|
 ABOUT
US
What is the Kenya Children Project?
The Kenya Children Project is a holistic education
project for the children of the Jangwani Slum in
Nairobi, Kenya. We are looking to reach the whole child,
thus we focus on each child’s family and the community
in which they live. The purpose of the KCP is to break
the cycle of poverty that limits the capability of so
many living in the slums of Nairobi, through the hope
found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
 What we do…
The Kenya Children Project has 4 primary focuses, with
the all encompassing theme of being Christ’s hands and
feet. The first is to provide education for the children
of Jangwani Slum. This is taking place through the
development of a school within the slum through the
Believers Centre. A feeding program has been developed
in the school as well, as many of the children do not
receive a consistent meal. The second focus is to
encourage each child’s parents to pursue business or
obtain a workable skill. We are doing this through a
micro loan program with those parents already involved
in business, or providing skills training for those
parents not involved in business. The third focus is home based care. This is reaching out to those in Jangwani living with some kind of injury or disease,
many of which are HIV/AIDS patients. A team from the
Believers Centre has been trained to provide for the
needs of these people. The fourth focus is self
sustainability. This is happening through purchasing
farmland in order to provide food for the school, as
well as purchasing apartments in a middle class area of
Nairobi. Money that comes in from rent will then sustain
and develop the school.
The project is totally operated by Kenyans, those at LIA
and from the Believers Centre. The only thing not done
by Kenyans is the fundraising. A management committee is
in place with representation of the Believers Centre,
Adam Gould and LIA. The people working on the project
are incredibly capable and have a great understanding of
the need in Jangwani and the dynamics that go into
addressing that need.
 Life in Jangwani…
Jangwani is a small area within the larger Mathare Slum
which is home to over 500,000 people, making it the
second largest slum in Nairobi. 70% of Nairobi’s
population lives in abject poverty, on less than a
dollar a day. Jangwani is a rough area where
prostitution, alcoholism, drugs and disease including
HIV/AIDS run rampant. Mathare is known for a significant
amount of gang and criminal activity as well. There is
no running water, electricity, or sewage system. Much of
the sewage is contained in what they call “flying
toilets” or within a small stream which is lined with
trash, in the middle of the walking path. The shack
homes, which people pay rent for, are made of mud, tin
and scraps of wood.
 How the KCP started…
The KCP was created through a partnership between the
Believers Centre Mathare Church, Life in Abundance
International and Adam Gould. Before this partnership
though, it is important to understand how these 3 came
together.
Pastor Isaiah Kamau, the founder of Believers Centre
Mathare Church, had a vision for reaching out to the
Jangwani Community through his church. Through this
vision he was able to get connected to Life in Abundance
International. Life in Abundance partnered with the
Believers Centre to do leadership training, and to aid
them with costs of their small pre-school. As the pre
school struggled to get enough funding to pay teachers
and provide for the children, Pastor Isaiah remained
faithful to this vision.
In 2006, Adam Gould was doing a one year internship at a
Kenyan Church, called Mavuno. After 4 months in the
internship, while on a personal retreat, Adam felt led
to pursue education for children in the Nairobi Slums.
He was soon able to meet Dr. Florence Muindi, the
founder of Life in Abundance International. Florence
told him he should visit one of the LIA projects. He
visited the project in Jangwani in partnership with the
Believers Centre. After visiting the project 2 more
times and finding out about Pastor Isaiah’s passion to
reach out to the community, it was clear that this is
where God had led Adam.
After meeting with Pastor Isaiah on numerous occasions,
as well as Florence and the parents of the children in
the pre school at the Believers Centre, Adam sat down
with Muema, a project manager for LIA and wrote up a
proposal for the Kenya Children Project. The proposal
was approved by Florence, and the wheels began to turn
for the KCP. A management committee was put into place
to oversee and do all of the decision making for the
project. Adam returned to the United States in December
to begin fundraising for the project. The Kenya Children
Project officially started in January 2007.
|
Email:
adam@matharechildren.com
|
