I had the privilege of participating in my first food hamper distribution to the elderly, single mothers, and those living with disabilities within the slums in our neighborhood. We began this program when COVID first arrived in Kenya, and most businesses were closed. While some businesses are slowly recovering, many small businesses in our neighborhood were forced to close permanently. As always, the trickle-down affects the poorest, the women who do laundry and cleaning for the local small business owners. The elderly will continue to struggle with food insecurity as there is little government assistance. Many go without food for over a day. For asRead More

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I can’t believe it’s been almost four years since my last trip to Kenya. After being here for three weeks, I feel as if it was just yesterday that I was last here. The first week was busy with staff meetings and updates. But all in all, they did a great job of running the project exactly how I would want things done if I had returned every three months, which was my usual schedule pre-COVID. We now have 27 students living with us. All are the sweetest girls, eager to learn and very grateful for the opportunity to learn a trade. Each has aRead More

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We are still ongoing with our weekly food distribution program. While the fear of the Covid 19 pandemic may be behind us, the devastating effect on the economy certainly is not. Many small businesses have had to permanently close their doors. Added to this is the fact that many living in the slums rely on day work during planting and harvesting season for a small income. The ongoing drought of the past four years has removed that modest source of income. We’re all praying for a good harvest this year. Here is Antoinette’s unedited report of our most recent food hamper distribution. Jambo Everyone,The Springs ofRead More

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Knowledge serves as the ultimate tool for achieving success, and it radiates brilliantly through the remarkable Springs of Hope Foundation’s Kijiji Mission Project in Kenya. On August 4th, 2023, this year’s graduation ceremony took place at Kijiji Mission Centre in Nakuru. The graduates who come from families with humble backgrounds graduated with certificates in fashion design and tailoring. As I congratulate all the graduates for their remarkable achievements during the 2022/2023 academic year, I can’t help but be inspired by their growth into outstanding members of society, leaving a profound impact on our communities. Skill development, as the driving force behind this transformation, empowers theseRead More

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What a fun week it’s been! Pre Covid, our Springs of Hope Foundation vocational training students visited schools in the slums surrounding us in Naka, a suburb of Nakuru, Kenya as part of their training. Our students were each assigned two children to measure and make an entire free school uniform for. The program was just as empowering for our students as it was for the little ones that they were able to provide with smart new clothes and a new sense of dignity. You see, our students were once those children, dressed in rags as they went to school, and in and out ofRead More

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Although Kenya is rebounding from the crippling effects of Covid on its tourism sector, by the beginning of the rainy season the drought in the Horn of Africa looked like entering its sixth year, creating more food insecurity, water rationing, conflicts over livestock grazing, and extreme uncertainty in the agricultural sector, which accounts for one-third of the country’s GDP and employs 70% of the rural population. “We have to walk for seven kilometers to find water,and sometimes what we find isn’t safe to drink.” This dried-up river bed is this area’s only local source of water. I find it absolutely staggering how much the cost ofRead More

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  We are getting more and more requests from parents for assistance with school fees. Most poor rural families depend on seasonal farm work to support their families, pay school fees, rent, and provide food. Many of the vulnerable families we assist live in tiny two-room tin or mud houses with up to three generations under the same leaky roof. Imagine not receiving any income for months on end. Or in the current situation, years on end.  You are forced to choose between paying school fees and feeding your family. Unfortunately, it’s the daughters who are the first to be taken out of school. OftenRead More

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I want to share an update with you on one of the girls the Springs of Hope Foundation provides school fees and supplies for, Mercy, who I have known and supported since she was 5 years old. Mercy joined high school last year and is now in Form 2 (grade 10). Mercy and her two older sisters came to live with us in 2012, at the request of their HIV-positive parents who were struggling to pay the girl’s school fees and were seeking our assistance with their educations. Mercy is now a proud high school student. She has been the most disciplined girl in her grade, always with a contagiousRead More

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Following four successive failed rainy seasons, Kenya is amid the worst drought in 40 years. Crops have failed for the 4th season in a row, causing what little food there is available to be prohibitively out of reach for many struggling families. River beds have dried up in Northern Kenya, resulting in both wild and domestic livestock dying. Here is our Nakuru project manager’s unedited report of our most recent food distribution to West Pokot and Turkana counties. Hello Everyone, Earlier this month Springs of Hope Foundation loaded two pickup trucks of food hampers to be transported by courier to  Kapenguria, West Pokot, and Lodwar,Read More

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This week was very busy for us as we welcomed and settled in 20 very excited young women, the class of 2023. The girls trickled in over the week from every corner of the country. From as far north as Turkana, West Pokot, and Samburu, Kisumu on Lake Victoria, the western border of Kenya, Narok and Masai Mara on the southern border. Little do these young women know what lies ahead for them over the next 12 months. By the time they graduate, they will be strong, confident women. Our program not only teaches tailoring, we include beginning computer skills, including Word and Excel, smallRead More

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