What would it feel like to go without food for days and to also see your children going hungry? Maureen’s (pictured above, with her mother) family, who are supported by our LIFT program, deal with hunger every day in Kwa Njenga, a large urban slum in Nairobi. Sometimes, Maureen and her sister borrow food from the neighbors in order to have just one meal per day.
The family also confronts a lack of clean water, the threat of theft (which is widespread in the slum), and poor dirt roads that become muddy in the rainy season. Maureen’s parents struggle to provide income for the family through causal (short-term) labor. Maureen’s mother has tried to improve the family’s situation by selling bread and porridge in the slum when she can. Her enterprising spirit helps to keep the family afloat and together.
The family is grateful for LIFT funds, which have allowed them to send Maureen’s younger sister, Esther, to school and to purchase school uniforms for the girls. Education is one worry that they can cross off their long list. They still have a need for: food security, better health care, and funds for the mother to start a small business.
Maureen attends Gifted Prince school, along with several other children supported by our LIFT program. She enjoys studying English and wants to be a nurse one day, so that she can “treat people.” Her main hope is for “a better life.”
Poverty – rather than the death of a parent – is the leading cause of orphanhood in Kenya. LIFT is our family unification program providing assistance with food, education, and health care. Our aim is to keep families living in poverty together. Won’t you consider helping a family like Maureen’s have a better life? Follow the link below to learn more or contribute: https://lightuphope.org/about/lift-family-unification/