Planting hope in Nairobi: welcome back to the BVC

Logan Lintvedt:

Greetings, Johnnies! My name is Logan Lintvedt, and I am Assistant Director of the Benedictine Volunteer Corps (BVC). One year ago, I introduced many of you to the BVC, a post-graduate year of service rooted in prayer, community and purpose. Since 2003, more than 350 Saint John’s graduates have lived and worked in Benedictine monasteries around the world, offering their gifts to schools, clinics, orphanages and parishes while discovering what it means to live a life of service.

Last year’s articles were just the beginning. This year, we’re taking the next step. Throughout this year, we’ll feature stories in The Record written by one of our current volunteers, Johnnies who have traded a cubicle for classrooms in Puerto Rico, carpentry shops in Tanzania, street outreach in Nairobi and so much more. Their voices will bring you into the daily rhythms of a BVC year, showing how service transforms not only the people and communities they serve but also the volunteers themselves.

This week’s story comes from Nairobi, Kenya, where Cole Brown has been working with Alfajiri Street Kids Art. His reflection captures what the BVC is all about: hope, resilience, and the power of young people to change their communities from the inside out.

Cole Brown, BVC Volunteer and ‘25 SJU Graduate:

In Nairobi, Kenya, the way of living is completely foreign to our Western way of life back home. Coming straight from graduating at St. John’s University, it was a big change. The way many live here, especially in the Mathare slum, is a reality that’s hard to wrap your head around. People survive on less than a dollar a day. Four people to a bed. Limited access to clean water. Jobs are nearly impossible to come by. From the outside, it’s easy to wonder where the hope is.

But the youth here have shown me something different, something remarkable. In the middle of this hardship, there’s so much light.

I spend most of my time working with Alfajiri Street Kids Art, and I’ve been fortunate enough to become close friends with many of the boys in the program. Every day I walk into the center ready to laugh, mess around and give them grief, and they give it right back. We’ve broken through the dynamic of “volunteer and poor kids” and have become good friends.

There’s a group I’ve gotten especially close to, known as the Miami Boys: Steven, Reuben, and Simon. Early in my time here, they took me through their neighborhood in Mathare, a place they call Miami Beach. It looked like much of the rest of the slum, trash everywhere, empty space, a harsh environment.

Months later, the Miami Boys invited me back. They showed up at the Amani Center where I live with my BVC partner Tommy Hessburg, and we made our way through the slum together. When we arrived at Miami, the space had completely transformed.

Fifteen Miami Boys were waiting to greet us. There were trees planted for each of the boys involved. Beautiful murals painted across the walls and nearby homes. The trash in their area was gone. The crops were thriving. Some of the boys wore their custom “Miami Beach” shirts with pride.

They’ve even created an area called Parliament, where they hold regular meetings to make decisions about the space. They’ve elected leaders, inscribed mottos on the bricks around them—phrases like “We Fall, We Rise” and “If we lose our fear, they lose their power.”

This is entirely their doing. No outside funding. No NGO blueprint. Just initiative, pride and purpose.

In the heart of one of Nairobi’s toughest neighborhoods, a group of young men planted trees. Cleaned streets. Held Parliament. And started to build a legacy. All on their own.

Logan:

Moving forward, we’ll share more stories like Cole’s. Stories of volunteers who, in small but powerful ways, are helping communities thrive—and who, in turn, are discovering what it means to live fully alive.

Johnnies, the world is calling. Will you answer? The BVC is taking on interested applicants to serve for one year after graduation. If you are interested, please email bvc@csbsju.edu.