It was a certifiable shack.
Here in the United States, it would have been marked for demolition.
But in Kenya’s Rift Valley, it was packed with preschoolers.
This was my first look at Gentle Bells Preparatory School in Longonot, a rural spot over an hour outside of traffic-choked Nairobi. That was in June 2006, when my husband David and I were visiting our daughter, Jenna, who was then working at CURE International Hospital in Kijabe, Kenya. Warmly welcomed by founder and headmistress Esther Waweru and the children, I enjoyed reading aloud from a basket of English-language children’s books with which the children were obviously familiar.
I had no inkling that—in the providence of God—that Gentle Bells visit would turn out to be the beginning of KCEF.
Now—20 years later—David and I have just returned from the most recent of many trips to Kenya. Our traveling companions were Executive Director Jennifer Jukanovich and several board members of the Kijabe Children’s Educational Fund, the nonprofit established by David and me and three other couples.
The Gentle Bells shack is now long gone. In its place is the multi-building campus of a thriving Pre-K through Grade 9 day school and boarding school! Now, on the five acres of land KCEF bought to build primary school classrooms, are also a dining hall and housing for boarders. . . . not to mention a barn for Jane, Rhoda and Ginger, the three cows providing milk for the children’s daily breakfasts and lunches, along with many sheep and goats and two turkeys!
Since our return from Kenya, I read the following in a daily devotional: How does God tend to work? From the very small to the very great—and by a slow, gradual process. God tends to operate under the radar, on the edges of things, quietly, clandestinely, not drawing attention to himself. That precisely describes how God has worked through KCEF since its origin in that small shack to our current partnership with seven Kenyan primary schools and our much-in-demand vocational courses. As schools and supplemental programs have been added one by one, KCEF’s footprint and impact in slum communities has grown.
KCEF’s presence in the Kiandutu slum of Thika, a city neighboring Nairobi, is an example of our incremental growth. It also illustrates how the ministry of KCEF sometimes goes in unanticipated directions. In Thika, we provided computers to a public primary school and connected with a class for intellectually and physically disabled students. Saturday computer classes were then added, along with running and soccer clubs and a program to feed some desperately hungry children.
Thika is now the site of a thriving vocational program for young adults, providing classes in auto mechanics, computers, cosmetology, driving, electricity, and plumbing. Those classes are bursting at the seams and graduates are getting jobs! Land has been purchased by the local folks to build classrooms that will more adequately house the growing number of interested vocational students. Oh, and the Saturday feeding program? Nine hundred to 1,000 children receive a nutritious lunch every Saturday, served mainly by volunteers. Visiting those vocational classes and helping dish up cabbage and bean stew were among my most heart-stirring experiences during this visit.
One last thing. KCEF partner schools are Christian schools, incorporating the light of the Gospel message of forgiveness and hope into their programs. Two school visits struck me with clear images of the impact of light: At Gospel Victory Academy, a dark hallway and classroom are now bright with natural light because of KCEF funded renovations. And a new building for the upper grades of the Blessed Children’s Centre in Mathare slum has classrooms with huge windows bringing in abundant light and fresh air. Sadly, BCC’s lower grades are still in a space where Nairobi’s almost daily electrical outages leave classrooms in the dark. We needed our cell phone flashlights to move around those windowless rooms chock full of the youngest children—disturbing darkness we will help change.
Twenty years ago, on that first visit to Gentle Bells, I could not have imagined what is now a joint effort not only by long-time friends but hundreds of supporters—known and unknown—bringing help and hope to 3,000 Kenyan children and young adults once caught in a bleak cycle of poverty. My heart is overflowing with gratitude to the Lord and to all the KCEF partners and supporters shining light in dark places.
Nancy Mering
KCEF Board Member
We invite you to partner with KCEF in support of more stories of transformation! You can do so by donating online here or via check made payable to Kijabe Children’s Education Fund and mailed to 6 Maple Street, Essex, MA 01929.