Kenya (MNN) — The school year in Kenya is only about halfway through – beginning in January and ending in October. But for some Kenyan kids, the school year may already be over.
Major flooding across the country damaged at least 62 primary schools. So when other schools were re-opening from flood closures last week, 15,000 students from destroyed schools had nowhere to go.
Since mid-March, at least 250,000 people have been displaced by the floods. The slums of Kibera were especially impacted.
Steve Holman with Kenya Hope says, “If water floods classrooms, that’s even worse. Because already, just the issue of each child having their own workbook or sitting at a desk meant for two and there are three, all those hardships are there every day — with or without floods.”
(Photos courtesy of Kenya Hope)
Kenya Hope supports widows and vulnerable children through its Hope Centers.
Holman explains, “The model of the Hope Center is that we bring in resources, fence it in, put in a water system, and up to 300 families can have a reliable place for clean and even drinkable water all the time year-round.”
The Kibera Hope Center has a daily feeding program for kids. For many of the children, it’s the only meal they get that day.
Up to 250 kids come to the Kibera Hope Center each week for Saturday Bible Club where they have fun, sing songs, and hear Bible stories.
Also, Holman says, “We help widows — often they’re young, but have a lot of children. We help them learn a livelihood. Plus, they’re discipled in the Gospel and following Jesus.”
Pray for good governance in Kenya to address infrastructure issues in the wake of flooding.
“For Kenya long term, there’s always the need for better infrastructure in a place like Kibera where everything is informal. The electricity is rigged, there’s no proper supply of water and drainage of sewage — all the things we take for granted here.”
Also, please ask the Lord to comfort Kenyans who were affected by flooding, and pray for encouragement for the Christians meeting peoples’ needs.
Holman says, “There’s just so many obvious ways that we can show compassion and…build a bridge, as it were, to have long-term opportunities to speak the truth of God’s Word into lives.”
Header photo courtesy of a schoolboy in Kenya. (Photo courtesy of Jan Canty/Unsplash)
