Kenya (MNN/OO) — In a remote village in eastern Kenya, children sing as their school celebrates an answer to prayer.
(Photo courtesy Orphan Outreach/Ronne Rock)
A kitchen has come to Madeleine School in Bungoma–a commercial kitchen with sinks and electricity and a place for a stove. It’s a first for the community, and it replaces a metal shed that has been an oppressive and dangerous hotbox for all who work diligently, providing both breakfast and lunch six days a week to more than 200 students, faculty members, and village children who peek curiously through the fence.
The kitchen is the latest in a list of improvements at Madeleine School through their partnership with Orphan Outreach. Since the partnership featuring a child sponsorship program began in 2012, the school has added the nutrition program, a greenhouse and livestock, a nurse, and Elizabeth Ayumaah, a full-time social worker.
(Photo courtesy Orphan Outreach/Ronne Rock)
The change she has seen in the students through the addition of all the programs–including group and individual counseling–is nothing short of life-changing. “Now they are bold enough and confident to be and feel like they have a place where they belong, and that has improved their education.”
And the impact made on the children is fueling even greater desire in every member of the faculty. A list is growing of programs Madeleine School wants to offer to not only the students, but the community at large. Elizabeth smiles as she shares, “I believe there will be a day we will have regular workshops that teach parents and guardians how to be better caregivers.”
(Photo courtesy Orphan Outreach/Ronne Rock)
Elizabeth says other schools are taking notice of what is happening at Madeleine School, and several have asked for assistance in developing similar programs for their students. “Our goal is for lives to be changed through our children, for Bungoma to be changed. We believe we are beginning to see that. We are thankful to Orphan Outreach for helping us.”
