New Beginnings School - Kibera Slums, Nairobi- Kenya

We went to Kibera to visit a particular school in this community- New Beginnings. Kibera is located in Nairobi, Kenya. It is the biggest and the poorest African slum with a population of more than one million. The Kenyan Government has done little for Kibera. There are no title deeds, no sewage, no water, no roads, no government schools and hospitals and no services of any kind.  Most houses here are wooden shacks with a mud floor and a tin roof - no toilets or running water. Kibera's water is piped in by private dealers. They lay their own hosepipes in the mud, and charge exorbitantly for the commodity.  

The available schools have been started by NGO’s and the hospitals and clinics are either NGO or private.  The schools in this Nairobi slum will usually have mud/dirt floors, grey mud walls and old school wooden pews. The classes may be as many as 60 kids and no books, no pens, pencils or other writing materials. The inhabitants of Kibera live on less than a dollar a day. Often they do not have enough money to pay the school fees or buy food and medicine. About half of people living in Kenya slums such as Kibera are either HIV positive or have AIDS. 

New Beginnings was a project started by a volunteer in 2012 who came to Kenya to volunteer, just as we did. She saw a great need to address the issue of those who are developmentally challenged just being left in the dirt streets in Kibera with no supervision, human contact or even food. She was able to work with the Networks for Voluntary Services Staff, James, and secure one of these shacks to hold a day school for these individuals. There are 8 clients they have identified to date and willingly come to the location for food, health care, socialization, and there is a teacher here who works with them on educational activities and also does physical therapy with those in wheelchairs. 

We spent time here with these teenagers and staff doing different craft activities and sitting with them, interacting with them. They are a great bunch of kids that we really enjoyed. We knew we would be stopping here and knew how many kids there were, so James helped us to pull the right shoe sizes for them from the suitcase of shoes before we donated the rest of them. Each of these clients received a pair of sneakers, a back pack from Jody Ramey, and dental supplies from Hinnant Dentistry! We also had enough donation money left over to buy a 100 pound sack of rice, as well as beans for them. James estimated that since there are only 8 kids here and they provide one meal a day, this would last about 3 to 4 months most likely! 

If you would like to know more about this program or even make a donation to them, they have a facebook page, run by the founder... Kellie Hall... here is the link! 
https://www.facebook.com/NewBeginningsKenya