It’s been one month since the Kenyan government ordered our second lockdown on March 26th. Not that a government-ordered lockdown makes any difference to the elderly, disabled, and single mothers who have been struggling to find food and assistance since the pandemic began. Through your very kind support, we have been able to provide food hampers weekly. So many that I have lost count. However, please take a moment to read a recent email I received from Ephantus Wachira, who has tirelessly donated his vehicle and time to organize and deliver our food hampers and assistance to the neediest in our communities. Dear Jennifer,In Kenya, theRead More

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On March 26, the Kenyan government announced further restrictions in an attempt to stop the 3rd wave of Covid 19 sweeping across the country. In his address to the nation on March 26th, President Kenyatta is quoted as saying,“Since my last address to the nation on 12th March, 7,630 Kenyans have been admitted into our hospitals for COVID-19. Yet before my address to the nation on March 12th, 4,990 Kenyans had been admitted. In 13 days only, our admission rate increased by 52%. This confirms the fact that a Third Wave of COVID-19 is at hand in Kenya. The positivity rate is at its highest sinceRead More

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On March 11th, 2020 the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic—and turned all of our lives upside down. One year ago this week. A hug went from a warm greeting to a health hazard. We were forced to separate from friends and family; tragically, some of us lost friends and family.The first case of Covid 19 was detected in Kenya on March 13th. The government immediately sprang into action, closing all schools, small shops, open markets, factories, and basically any means of employment where the wage earner was surviving on a bare minimum salary, to begin with, and no backup savings. Often, ifRead More

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Graduation Day. A day of celebrating a year of hard work and exciting new beginnings ahead. As we heralded in 2020 almost 12 months ago with great expectations for an amazing year of growth at our school and celebration of the continued success of our graduating students, who could have imagined that instead, the new year would become the year they will be talking about 100 years from now. As we come close to the end of 2020, please allow me to take you on a one-year journey of our achievements, and where we survived and served because of your support and amazing commitment toRead More

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Ngorika and Kanjuiri ridges is a vast area located in a remote and hilly area of Nakuru east Sub-county, off Nakuru -Nairobi Highway neighboring the Delamere Estate. This region is characterized by remoteness, impassable roads, and high incidences of disabilities. The presence of fluoride in water has a big impact on the community’s health especially teeth and weak bones. Lack of access to good healthcare has also contributed to many cases of disabilities arising from lack of primary health as well as pre and ante-natal care for pregnant women and post-natal care for young children. Home deliveries have also contributed to maternal mortality and avoidableRead More

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Well, here we are, I’m still in Australia…indefinitely!!! What amazing times we are living in. I’m able to run our project remotely, talk to the staff every day (for free), and feel relaxed and confident that everything is being run extremely efficiently by two amazing, dedicated ladies in my exile. We were indeed “in the best of times”, until March 19th when the dreaded COVID 19 arrived in East Africa.All Kenyan schools were closed immediately. We were holding out hope that universities and vocational TRAINING schools such as ours would be permitted to open again at the beginning of September. Last month the government announcedRead More

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Today is graduation day for some of the young women that the area chief and health department gave permission to live with us while the much-dreaded COVID-19 slowly spread its deadly path across East Africa.Normally this is a HUGE celebration. Proud family members will often hire a minibus for the day, piling three generations into the overcrowded 14 passenger vehicle. The girls excitedly rehearse for weeks preparing dances and songs for performances, always including a fashion show of their creations. Our area officials attend, many speeches are made and the well-earned certificates awarded… Always by me personally, congratulating each girl for their hard work and determination to become someone theirRead More

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Imagine you’re elderly, handicapped, or a single parent caring for your disabled child…with no government assistance! That’s the predicament the recipients of our food hamper and face mask program live with. Normally they rely on the kindness of neighbors. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the neighbors are all out of work and not receiving an income. They too are struggling to feed their families daily.It’s been a month since I held my Facebook Giving Tuesday fundraiser, which was targeted specifically toward our food hamper program. I’m so grateful to everyone for making it so successful. We raised enough money to keep the program goingRead More

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By: Beryl Adhiambo. Kenya experienced post-election tribal clashes after the 2007 disputed elections that left many families homeless, losing their properties and means of a livelihood. Many also lost land since they could not remain in the hostile regions they had lived in all their lives. Those families that had ancestral home elsewhere relocated back and those with some savings bought small plots mostly measuring 50ft by 100ft and settled there, but with no arable land it meant that many became destitute all of a sudden. However the majority of the displaced families had nowhere to go and solely depended on the government effort toRead More

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By: Beryl Adhiambo. Last week’s food hamper distribution exercise took place in Ngorika, the target beneficiaries were the aged and people living with disability. We met the 60 beneficiaries waiting for us in one of the public schools in the area.  In all the food hamper distribution we are always accompanied by the village elders and when we are lucky enough the area chief. The beneficiaries were spread out meaning the sensitization meetings on COVID 19 organized by the health professionals and community health workers in the grassroot is bearing fruits. The team (the village elders and staff / students from Kijiji Mission) started theRead More

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