Thursday, February 23, 2012

The F O R G O T T E N Ones: the Children of the Kibera Slum

Welcome to the Kibera Slum. To a land inundated with the forgotten ones crammed under a sea of rusty tin roofs. How many people can you fit into a 1 mile square area? 1-2 Million. 

 The stunning fact is that the largest percentage of these are children. C H I L D R E N who have no knowledge of living life any other way. Many children who have never even stepped beyond the border of the slum.Children with no hope of living a better quality life - simply because they do not know one exists. Until now...

We are visiting the school in this picture playing Awana Games .


In the heart of the Slum, Savior King Academy is rising up to meet the needs of these precious ones. They are providing education, uniforms, supplies, food, wisdom, games and most importantly H O P E! They currently as of 2012 have over 300 children in their school. 300+ students in a school with three rooms. Yes - 3 rooms. 


With the growing need to educate more children, to eradicate slum life, the school needs our help. In the process of figuring out how to do this best we have decided a child sponsorship program would be just the fit. For $40 a month we can provide these children with a uniform, school tuition, supplies, meals and medical when needed. 

Meet Benta. Sweet, precious girl. We were able to meet her on our last visit in 2011.

Here is the bio we received on her:
Benta is 13years old. She attends Saviour King's Academy, she lost both her parents at a tender age due to HIV/AIDS, She now lives with her grandparents and due to poverty the family has difficulty affording to purchase a bucket of water. The family lacks basic commodities and Benta is sometimes in dirty clothes and unkempt hair, the grandfather works as a guard this is usually a job for the very poor as the pay cannot do much a part from paying house rent, the grandmother is very old and still tries to find laundry work in the neighborhood, sometimes she can't find any because there are so many women from the slum who are looking for the same work for survival. Benta is in entire need of help in order to have a brighter future.



Meet Tobias. We met him in 2011 as well. He has a sweet, gentle spirit and is eager to learn. He walks with a crutch but doesn't really let it slow him down.

Here is the bio we received for him:
Tobias is aged 11years old and attends Saviour King's Academy, his father died when he was still young and he now lives with his mother who is struggling to manage her family, she does odd jobs to survive. Tobias has a problem with one of his feet, he walks with a crutch, he does feel pain in his foot at times. The foot started swelling on its own, he has been to the doctor and there is hope that it will heal completely. Tobias is very creative, hardworking a shows many talents, he is in need of help and if he get's sponsorship his basic needs will be met and he will have hope and a future.


These are just two out of 300+ children that we have to help.


Today I have a challenge for you. I would like you to invite one of these children to walk by your side over the next 24 hours. As you go about your daily journey stop at the intersections and picture one of these precious ones with you. What awe would show on their face? What questions would they have? What waste would they see? 


Where can our lives of abundance be reduced slightly to increase the quality of life for another?  Let's be honest about this - even when we feel we have little we usually still have something. Could you manage to get yourself a bucket of clean water? All of a sudden we have something else to measure our prosperity with. 


We are just beginning this sponsorship program - this is so new we are even looking for a name that reflects the vision - which is: 


I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 
                                                                                                                  - John 14:18


1 Person + 1 Decision = Making a D I F F E R E N C E

1 comment:

  1. Tobias! Excited about the amazing possibilities for many to be the hands of Jesus through this work.

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