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Five year old boys, Denis and Francis roaming the trash-filled streets of Mathare alone[/caption]

Denis and Francis are twin five year old boys who previously wandered the sewage and trash-filled streets alone during the day and are now thriving students at the Kwa Watoto School. These boys with beautiful smiles once spent their days idle, unaccompanied and hungry in the Mathare slum.

Born to a single mother with HIV who has four other children, Denis and Francis have faced many hardships in their short lives, including lack of food, poor health care and insufficient supervision. Their mother previously received support through eduKenya’s Home Based Care program, which is how eduKenya staff became acquainted with the boys and realized their need to be in school.

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Denis and Francis with eduKenya staff Rose, Anne and Erick[/caption]Denis and Francis are in school because of the intervention and dedication of eduKenya staff. When the boys didn’t show up at the beginning of the school year as planned, eduKenya staff members visited their home and learned that the boys’ mother could not afford the minimal school fees due to deteriorating health that prevented her from earning sufficient income to meet even their basic needs. The school fees were waived and two eduKenya staff members offered to purchase uniforms and books so the boys could immediately start school.Denis and Francis are thriving in the enriching Kwa Watoto School environment and under the caring tutelage of their teacher. The school doubles as a feeding center, as the boys receive two nutritious meals each day and are no longer hungry. The opportunity to attend school has been nothing less than transformative for these beloved boys. We foresee a bright and hopeful future for them!Thank you for partnering with us to enable this kind of radical transformation in the lives of these beloved children.