Charlottetown yard sale funds 50k meals for impoverished Kenyan village

On Saturday, the Mikinduri Children of Hope Foundation held its annual yard sale at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

The charitable organization raised thousands of dollars to help improve the living conditions in Mikinduri, Kenya.

"Rough math, we're feeding something like 50,000 meals from this exercise," Ted Grant, the foundation's chief organizer, told CBC News. "I used to think that poverty was not having any money. Having been to Kenya now 18 times, I no longer believe that. My definition of poverty now is not having any options."

Founder Makena Ambassa was born near Mikinduri and moved to PEI more than a decade ago. She launched the foundation to help her impoverished hometown with food, infrastructure and health care.

Ambassa recently returned to Mikinduri with her daughter to see how her Canadian friends have helped the remote village.

"I cried all the time to see what the foundation has done, things that I had never seen before — the cookhouses, the schools, renovations, the water — everything was just like, I cried all the time and people were like 'Why you crying?' Crying out of joy," she said.

Ambassa told CBC News that she hopes her foundation can help establish a good hospital in the area.