Feed 200 Children Living in Kibera Slum

Kenya recorded its first case of Corona virus in March 2020. In a bid to slow the spread of this virus, the Kenyan Government temporarily closed all learning institutions. This meant we also closed our programmes for the time being.

School for most of our students not only represents a safe space for them to learn and grow but also a place where they are guaranteed to get two meals during school days. The closure of schools and the strained incomes of most households, therefore, meant that most of our students were not guaranteed to receive three healthy meals a day.

As an organization understanding the new challenges that faced our beneficiaries as a result of the pandemic shifted our focus and currently our activities are geared towards reducing hunger and promoting health amongst vulnerable families worst hit by the pandemic and reducing the spread of Corona virus in Kibera.

To reduce hunger among the 150 vulnerable families that we serve, we set up the food voucher system. We provide a weekly food voucher that enables families to purchase essentials from the local shops we have partnered with. This system ensures that our beneficiaries don’t walk long distances to do their shopping and we also support local businesses in Kibera. 

One of the families benefiting from this program is Sylvia’s family. Sylvia is the firstborn of three children and she lives with her father. The father worked as a night guard before the pandemic hit and could provide for his children without much strain because Sylvia had her meals in schools and her siblings also ate lunch in school. Unfortunately, he was laid off once the pandemic hit the country and therefore providing for his family became a challenge. The food voucher ensures that he can purchase food from a shop next to his home and ensure that his children remain healthy during this period.

The food voucher system means that we are catering to more than 200 students and this is more costly than running our school feeding programme. We are therefore raising additional funds to make these vouchers go further, you can support our Corona virus response directly through this GlobalGiving project page.

We look forward to resuming all our normal programmes soon. Until then, your giving ensures that the children we serve and their families continue to remain healthy.

The new academic year kicked off in January and it’s always an exciting time for us as we get to welcome new students into our program. However, the excitement is always laced with a hint of sadness as we listen to stories of children who come to seek a place in our education program.

One notable story is that of Cynthia, Cynthia grew up in Nairobi and lived with the father. The father was a provider and this meant that Cynthia had access to education and everything she needed to lead a healthy life. Unfortunately, the father got badly injured during a robbery incident and got hospitalised for a long time. This one incident changed the life of Cynthia; her mother left, she dropped out of school and had to go live with the father at their rural home.

Out of school and with no one to support her, Cynthia’s hopes to have a healthy life appeared to be slowly fading, until her auntie paid them a visit. Moved with compassion, her auntie travelled back to Nairobi with Cynthia. However, her spouse did not support this move and Cynthia did not report to school as the year started, leaving her auntie distraught.

It is at this point that our paths crossed and Cynthia was brought for admission at our transition class. A few weeks into the term and she is slowly adjusting to being back to school. Her presence in school has had a ripple effect; her father can now rest easy knowing her daughter is back in school, her auntie no longer feels like she made the wrong move bringing Cynthia to Nairobi and since Cynthia is paying no school fees and receives two meals in school, her uncle who is a casual labourer doesn’t feel the strain of taking care of an extra child.

Stories like this are reminders of the impact we create through our programs and though Cynthia’s journey is just beginning, we already see the impact of hope restored.

School is out!! We are finally done with the school year and we are excited to have plenty of time to rest and rejuvenate during the two month Christmas holiday.

We have grown in leaps and bounds. Some of us couldn’t count but now we can: we have learnt new words and concepts. We have grown in weight and height: we have sharpened our skills and talents and we have been taught lessons that continue to develop our character. We look forward to joining new classes next year and 21 of us will transition to high school.

We have been in school for 36 weeks this year and because you gave, we had two meals when we came to school. Some of us solely rely on these two meals as mum and dad are not guaranteed of a day’s work when they set out in the morning to look for casual jobs. Some of us have to share the little with other members of the household and we rarely eat to our fill. It is our hope that as we attain an education and increase our capabilities, we will break out of the cycle of poverty and our children will tell a different story. Together, we are building a different storyline.

Thank you for your continuous generous contribution and we hope that you feel valued and appreciated by us.

Happy Holidays!

On 14^th July, 2019 we had the opportunity to host some of Turning Point Trust’s beneficiaries at one of the Centres. The group varied from our first group of beneficiaries to some who completed high school last year. They had the opportunity to serve the students their meals, share memories with each other and some were even brave enough to share their life stories with the entire primary school.

One by one they spoke of how their lives had transformed either because of opportunities taken or missed. They spoke of their time in Turning Point and one thing everyone mentioned apart from the development of infrastructure is how the feeding program was important to them as some joined the education program because of the simple assurance that they will be served of a cup of white porridge every morning. This assurance led them to stay and receive educational support that changed the trajectory of their lives.

These stories carried with them  laughter , encouragment, hope and the reminder of how much the feeding program is a part of our story and identity.

Peter joined our transition class in 2018. Unfortunately, he was coming from a school that had not paid attention to his performance and he therefore wasn’t able to perform in the class he was admitted in and had to go back three grades. This was definitely a setback for him and he therefore took time to settle in and open up.

At the end of the year, the teachers recommended that he is retained in the same class in 2019 because if he transitioned to the primary school he would have a hard time catching up with his peers.  This was yet another "setback"for him but in the new year as his classmates moved on, he reported back to transition class and the teachers have taken their time to take him through lessons he ought to have learnt in his early schooling years.

95%! 95% is what Peter scored in Maths exams at the end of the first term. He has truly showed remarkable improvements not only in class but also as he socializes with other students. We are proud of his achievements and his determined spirit. He had an option of checking out when he was retained in the same class but he stayed on and is doing his best to catch up.

This is the spirit we hope to embody as we work with vulnerable children an their families, to remind them to keep going even when the conditions are not favourable.

As the feeding program, we have kept going even at a time when the food prices rose due to delayed rains in the country. The children have not missed a meal and their portions have not grown smaller.

Your support continues to be a great encouragement to us and we hope that we can continue to count on your support as we keep going.