Umoja

Umoja is an urban slum community in Nairobi, Kenya.

Kevin’s family – Umoja LIFT community, Sept 2018

Candace BarlowLift, Umoja

15-year-old Kevin lives with his extended family in Umoja, an urban area of Nairobi. Funds from our LIFT program help to support Kevin and his family by paying his school fees at Kariobangi South school. Kevin’s family came to live in Nairobi when his maternal grandmother migrated with his mother. Kevin and his sister, Pauline, both were born in Nairobi. After their mother sadly passed away 3 years ago from tuberculosis, Kevin and Pauline stayed on with their grandmother in the family home in urban Umoja. They now share the 3-room home with their grandmother, uncle, and cousin. They have a kitchen, sitting room, and 1 bedroom for the 5 family members. Their grandmother also is in ill health, due to diabetes and high blood pressure. The family is very grateful for support from LIFT, since they now can divert funds formerly used for school fees to cover rent and buy food for the family and medicine for Kevin’s ailing grandmother. Like most children in Kenya, Kevin helps with household chores at home such as washing dishes, house-cleaning, and fetching water for drinking and cooking. His favorite subjects at school are math and science. He wants to pursue these interests and […]

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Emmanuel’s family – Umoja LIFT community, July 2018

Candace BarlowLift, Umoja

Could you make the choice to live separately from your spouse and to parent your 3 children in a large city, all on your own, in order to provide them a better life? That’s the choice that Emmanuel’s (pictured here, with his father) parents made. Emmanuel’s father, Philip, lives with 3 of his 6 children in Nairobi, where he works for the city’s transportation department, while Emmanuel’s mother stays in a rural village in western Kenya. The 4-person family lives in a one-room rented home in Umoja, an urban neighborhood in Nairobi. Although they came to Nairobi to seek opportunities, costs – especially rent – also are high, and they have experienced great hardship. The family sometimes goes days without food. In the village, where Emmanuel’s mother, Sarah, resides, the family owns an acre of land. The land is used to produce food for the extended family. Sarah also works in the sugarcane fields. Her eldest daughter is married and no longer lives at home. Emmanuel is able to attend school for the first time, now that he receives support from our LIFT program to pay his school fees. He is attending first grade.  He says that he has good […]

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Eugene’s family – Umoja LIFT community update, June

Candace BarlowLift, Umoja

What would it be like to grow up with your brothers living in a one-room home? That’s what Eugene (pictured above, at left, outside the family home with his mother and younger brother), who receives support from our LIFT program, experiences every day in the urban area of Umoja, in Nairobi. The uncertainty of this boy’s life has led him to want to be a police officer one day, so that he can help “care for his nation.” Eugene’s older brother attends high school, and his younger brother is just 8 months old. His father works doing odd jobs at a school in Nairobi; the father’s wages are the sole support for the family. Eugene’s father and mother are from western Kenya; they migrated to Nairobi. The family’s main challenges are obtaining drinking water – since their tap water is too salty to drink – and finding long-term employment. Competition for stable jobs in Nairobi is very high. They also would like to improve their housing situation. Since receiving LIFT funds, the family now can divert resources to pay the eldest son’s fees for high school and to meet the family’s medical needs. They are grateful for the support. Eugene […]

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Stanley’s family – Umoja LIFT community, April update

Candace BarlowLift, Umoja

We are LIFTing up a single Mom – Lilia – to 5 (4 children and her grandchild) in Umoja, an urban neighborhood in Nairobi. Lilia is the sole provider for this large extended family. The family fled an unstable situation for Nairobi’s slums, where Lilia started a small business selling vegetables. They fortunately escaped the slums, as well, though at the cost of the older children dropping out of school to help support the family. Now the family is supported by Lilia’s kiosk, connected to their home in Umoja. In addition to running her small business, Lilia must attend to all household chores and care for her youngest child, 3-year-old Edwin, while the older children are in school or look for day labor in Nairobi. 14-year-old son Stanley, the middle child, receives LIFT funds to pay his school fees. Lilia reports that this assistance has been their “joy,” since scarce funds now can be diverted to cover rent and food for her large family. Stanley’s favorite subjects in school are Kiswahili and English. He enjoys school, but not when it rains, because the playground becomes too muddy to go outside. When he grows up, he wants to be a motorcars engineer. […]

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Umoja LIFT community, March update

Candace BarlowLift, Umoja

In Umoja (in urban Nairobi), LIFT sponsors are helping children like Mary Grace and Geoffrey, who were taken in by their aunt after their mother tragically passed away. Mary Grace and Geoffrey now live with their 3 cousins in a two-room home. The orphaned children sleep on the floor, due to a lack of bedding. In spite of challenging conditions, they have hope for a brighter future, especially with the support from LIFT, which is paying their school fees, this year. Geoffrey and Mary Grace see how hard their aunt works to be sure they and their cousins have breakfast and dinner, get safely to school, and do their homework, each day. They help their aunt with fetching water, washing dishes, other household chores, and caring for their youngest cousin. Mary Grace enjoys math the most at school. She wants to be a police woman someday, so that she can help maintain the peace. Her future plans include attending an all-girls’ high school. She wonders if kids in America play in the mud. Geoffrey likes playing football (soccer) with friends and enjoys studying English at school. He wants to be a soldier, like his uncle once was, and to buy […]

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