Dear KCEF friends and partners,
For over a decade, my family has supported the mission of Kijabe Children’s Education Fund. We’ve seen the organization grow from one partner school to seven, while feeding programs, auxiliary activities like running clubs, computer programs and secondary/post secondary scholarships have all been added. Most recently, the KCEF mission has expanded to include some really promising vocational programs.
When I was asked to join the board of KCEF in 2018, I immediately knew this was the perfect opportunity to become more involved in an organization I so firmly believe is having a great impact on many Kenyan youth, their families and their communities. During the first of many board meetings, I realized that a trip to Kenya to visit the schools was necessary in order for me to fully appreciate the scope of the KCEF ministry and understand the decisions of the board. Due to Covid, however, that trip was delayed until this July.
Although I have traveled to other third world countries, I was unsure of what to expect of Kenya, and, specifically, of Nairobi.
For five mornings—in order to reach the very different world of our partner schools—we drove past downtown Nairobi’s skyscrapers and commerce districts full of restaurants, retail shops and grocery stores somewhat akin to our own. Outside the city, conditions were altogether different, especially in the slums of Kibera and Mathare, where hundreds of thousands live in what some say is the most densely populated area on earth.
Homes there are about 12×12 feet in size, have no electricity, no running water and very poor air quality. At each of our school visits, we exited our van and, in the company of our police escort, we walked a short distance to the entrance of a gated school, usually nestled between tin sided homes and peddlers selling produce or small goods. Upon entering each of the schools, it was as though we had stepped outside of the slum to find joyful, bustling activity: laboratory and natural sciences in action, computer programming, student led lessons, poetry readings, and always bright-eyed, smiling children eager to meet us! As a former teacher myself, I was particularly impacted by their excitement to learn and soak in every bit of knowledge possible!
In addition to seeing our primary school partners, we also visited the Penuel program, a consortium of four pastors hoping to make a difference for government school primary students living in the desolate Thika slum. We partner with Penuel to feed 800 children every Wednesday and Saturday and to provide computer instruction to the sixth grade classes four times a week.
Recently, we’ve begun supporting a vocational program for adults aged 18-25 for degrees in drivers education and computers. Soon there will also be programs in plumbing and electricity. While there, we had the chance to participate in a graduation ceremony for 24 very proud drivers education and computer technology students — graduates who feel hopeful for the first time in their lives that they have qualifications for a job and a better future.
Although each of the schools and programs we visited had its own personality, the common threads were that the students were full of joy as well as gratitude for their teachers and thankfulness for the opportunity to learn and be fed in a safe place. All of them were eager to work hard and continue on to secondary school and even university or vocational training. The importance of education as a means to improve their lives, the lives of their family and the community around them was evident in their looks of determination! As a teacher myself, I was so moved by their perseverance in the most difficult of circumstances. As a mother, I can only imagine what the education of these children means to their parents.
I will be forever changed by my visit to Kenya, the children I met and the visible dedication of teachers working tirelessly to ensure their students succeed. It is clear that the partnership between KCEF and these seven primary schools — as well as the new vocational programs — is making a profound difference in the lives of hundreds and hundreds of amazing and resilient students who will, in turn, use their education to give back to their community. It truly is my privilege to be part of the Kijabe Children’s Education Fund.
Jennie Paglierani
KCEF Board Member