Most of us had the luxury of early education, right? Yes, I do mean luxury. According to recent data from UNESCO, 250 million children worldwide are currently out of school1. This figure has increased by 6 million since 2021. Globally, 16% of children and youth (covering primary to upper secondary) are not attending school, with 48% of the out-of-school population being girls and young women. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly 30% of all out-of-school children globally1. We are encountering more and more children within our surrounding communities and during our food hamper distributions whose parents, usually single mothers, cannot afford to enroll their children in school from kindergarten, or they have been in and out of school forRead More

Another great story to tell you about. I’m writing to share our good news.We have started a weekend girls’ club at Kijiji Mission for teenage girls within our surrounding community. A few of the girls that we currently sponsor in high school with school fees, a school lunch, free uniforms, books, and school supplies now come to our facility on Saturdays to study beginning computer training under Daisy, a former student who has stayed on with us to train our own students in our computer room every afternoon. The girls are very eager to be given this rare opportunity. They also share a hearty mealRead More

HAPPY MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY! Menstrual Hygiene Day(MH Day) is a global campaign celebrated on May 28th each year. It unites nonprofits, governments, individuals, businesses, and the media to promote good menstrual health and hygiene. The 2024 MH Day theme is Together for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld. Springs of Hope Foundation graduates have been sewing washable, reusable sanitary kits for the past three years thanks to kind grants from Spirit in Action and Lantern Projects. It’s a win-win project for our graduates, who live with us for free for 3 three months after completing their 12-month course, sewing the reusable pads and earning enough money to purchase their own sewing machine and seed moneyRead More

Earlier this week, I wrote about how relieved we were that our students arrived back from their Easter break safely and that none of their families were affected by the devastating floods that have caused dams to overflow and rivers to break their banks, causing entire villages to be swept away, often in the middle of the night, killing hundreds. Tragically, we received a phone call on Thursday morning from the neighbor of one of our students informing us that the brother of one of our girls had been swept away when a river broke its banks in an area not too far from usRead More

Last year, I wrote about the worst drought in East Africa in forty years. Crops were failing AGAIN, the cost of food had doubled AGAIN, for the fourth year in a row, and Kenya’s amazing wildlife was dying due to a lack of vegetation and water as river beds dried up. Many were suffering from severe malnutrition as their livestock perished and food staples were not available. At the time, the Springs of Hope Foundation team did everything within our ability to get much-needed food and supplies to the residents of the drought-stricken areas. Yet here we are in 2024, faced with the worst floodingRead More

Our food hamper program, which originated in 2020 when COVID-19 first arrived in Kenya, was meant to be a short-term program while borders were closed, the tourist industry came to an immediate halt, and businesses were shut down. Here we are, four years later, committed to assisting the elderly, people living with disabilities, and single mothers for as long as we possibly can afford to. Inflation has affected all of us globally; however, add to that the worst drought in forty years in Sub-Saharan Africa, forcing the basics of the African diet of beans, maize, and rice to double in price, forcing many single mothersRead More

It’s taken a long time to finally feel that all of our community outreach programs are back on track. Our free uniform distribution program to the children in the surrounding slums has, by far, always been my favorite. School uniforms are mandatory in Kenya, meaning that even if a child goes to school in a hand-me-down, worn-out, thread-bare uniform, he/she is at least in uniform and hopefully not at risk of being sent home. For the families living in our surrounding slums, a full uniform costs over one month’s salary if the mom can find day work doing laundry, cleaning, or seasonal farm work. The basics ofRead More

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As you’ve probably figured out by now, I love catching up with our former students, enjoying their incredible transformation, and sharing their success stories. Please take a moment to read and enjoy Regina’s story. Regina was born and grew up in Karunga, Olkalou town, in Nyandarua, under the Aberdare mountains. She is the firstborn in a family of five. After completing her secondary school in 2019, her parents could not afford to pay her college fees as two of her siblings were still in secondary school. She stayed at home doing casual farm work for one year to assist her parents, which would have beenRead More

Wow! I can’t believe I’ve been back in Kenya for a little over a month now. Time has certainly flown by, but when I look back on everything we have achieved in the past month, I’m delighted with our accomplishments. Tomorrow promises to be another busy day with a huge food hamper distribution to the elderly, disabled, and single mothers in our neighboring impoverished community. Last week, we had the privilege of visiting the Malaika (angel in Swahili) Initiative, a wonderful free daycare facility for disabled children founded and run by an amazing woman fondly known as Mama Grace Malaika (Angel). We distributed food hampers toRead More