psalm 121
