They never expected to be regarded as heroes by people living halfway across the globe, and they never expected their class project to evolve into a life-changing experience.

If fact, when the Central Michigan University students signed up for a Service Learning Study Abroad trip in Africa, they never expected to create a library for poverty-stricken students in Maseno, Kenya.

But that is exactly what they did.

Jenkins, a Sanford senior, and Bloom, a Clare senior, were two of 13 students to travel to Maseno in May 2013 as part of a CMU psychology class to study Kenyan culture.

“Kenya was beautiful. Beautiful culture, beautiful people,” she said. “The trip was wonderful.”

The class visited outdoor markets and local houses around Maseno while observing its people.

“We didn’t want to leave,” Bloom said. “It was the longest and best two weeks of my life.”

But the story did not end when they boarded the return flight to the United States. The two seniors still had unfinished business.

Part of the coursework for the study abroad trip included creating a project to benefit the students enrolled at His Arms Kenya Orphan Mission, an orphan sponsorship program devoted to helping the youth of rural Maseno. One CMU student decided to teach the orphans how to brush their teeth, donating toothpaste and toothbrushes to the children. Jenkins and Bloom joined forces and began collecting books for the newly built His Arm school library.

Jenkins said they began the project in April, one month before the trip, by passing out flyers to a few Michigan schools.

The response they received was astounding, they said.

Support for the book drive began to pour in from parents, teachers and students in various school districts. Donations began to pile up as word spread from school to school.

“It just spread,” Jenkins said. “We never thought it would get that big.”

The most astounding offer came from a school in Midland. Jenkins was notified that because the school was consolidating libraries, the girls could come and choose from 30,000 books to take to Kenya with them. They were welcome to take whatever they wanted.

“It was just nuts,” Jenkins said. “We had no idea what to do. We never expected this outcome.”

One month later, the girls were on their way to Kenya. Giving up extra luggage space, the girls brought 10 tubs of books to personally give to the staff at His Arms. It was only a dent in the pile of books that were still waiting back home in Michigan.

The two students were excited to see His Arms library for the first time, but the poverty and limited resources that welcomed them were shocking.

“They don’t have what we have,” Bloom said. “They don’t have books, they don’t have stuffed animals. When you see kids playing in the mud and dirt on commercials, that’s real life. That’s real for them.”

Teachers and resources are scarce in the Maseno schools. Because of a limited staff, one teacher is often in charge of two classes of students. Classrooms are decorated with dirt floors and hard wooden benches, and textbooks are shared among teachers.

Bloom and Tate described the students as incredibly well-behaved and intelligent, and fascinated with the CMU students. Tate became especially close with one of the students, a 5 year old boy named Gabriel.

“He was glued to me the whole time,” Tate said. “He was only five, and he said he wanted to go home with me.”

After returning home, the girls needed to figure out how to send the extra books to Kenya. Meanwhile, donations continued to arrive.

By September, the students had collected an impressive 84 boxes of books. Sending so many books would cost thousands of dollars, but shipping company DHL got wind of the project and offered to ship the entire delivery for free.

The textbooks were shipped out from CMU on Wednesday, and Bloom and Tate were there to see them off.

“I wish I could be there when they see all those books,” Bloom said. “They’re going to be overwhelmed. They’re going to be so excited.”

Despite the attention the book drive received, the two CMU students weren't expecting to make such an impact.

“I don’t think we recognize what we’ve done,” Tate said. “When I say I’m making a library in Kenya, people get this crazy look in their eyes and think, ‘You’re so amazing.’ But it’s just normal. This project has become a part of our everyday thoughts.”