Nairobi Language Institute (NLI), located in the Kawangware slum, started 31 years ago to address the educational needs of children being raised in the “poorest of the poor” conditions in Kenya’s capital city.
Feed the Hunger’s primary role has been to pay teacher salaries and provide food that many of you have packed at Packathons. A few years ago, though, the Kenyan government, specifically the Customs Department, stopped allowing our food shipments through. We keep working to get approval—even at the highest levels of government—but in the meantime, God just keeps blessing the school! For instance:
- God continues to bless us with the nearly $2,500 needed each month to cover food costs for the 353 kids in the school. He also provides on a monthly basis the $1,000 needed for us to pay the dedicated teachers there.
- Vincent, the oldest of four children (below, front row), is ready to take the National Exam. His mom is the only source of income for the family. She roasts maize and washes clothes to help pay his school fees. He hopes that God will continue to provide for her so that he can continue his education to become “one of the best professors in the future.”
- Isaac (below, at school) is a 12-year-old who has learned the value of trusting God to provide for his growing egg business. He learned in school about running a business, and has invested in chicks, hens, and eggs . . . and one rooster. (His mom gave him money to go by socks, but he bought the rooster, hen, and chicks instead.) He sold enough eggs to make a profit of 120 Kenyan shillings, which is about US$1.16. He is excited about what his future holds, but asks for prayer that his chicks don’t get sick.
- Melinda Staples, our Project Manager, is leading a team of seven to visit NLI in a couple of months. They will go to paint and spruce up the classrooms as well as try their hand at teaching some of the classes. It is always so much fun to see how God uses trips like this to encourage the teachers, students, headmaster, and, of course, the travelers.
- We also have a church here in NC planning a trip to visit NLI in June to lead Bible studies, teach in the classrooms, paint, and build as needed. Every interaction between FtH teams and NLI only helps glorify God in mighty ways.
So what have we learned today? Life is hard in the slum. Average income is between US$2 and $3 per day. Drugs, alcoholism, and crime are rampant. There’s a beacon of hope located there called Nairobi Language Institute. Children daily receive a basic education, life skills, and, most importantly, the hope found only in Jesus Christ!
Please pray for Vincent, Isaac, the other students, the teachers, and those from the US traveling to visit them. Also, please pray for our nutritious meal packets to be allowed to enter through Customs and nourish the minds, bodies, and souls of the kids at NLI.
Jim Gurley | Director of Development
