“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:10 - NIV

Eleven years ago, four-year-old twins, Francis Muli and Dennis Musembi, sat perched on top of a garbage heap scavenging for food when they met Njenga, eduKenya’s Community Relationship Developer and Erick, our Procurement Coordinator. Francis and Dennis came from a home in which they were neglected, undernourished and left to their own devices most of the day by their single parent mother. On that day, as they conversed with our eduKenya staff members, the twins expressed their desire to go to school like other little boys their age. They also shared that they couldn’t imagine they would ever get the chance, as their mother was neither interested nor present in their lives.

After several conversations with the twins, and later with their aunt who sometimes stepped in to care for them when she could, Njenga and Erick made the commitment to seeing the twins receive an opportunity for an education. They enrolled Francis and Dennis at our Mawewa Preschool and took on the responsibility of paying for their school fees, provided for their school uniforms and learning materials, while also stepping up as mentors to the two boys.

Eleven years later, Francis and Dennis are now diligent 7th Grade students at our Mawewa School. After their chance meeting with Njenga and Erick on that trash heap, Francis and Dennis’ lives have taken a completely different trajectory from the generational hopelessness and extreme poverty in which their family in the Mathare slum have found themselves. Joining our school gave the twins an opportunity, and the resultant transformation they have experienced physically, socially and spiritually through daily nutrition, academic instruction, counseling, mentorship and spiritual formation has also influenced their previously absent and neglectful mother. She is now more present and caring of her sons, making sure they are provided for to the extent that she is able. Dennis has proven himself to be an excellent student and has shared that the key to the change he longs for, for himself and his family, lies in making the most of the opportunities he has received at the Mawewa School. Francis wants to make a big impact, sharing “We are happy and proud to be in this school. We’re thankful that we are able to develop ourselves, be realistic and achieve our goals.”Change is happening with every opportunity we offer to the children of Mathare.

Thank you for the ways you pray and invest in the lives of children like Francis and Dennis, as they continue on their journey of transformation to break the cycle of poverty in Mathare.