What We Do for Kenyan High School Students

One of our Galilee Primary/Waddington High School supporters passed on this interesting article about how the lack of school fees is prohibiting many Kenyan students from attending high school, despite the fact funds are supposed to be allocated for their education:  http://www.nation.co.ke

Fanuel Okwaro, our school director, comments: 

"That is the situation on ground.  At Lorna Waddington High School we have tried our best and gave children in this category a chance to get high school education.we have many kids with marks ranging from 300-414. We are hoping that sponsors will come forward to help us educate these kids. Are you willing to offer a hand? Please visit us at www.nairobikids.org."

There are many high school students available for sponsorship -- please help us be part of the solution and sponsor a student!

Friday's Featured Student - Update -- H'es been Sponsored!

Meet Sampson

I am reposting Sampson again this week, since he is still waiting for sponsor.  The cost of food and gas have gone up dramatically in Kenya recently, making it very hard to get by.  The school and it's students need all the support it can get to make it through this tough time.

Samson is 13 years old and in Form 1. His birthday is August 1, 1997. Samson lives with his parents, and his father is a farmer. His mother is jobless. He has four much older brothers and an older sister.  He enjoys playing legball and helps with cooking at home. His best subject is business studies and he wants to be a doctor someday. Samson scored 294/500 on the KCPE exam. 

Samson has been waiting a very long time to find a sponsor.  We have found in the past that students that have a sponsor are much more likely to stay in school and continue on in their education.  The simple fact that someone that he has never met cares enough about him to help him achieve his dreams, can be just enough to help him succeed.  Can you help encourage this young man to stay in school and complete his education so that he may leave the slums, by becoming his sponsor?

For only $12.50 per month you can help change the life of a child forever.  Please email info@nairobikids.org to learn more.

We're happy to report that Samson has been sponsored!  Please visit our website at www.nairobikids.org to see more children who would love to hear the news that they have been sponsored!

We've Come a Long Way Part 2

Galilee has changed a lot since Fanuel wrote that letter back in 2003. At the time we had only a handful of sponsor.   And thanks to the sponsors and other caring individuals, we have made many of the dreams, which Fanuel spoke about, come true.

Eventually we raised the money to purchase several plots of land and replace most of dangerous tin buildings with brick, so the children would no longer be injured while attending school, nor would they get rained on while trying to study. We also built Waddington High School and equipped it with textbooks, desks, and a fully functional lab. The small school that just 7 years ago had only 186 students now has over 1400. It goes from Baby class all the way through the completion of High School. With 41 paid teachers, the school no longer has to rely on volunteers.

In 2007 we brought both a potable water well and electricity to the school. Previously Fanuel had to purchase water and transport it for all the children. Now not only does the new well hydrate all the children, but also provides a small income to help with the cost of overhead. The newly wired electricity runs both the well and keeps the kids safer, as now they don’t run the risk of fires from kerosene lamps.

We have also expanded Holly House dramatically. We now rent two buildings and raised enough money to add a permanent third building. Now the orphans and destitute children of the Soweto Slums will always have a home and an education at Galilee. Today we have 130 children who call Holly House home.

And thanks to Feed the Children, every child at Galilee Primary School gets a hot meal every day. We no longer have students going days without food or giving up their meal so their siblings can eat. For many of our students this is the only meal they will get in a day.

Just a few months ago we were able to finish the fundraising to build a brand new kitchen.  Now the school has the room to store the food from Feed the Children and the students are no longer forced to stand in smoke as they wait for their lunch.

All of these things happened because people all over the world cared enough to give and donate time to Galilee Primary School and Waddington High School. They also told friends, neighbors and family members about our remarkable organization. Galilee, Holly House and WHS would not be where it is today if it wasn’t for these amazing people. It truly was built with love and $1 at a time.


We have made some wonderful things happen at Galilee and WHS, but we aren’t done yet.


• The Kenyan Health Department has informed the school that more toilets need to be built or they will shut down the school.  Feed the Children has offered to build 6 more toilets if we purchase the land.  Currently we need $1575 in order to purchase the land.

• In order to go on to further education or get jobs other than menial jobs, every form 4 student must take the KCSE at the cost of approximately $109 per student. Many of the student’s families make less than $1 per day, making paying for these exams nearly impossible.


• We still have some of those dangerous tin buildings that need to be replaced.  Not only do they pose a threat to the kids, but they are hot in the summer, cold in the winter and leak in the rainy season making it very hard for the teachers to teach and the students to learn. 



The children still need us to help give them a brighter future and a chance to end the cycle of poverty. Please consider making a donation today and be part of a wonderful future.

Go to www.nairobikids.org to learn more.

Friday's Featured Student - A Hard Working Young Lady

Meet Winfred

Winfred (aged 14) is in form 1, her birthday is Feb 4th. She lives with her mother, father and two siblings in the Soweto slums. Her mother works hard to provide for her family by washing clothes for people and her father is unemployed. Winfred likes to read and would like to be a nurse one day. She scored 75 in Kiswahili and 84 in history, but only 8 in Maths. She would really benefit from someone writing to her offering encouragement. Winfred is still in need of a school uniform – a uniform is important in the slums because it offers an element of protection from `unwanted attention'.

Galilee Primary and Waddington High School offers the students a safe environment, with support, supervision and socialization. Here they learn life skills that can help them prevent diseases, like how to avoid HIV/AIDS and malaria in additional to a valuable education. It has also been found that educating a girls also dramatically reduces the chance her child will die before age five.

Unfortunately students who do not receive an education increases their vulnerability to abuse, exploitation and disease. Girls, more than boys, are at greater risk of such abuse when they are not in school. For the Kayole - Soweto slums, the schools also provides a safe haven for children, a place where they can find companionship, adult supervision, latrines, clean water, meals and health care.

Yet even these basics are beyond reach for hundreds of children in the slums of Kenya. These children are deprived of their right to education because their families cannot afford school fees or other related costs, or because they so poor the children have to work to help put food on the table.

Please consider becoming Winfred's sponsor today and help ensure she gets the education she badly needs to help end the cycle of poverty.

Email info@nairobikids.org today.

Run James Run

On May 22 2011, James will be running the Edinburgh Marathon to help raise money for new toilets at Galilee Primary and Waddington High School.

In order for the schools to remain open more toilets need to be built.  James knows how important the schools are to the children in the Kayole-Soweto slums.  Galilee Primary and Waddington High school are for some the only chance they have at an education and a chance to leave the slums for a better life.

Good luck James the students and supporters of Galilee Primary and Waddington High School are behind you all the way.

If you would like to donate go to James' Just Giving Page

Thank you!

Friday's Featured Student - From Heartbreak to Healing

Meet Noel

Update - Noel has found a sponsor!!!

Noel is in the 7th grade and will be turning 13 on June 6th.  She loves to dance and one day she dreams of becoming a nurse. 

Sisters Noel and Mercy had a very difficult year in 2006. Their Mom died of AIDs in 2005 and they were taken in by an `aunt' and `uncle'. Fanuel, the school director had included them on the list of children who had not reported for school in June of that year. After investigating the case he found out that the girls were actually withdrawn from school by their guardian and sold as domestic servants. Thankfully Fanuel worked really hard to force the authorities to investigate the case and the guardian was arrested. Fanuel then managed to track down the girls and bring them back to live at Holly House. 

Noel has since lost her sponsor and needs a caring person who will stand by her and show her that she is cared for and how important it is to compelete her education.

Won't you please consider sponsoring Noel today?  Please email info@nairobikids.org and help give her a brighter future.