Kenya RPCV Yvonne Taylor wins Colgate Humanitarian Award



Taylor created One Heart with Africa in 2000 to provide money for the brightest primary school students in Kenya to receive a secondary education. "Many of the children didn't attend school simply because they couldn't afford the uniform," she said. To date, all of the students One Heart with Africa sponsored have gone on to college. Taylor's impact doesn't end there, though; her organization has assisted in building 17 sub-surface dams, that aid in the gathering of water, a scarcity during Kenya's nine-month dry season.

Kenya RPCV Yvonne Taylor wins Colgate Humanitarian Award

Colgate Humanitarian Award just another step for Middleville native
Friday, Jun 2, 2006

By PATRICK McQUEEN
Special to the Observer-Dispatch
metro@uticaod.com

HAMILTON — When Yvonne Taylor walks across the stage tonight at Colgate University, it will not be to recognize the culmination of a career spent in service of others.

Rather, Colgate University's Humanitarian Award is being presented to a woman whose mission is far from over.

"I've received calls from three AIDS primary schools. ... That's the next step, but I need help," said Taylor, founder and chief executive officer of One Heart with Africa. The Middleville native, 53, has spent the last decade providing two of the things Kenyan children need most: water and education.

Each year, Colgate University recognizes an alumnus who has served others in a special way.

"The award is not given for a single action," said RuthAnn Loveless, the college's vice president for alumni affairs. "We look for someone who has made a real, long-standing commitment."

Taylor was searching for something new when she answered a Peace Corps commercial in 1996.

"After years of medical research, I felt like I was burned out. I no longer wanted to sit in front of a computer screen," she said.

Taylor spent the next two years teaching science at a secondary school in Kenya. Under Kenya's education system, primary education is free for all students. Once completed, however, most Kenyan children do not have the money to move on to secondary school, which is very expensive.

This is where Taylor decided she could make a difference.

"Empty desks are slow learners," she said.

Taylor created One Heart with Africa in 2000 to provide money for the brightest primary school students in Kenya to receive a secondary education.

"Many of the children didn't attend school simply because they couldn't afford the uniform," she said.

With little or no help from the Kenyan government, Taylor relies on donations from contacts in the United States, as well as her own money.

To date, all of the students One Heart with Africa sponsored have gone on to college. Taylor's impact doesn't end there, though; her organization has assisted in building 17 sub-surface dams, that aid in the gathering of water, a scarcity during Kenya's nine-month dry season.

Taylor's mission almost came to a screeching halt in 1998 when thieves attacked her in her Kenyan home, striking her on the head. Taylor's injuries almost forced her out of Peace Corps service.

"I guess I'm receiving this award because I'm hard-headed," Taylor jokes.

Taylor will spend the next month coordinating efforts to raise funds for her organization's work.

To help, contact Reta Taylor at taylorarre@aol.com.

When this story was posted in June 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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