Feed 200 Children Living in Kibera Slum

Every child deserves an opportunity to access basic needs, among them is food. While this is the case, most children in Kibera Informal Settlement still survive on one meal a day or even go for a day or two without food. This has a ripple effect on children’s retention in school. As a remedy, The Turning Point Trust has been working to ensure that every child in our feeding program gets access to a hot breakfast and balanced diet lunch.

Out of these efforts, school records indicate that children are in school on regular basis, which is a great motivation. The goal is to see to it that the poverty cycle is mitigated among slum dwellers. Education has been a great contributor to this endeavour.

One of our beneficiaries Celine comes from a family of five. They live in a one-roomed coagulated iron sheet house, under the care of a single mother. The mother relies on doing laundry chores and freelancing in different salons. This has been an unreliable venture. As a result, she has been unable to meet the needs of her children. Through the feeding program, Celine has been able to report to school daily. She is now in class 8 awaiting to do her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). She represents over 200 children who benefit from this program. 

Currently, Turning Point is in the process of taking up 20 more children into the program. The success of this noble cause has been through your generous support and prayers.

Starting tomorrow, schools across Kenya will be opening their doors to children returning after a short break.

For many children, this means getting at least one nutritious meal from their school. 200 children attending the Turning Point education programmes are no exception. They look forward to the daily nutritious warm breakfast and lunch offered at the school. For most of these children, school is the only place they are sure they will receive a meal.

This 2^nd term, Turning Point plans to offer a total of 13600 meals to 200 children. We also plan to partner with local health clinics and practioners to train our staff on child growth monitoring. The staff will also be given training on food safety and hygiene that include learning about food storage, handling of fresh produce, safe food preparations practices, and basic good hygiene and sanitation.

Thank you for contributing to the feeding programme, the school retention rate and most of all, easing the burden on many poorer families.

“Hello, where is Mama Mimo?” we asked a vendor next to Mama Mimo’s vegetable shop. The vendor directed us to where we would find her. It was a hot sunny day and Mama Mimo was seated under an umbrella behind her shop. The moment she saw us, her face lit up in a smile. We could tell she was happy to see us.

We took a short walk to her house, where she welcomed us warmly and set each one of us a glass of drinking water. The condition of her home had improved compared to the last visit we had in 2019. Mama Mimo couldn’t hold back her excitement and began telling us how well her daughters, Mimo and Njeri, are doing in school. She also went ahead to add that her business of selling vegetables is doing well. She could not stop mentioning how grateful she was.

In all homes, we sat and talked to the parents and guardians and listened to them as they shared about their victories and struggles. Not all homes had improved conditions. Some were stagnant, while others were struggling to get a meal in a day. As we ended our visit with Mama Mimo, she said, “We always live each day worrying about the next, but God is the one who provides. So why worry when He is our sole provider?”

Our staff team aim to meet with the parent's of the children in our school regularly to understand the challenges at home and to build a good relationship with the whole family as we work together to see each child achieve their full potential. For many parents, knowing that their children will receive two good meals at school each day is a weight off their minds as they struggle to make ends meet. 

Thank you for providing free school meals to children like Mimo and Njeri.

Last month we met a new family, three girls who were all out of school and a baby girl who was very undernourished. We were connected to the family by a local youth group whose members were deeply concerned about the family. The youth group helped the oldest girl go back to school while we welcomed the two younger siblings into our programmes. The girls were in such poor health we have been giving them extra porridge each day as well as the two meals each child receives in our programmes. The mother also brings the baby along to join in the porridge. Slowly, we are seeing improvements in the girls’ health and strength and slowly they are coming out of their shells as they play with the other kids in the programmes. The girls are now on a new path, back in school and getting stronger everyday. Thank you for helping to make this life-changing work possible.