Provide school lunch to 3900 hungry Kenyan kids

Unfortunately, the drought in Kenya continues to worsen, with no regular rainfall since late 2016. While many are focused on the devastation this is causing in the arid parts of the country, western Kenya is also severely affected due to the rural population’s dependence on small family farms. With virtually none of the annual short rainy season arriving, our Kenyan staff reports that the vast majority of our families are unable to plant and will have little to no yields on their farms this year.

In addition, we have just learned that the National Cereals Board for Western and Nyanza Provinces, where all farmers and organizations in this region store their crops between harvests, is entirely empty except for the maize and beans for our school lunch program. There are no other harvested crops in the region.

The annual hunger season, which often arrives in May, June, July, and August as the previous year’s harvests run dry and before new harvests in September and October, has already arrived for many of our families. This means that for the vast majority of our students, our school lunch is their only full meal of the day, and will be for quite some time. For our child-headed households, our school lunch and evening/weekend food supplies are their only source of food.

These are very challenging times for our community, which underscore the importance of continuing our food security efforts. However, uplifting stories like Geoffrey’s also show us this importance. Watch Geoffrey tell a little bit about his story and what’s kept he and his siblings, who have lived alone since he was seven, going. Geoffrey is an example of how far these students can go with the assistance of a daily meal. Meet Geoffrey.

We’re glad to be able to continue supporting this community and thank you for joining us.

Links:

• "One Day I'll Be Tall": Meet Geoffrey