Dear Friends and Partners of KCEF:
We write to you at this holiday season to give thanks for you and for what we have accomplished together in 2024. It is not an exaggeration to say that your prayers and generosity are transforming the lives of children and families living in almost unimaginable poverty.
Here are some highlights from 2024:
We added 5 vocational training programs serving over 250 eighteen to twenty-five-year-olds living in a slum with 70% unemployment.
Margaret Wangari, the social worker who directs the vocational programs, says,
“For many years our hearts have been touched by the needs of the young adults in our community who had no skills, no jobs, no hope. Now they come to class with joy, knowing that this will lead to the ability to support themselves and even a family.”
Students Learning Plumbing Skills
We have begun a new primary school partnership with Saint Catherine’s and their nearly 400 students in Kiandutu slum
Four of our schools now have new libraries stocked with books!
New classrooms and science labs have qualified six of our schools to add grade 9 and be certified as Junior Secondary Schools.
Computer Coding Camps were offered during school break to 120 students, and 60 more computers were made available to KCEF schools.
The meals program in Kiandutu slum was increased to three days a week, days when over 800 children come for a desperately needed meal.
Pastor Boniface Gathuo, a faithful, compassionate partner in this work, says,
“We have loved the chance, given by KCEF, to feed the precious and hungry children of the slum twice a week—and NOW we are able to add a third day. Our hearts are overflowing with joy for the children and their families.”
In addition to these highlights, we have, of course, continued to support our seven primary schools, representing over 2000 children. Along with daily meals, we fund teacher training, learning materials, and facility renovations. Moreover, we are providing scholarships, workshops and mentoring for over 120 secondary school students and a growing number of university students.
While it has been a good year for KCEF’s ministry, it has been a very hard year for our children and families. As we have previously mentioned, the cost of food and other necessities has doubled, and the government is seeking to increase taxes on many basic goods. Since most of the families we serve are trying to get by on $1-$2 per day, many find that paying even modest school fees is simply impossible. The inability of families to pay fees translates into our schools struggling to pay teachers, buy new curriculum materials and books, and cover such expenses as water and electricity—challenges they are trying to meet in the harshest and most difficult of environments.
So, as we look to 2025, our calling is not only to continue our existing partnerships but to expand. We want to build on our programs, which are WORKING and making an incalculable difference for “the least of these.” The need for more resources is daunting, but we simply must continue and GROW.
I am delighted to say that one of our supporters has committed a MATCHING GRANT of $40,000 toward the opportunities before us. If you will help us match this grant by the end of 2024, every dollar you give will be doubled. In Kenya, where the dollar goes far, that means a real and powerful impact on children and their families.
Will you please stand with us in 2025 and with the desperately needy children we serve? Together, we are impacting lives in ways that will reverberate for generations, and we are so pleased to share this “high and holy calling” with you.
Gratefully,
Craig Hammon
KCEF Board Chair