Meet the Children

Pre-Primary 1

Calvin

Calvin is four years old and lives with his great-grandparents. His parents are separated.

Martin

Martin is four years old and has three siblings. He is supported by his single mother.

Abigael

Abigael is four years old and has two siblings. Her mother is a day laborer.

Precious

Precious is four years old. She lives with her mother and has no siblings.

Felix

Felix is five years old. His mother works as a day laborer.

Tiffany

Tiffany is four years old and has one sibling. Her parents work as day laborers.

Beccky Sheila

Beccky is five years old and an only child. Her mother is single and works as a day laborer.

Daphnia

Daphnia is four years old. She has no siblings and lives alone with her mother.

Magdalena

Magdalena is four and a half. Her dad is single and blind. She lives with her aunt.

Liam Gathuki

Liam is four years old. He has one sibling.

Joy

Joy is four years old and has two siblings. Her parents work as casual laborers.

Liam

Liam is five years old and lives with his grandparents. His parents are separated and he has no siblings.

Margaret

Margaret is four years old and lives with her four siblings and her mother, who works as a day laborer.

Friendrick

Friendrick is four years old. He has one sibling, and his parents work as day laborers.

Alvin

Alvin is four years old. He has two brothers, and his parents work as day laborers.

Levein

Levein is four years old and an only child. His parents work as day laborers.

Travis & Trevor

Travis and Trevor are twins. They live with their grandma and other brother. Their mom works as a day laborer.

Bradon

The youngest currently at the nursery, Bradon is three years old. He has one sibling and his mother is a businesswoman.

Michael

Michael is four years old and his parents work as day laborers.

Angel

Angel is four years old with one sibling. Her parents work as day laborers.

Graduated Students

Collins Nganga

Adrian

Neema Waithira

Annita Kathure

Lewis Ngungu

Allan Miwangi

Joyline Nyambura

Brandon Banabas

Patrick Irungu

Harriet Wangechi

Angel Waithira

Abigael Ruguru

Grishon

Hemphry

Polycarp

Josphat

Abigael

Angel

Jane

Angelin

Older Children We Support with Food Deliveries, School Fees, etc.

PETER (MBUGUA)

Peter was born on January 3rd, 2006, as the youngest of three boys. His father died when he was young and his mother needed to take care of him and his siblings on her own. The mother works as a casual laborer, receiving 150 shillings ($1.50) per day when work is available. The family lives in a single rented room and get their water for washing and drinking from the polluted river nearby. When Peter joined us he suffered from jigger fleas on both his feet and legs (a kind of parasite that uses the human body as a host to lay their eggs inside the skin). It was painful for him and he almost couldn’t walk. After successful treatment, he is healthy again.

KELVIN

Kelvin was born on the 3rd of March 2007. His father was murdered when he was one year old and his mother abandoned him and his brother. Though she eventually remarried, she had no interest in her previous children (update: the grandmother let us know Kelvin’s mother has died as well). Kelvin used to live with his grandmother, who is a widow. She took care of him, his brother and Kelvin's uncle who has a mental disability. Their only income depends on their subsistence farming. Kelvin came at the opening of the Makuyu Educational Initiative because the family could not provide for him.

JANET and CATHERINE

The twin girls were born on the 18 of July 2008. The information about the biological father is unclear. Their mother is HIV positive and is currently on AVV drugs. The girls are not diseased and are HIV negative. Their mother works as a casual laborer, but because of the stigma associated with AIDS, people often refuse to give her work. She is a hard-working woman and sells pineapples on the highway. The girls did not attend school before joining us.

BONFACE

Bonface’s family had seven members. His mother is from a region close to Lake Victoria. When his parents separated, Bonface’s four siblings left to go to his grandparents in the north. Only Bonface was left behind with his father. His father started to drink and Bonface went to live with his aunt, but she herself had seven children to feed, which made it hard for her to feed one more child, so he joined us. Bonface was born on October 22nd, 2004.

TABITHA

Tabitha was born on the 7th of August 2007. She has eight siblings and she herself is the sixth child. Her parents have low income because their jobs as casual workers are very uncertain. She used to live together with five siblings at home. Because they are such a big family and the parent’s financial situation was very unstable, the family is very poor. Their income was not enough to educate the children or provide for them on a consistent basis (for example, the children had no soap to wash themselves).

CHRISTOPHER and CHRISTINE

Christopher and Christine were born on the 4th of December 2006 in Makuyu. Their mother was married, however, her first husband died 20 years ago. The family has ten children. Their mother sells firewood and earns around 75 shillings ($0.75) a day. The twins lived in a rented single house with their mother, sister and nephew Leonard that cost around 400 shillings a month. They did not attend school prior to joining us because of the low income of their mother. The twins had no decent clothing. When their mother couldn’t get money from selling firewood they slept hungry. Recently their mother was diagnosed with TB/ The older sister of them still lives with her in a small, unventilated room in Makuyu and takes care of her mother, even though she herself is chronically ill (epilepsy).

LEONARD (OUKO)

Leonard was born on the 7th of April, 2007. His uncle and aunt are Christopher and Christine. His mother abandoned him and left him with his grandmother (mother of Christopher and Christine). There is no information’s about their father. The grandmother said she thinks his mother is in Nairobi but she doesn’t have any contact with her. Leonard never went to school because of the low income of his grandmother. He had no decent clothing. When the grandmother couldn’t get money from selling firewood he slept hungry. He used to sleep with Christopher and Christine on a tattered mattress and they all used one bed sheet for warmth.

CAROLINE

Caroline was born on the 10th of June 2009. Her parents have six children, of whom Caroline is the youngest. She came to the Makuyu Educational Initiative because her parents couldn’t afford the living costs for their big family. Her mother relies on petty jobs where she earns around 150 shillings ($1.50) a day. Caroline used to live very poorly in a single room with her whole family. In 2015 Caroline’s father died, but the mother remarried, though the family still cannot afford to bring Caroline home.

DANIEL and THOMAS (MUNYAO)

Daniel was born on the 14th of June 2007 and Thomas on the 8th of July 2009. Their parents are separated because their father used to drink and physically abuse their mother. The mother decided to live on her own with the boys and their two older brothers. Their mother has a job, but often did not have enough money for food, so they slept hungry. Their financial situation was so dire that they were not able to get soap for washing and taking baths. They used to sleep in one bed together with no blankets.

GOLICHA and DAHERA

Golicha was born on the 4th of February 2007 and his older sister Dahera on the 14th of April 2003. Their parents lived in Isiolo, a province in the northeast of Kenya. They came to the central region because of the harsh conditions in Isiolo: famine, lack of water and the fear of invasion by the Al-Shabaab militias. The parents have five children: two boys and three girls. All the kids were born in central Kenya. The family lives poorly. The father works as a watchman far away and often has no money to return to his family. He also suffers from kidney failure that is a burden for the family. The mother is the breadwinner of the family, but she works as a laborer and only earns around 150 shillings ($1.50) a day. The work is sporadic and not available every day. Golicha joined us when it opened. Dahera was sent to her uncle’s family who lives in the north, but she was mistreated so the parents brought her back after one year. Since 2016 Dahera is also a part of the Makuyu Educational Initiative.

BENSON

Benson was born on the 5th of February 2010 as the younger of two boys. His mother and father come from a region north of Muranga County. Because they couldn’t find work there, they came to Makuyu. Here they are able to both work as casual laborers and are able to rent a single room, however, their meager incomes are not enough to provide for both children. They brought Benson to the Makuyu Educational Initiative so he will have enough to eat and be able to go to school.

Studying is fun with our volunteers