Our team in Kenya have started ministering to vulnerable children living in the vast slums there, including Kibera. Working closely with their families and local schools, our aim is to empower them to break the poverty cycle and create a 'go to school' culture, crucially, providing trauma care and support for both child and parent.
Our amazing team in Kenya has recently started a pilot project to establish the best way we can serve incredibly vulnerable children living in terrible conditions in one of the world's biggest slums. Here is an extract from the diary of one of our volunteers serving there who took these pictures:
"We meet every Friday after they finish classes. We share a Bible story as well as teach proper hygiene, basic life skills and celebrate birthdays.
We've paid school fees where many had dropped out for lack of being able to pay them. Most of the children are walking on the back of their shoes, because they are too small. This allows them to still have a pair of shoes to wear to school.
But today it was their turn to try on a brand new pair of shoes which we were able to provide them with. Talk about excitement!
The trust is certainly growing between the parents and/or guardians and Kids Alive staff. Since we show up each week and fulfilled our promise to provide bright new uniforms and shoes, bridges are being built and the barriers are coming down. They are praising God for a Christian organisation that does what they say they will do!
To see these children making small steps in connecting with us is so exciting to see. One of the girls in this programme said, "This Is The First Time I've Been Listened To!"
Kids Alive Kenya's goals are to offer:
The average slum 'home' in Kibera is about 3.6 metres squared, with no basic amenities such as running water or electricity.
Over 56% of Nairobi's population live in slums. That's over 2.5 million people, one of the highest ratios in the world.
Living in such dreadful conditions results in all sorts of social and emotional issues for children, including a lack of education.