When reflecting on the things that contribute to the success of our school, I think about the small things that make a big difference. These include things like home visits, ensuring our meals are well prepared, ensuring the school environment is safe and clean, morning routines that make every child feel that they matter, volunteering to accompany our children on hospital visits when their parents are unable, or some of our staff offering to pick up and drop off students at school and at home at the end of each school day.
Our commitment to the safety and well-being of our students has earned us the trust of the families, resulting in a close-knit school community where everyone looks out for one another. This makes it possible for our teachers to have a deeper awareness of the circumstances that our kids face at home, which benefits us in meeting our kids’ requirements for social, emotional, and physical health as well as education.
This is important because families in Kariobangi face challenges such as no running water, inadequate sanitation, not much food at home, and cramped quarters shared with family members—often all in one room. And in many cases, there is only one parent in the home, struggling to make ends meet and provide for their children. The challenging living conditions can lead to health issues, hinder educational opportunities, and contribute to emotional and social difficulties.
For students like David, Zawadi, Abigael, and Kenzia, Hands of Love provides a nurturing environment for their growth and success. David’s father died a few years ago following a cholera outbreak in Kariobangi and surrounding slum areas. He now lives with his sickly mother.
Zawadi lives with her mother in a run-down building. She has a congenital hand deformity, and her mother works as a cleaning lady.
Kenzia lives with her father, mother, and two sisters. Her father is a casual laborer, and her mother is a cleaning lady.
Abigael lives with her mother, sister, grandmother, two aunts, and four cousins in a two-room house near the school. Her mother works as a waitress in a restaurant in downtown Nairobi.
David, Zawadi, Abigael, and Kenzia have found solace and support at Hands of Love, despite the hardships they face. We provide them with a safe space to learn and grow. They receive the emotional and educational support they need to thrive, despite their difficult circumstances. Hands of Love can do these little things that make big differences in the well-being of our families because of the contributions – large and small – and moral support that we receive from well-wishers from around the world.