Bermudians are in no danger of a clothing shortage. That's what a group of Bermuda College professors, staff and students learned during a clothing drive for needy Kenyans.

"We were just overwhelmed," said College history professor Jolene Bean, who is helping with the drive called the Destination Kenya Project. "In less than two hours we were inundated with unwanted clothes, shoes, books and other items. Some clothing came helpfully sorted into sizes, while other donations included inappropriate items like used underwear and stiletto heels. One unusual donation was a set of velvet animal print sheets.

"Bermudians really are very fortunate to have so much stuff. Some of the items still had the tags on."

The event is being organised by students, staff, faculty and members of the environmental club at the college run by professor Amy Harvey.

"This started when one of the students in my history class, Lilyan Kloet, was telling me that her mother, Stella Kasia Wanjama, ran a small school in Kenya," said Dr Bean. "She is from Kenya. She was telling me how some of the children in the community were quite poor. I thought, wouldn't it be great if we could help them, and at the same time introduce our own students to a different culture."

Mrs Kloet is studying human services at the Bermuda College. She came to Bermuda two years ago with her husband Patrick and two small sons, Sean and Matthew. Her parents live in western Kenya, in the village of Soysambu in the Lugari District.

"When I first came to Bermuda, I thought it was very nice," said Mrs Kloet. "I lived in Holland for several years, so Bermuda seemed very small. Living in Europe and coming here, people are so friendly. They say 'good morning' and 'good afternoon'. In the beginning I wasn't struck by how much Bermudians have. I didn't really notice until two years ago, when we put an advertisement on e-moo saying we were going to Kenya. It was during the political uprising there and we were afraid it would touch my family. The advertisement was for clothes we could take to people in the camps. There were so many clothes that came in."

Mrs Kloet's mother started the Stella Education Centre a few years ago when she retired from nursing. She used her own pension money to start the school.

"So far, there are 110 students at her school," said Mrs Kloet. "They go up to primary four. She has close to 60 orphans. Around seven of the orphans stay with her in her house. She wants to take more, but she can't because she needs sponsors. Before her retirement she was a nurse, and she worked in a government clinic. She was overwhelmed by how much HIV was there, and the number of children who were orphaned."

Many people in the village of 5,000 people, don't earn much more than 50 cents a day, mostly as farm labourers for wealthier farmers.

"Many men have died of AIDS," said Mrs Kloet. "My mother used to have one meeting every month and the women would come with their children. She would talk about the prevention of AIDS and she would provide them with a meal of beans and rice. Then one meeting was not enough."

Mrs Kloet said that schools are free in Kenya, but uniforms, books and other school supplies are not. Schools also don't provide meals. That is why her mother decided to start her own school.

The goods being sent from the Bermuda College will go to help the families of the students and other poor people in the community.

The clothing drive itself is now closed, but the group at the Bermuda College is now raising money for shipping the container to Kenya and the cost of duty when it gets there. To this end, the Bermuda College is holding a special event on December 3 called 'Tis The Season' from 5.30 to 9.30pm in the Student Hall Centre.

"We will have one of our chefs doing food demonstrations," said Shelley Riley who is in charge of fund-raising. "He will teach us how to make a Kenyan dish. Then people will get to sample it. Lindo's Group of Companies will be sponsoring that food."

Goslings have sponsored a festive drink, and will give demonstrations on how to make it. They will be featuring some African wines and spirits to keep within the theme.

"We will be doing some eco wrapping demonstrations so people can think of some alternatives for the holiday season," said Ms Harvey.

"There will also be a lady doing table top demonstrations. Those will be raffled off. We will also have demonstration about Kenyan culture."

Tickets for the event are $20 for adults in advance and $25 at the door. Student tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. For more information about the Destination Kenya Project contact Shelley Riley on 236-9000 extension 4381 or sriley@college.bm or Amy Harvey on 236-9000 extension 4058 or aharvey@college.bm.