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Every child has potential waiting to be tapped!
Tumaini simply means hope. The vision is to give hope to orphans and vulnerable children especially those on the streets, hope that leads to transformed lives. When we remove children from the streets back to their families, it leads to other issues in these families. Getting the child back to school comes on top of priorities. Giving children education support is one of the most powerful and sustainable way of breaking poverty cycle for good. But it is more than powerful; it is personal when you engage with a specific child through education support.
Tumaini team in partnership with community volunteers, 84 children were reunited with their families in June 2022. This means more children going back to school. Many families are needy and pleading with us to support them with education especially now as their children quit school to find work to support their families. The needs in families are sometimes overwhelming as to rescue and give children stability through education which needs resources.
This story highlights some cases of children in need of education support. Every photo represents a child who needs that support NOW.
Mutua
His family was already needy before the pandemic struck but the situation got worse when his parents lost their casual jobs. Mutua started collecting plastic bottles in the street to sell for food. “I had no other way other than finding ways to to help my parents look for money to buy food. School was the last thing on my mind. My heart was always sad that I could not be in school like our neighbors’ children.”
Through education support, Mutua can go back to school. Mutua’s parents could be assisted to get back on their feet by a business that can begin to meet their basic needs.
Geoffrey
Geoffrey was on the streets for weeks before we met him and rescued him. He took us back ‘home’ where his family lives in a deplorable situation in a single room by the roadside. His mother shared how they were displaced during election crashes and lost everything they had. It has been more than 8 years since the government put them on a waiting list for a piece of land, they could call their own.
Geoffrey has four siblings, and their mother is raising them alone since the parents separated. She does casual jobs in farms for food and other basic needs. Geoffrey is sitting for his final primary exams but without education support, he might not join secondary school or vocational training. He needs education support now.
Yvon
A year ago, we met Yvon wandering on the streets trying to find a casual job to supplement what the parents were earning to feed the family. We returned her home and found her family very needy. By then, her father had a casual job as a mason and her mother was taking care of the family while doing casual jobs at nearby farms for a small pay.
Yvon is the first born and has two younger brothers 7 years and 10 years old. We made sure she returned back to school and completed the primary education. She joined a secondary school and her father was helping. But he lost his casual job due to pandemic and Yvon challenges of staying in school started.
When she was about to join Form 2, her mother passed away through childbirth complications. It was a sudden death and very tough for her father to raise funds to bury the wife, but a church group helped them with the burial. During these traumatic moments, Yvon’s dad shared how his daughter was on the verge of dropping out of school. He pleaded for his daughter’s support through education. He pleaded that Yvonne as his first born; was his only hope to pull the family out of poverty; that would mean her young brothers would succeed in life too. Yvonne is doing well in school and given this opportunity we believe she will not disappoint.
Njeri
Njeri is a kindhearted girl. We rescued her from a police station after she was found loitering on the streets. At home, she lives in a very challenging environment with her mum and three younger siblings. The family is struggling with basic needs which include education needs. Before we returned Njeri home, the family would regularly go days without food.
Tumaini has been supporting them and returned Njeri back to school with full school uniform, all books and stationery. We also made sure they have food. Thanks to her own determination; Njeri is sitting for her final primary school exam this year but may not be able to progress to secondary school without stable support. This is a humble request for Njeri’s education support.
Lucy and Jay
Lucy and Jay are young and innocent children. We met them on the streets in cold weather, looking sickly with runny noses and without clothes to keep them warm. We rescued, fed and clothed them only to discover it was a case of parental negligence. The parent would send them to beg for food every day until they could return home no more. Their family was living in some of the worst conditions we have seen. Their mother who is a single parent neglected her children. We reunited them with their grandmother who lives in the same compound as their mother. and She was happy to receive them.
Lucy, who is 5 years, had not joined school yet but we supported the grandmother to enroll her in school. She is enjoying pre-school. Despite the many challenges they have faced, Lucy and Jay never stops smiling. Their mum was counseled and encouraged to find some work. Before this could work out, the two children need to eat as Lucy continues with school. Will you please support them?
Nancy
Nancy lives with her mum and 2 siblings. She was on the streets looking for a job to pay for her secondary school fees. She had just completed her primary exam and was required to join a secondary school. Sadly, her mother had issues and they separated. The mother began working as a small trader selling porridge in the market place and the income was just enough to feed her 3 children.
After returning Nancy home, we made sure she joined Form one at a nearby secondary school. Her elder sister, who dropped out of class 8 a year ago, often tries to help the mother to support their family by washing the neighbors’ clothes for a small pay.
Nancy needs education support. This means her stability and hope for the family.
Loise
Loise was on and off the streets before we met her. She was already in secondary school but did casual to raise her school fees every time she was sent home due to arrears.
We rescued her and met her mother who is a cook in a nearby primary school. She does not earn much and has 4 children to provide for alone. Loise is her first born and learnt zeal from her mother. Loise is in Form four working hard that next year she may join university. She would love to do a degree in education. She is already struggling with fees in secondary school, how will she pay for university education?
Think of Loise and the children she will teach after she gets her teaching degree. Think of her children, and her students’ children. Educational support is what she needs to achieve her dreams.
Education support makes a generational impact. Its ripple effect will impact the child receiving education support a family and the community. The generational impact of education support is immeasurable, but we know it is immense.
You can make a world of difference to a child.
