The Kenya Distribution Trip has now come to an end, and as the team disperses to locations all over the world, exciting stories are starting to trickle in. We have heard reports of spotting leopards in a national park, orphan children staging an en masse singing performance to our distribution team and a huge soccer game with teams made up of children from the Shelter Children’s Home and our distribution team, with the dramatic entry of a cow half way through, which had to be rescued from the goal net! There will be many more stories to come and we can’t wait to hear all about the impact that the funds raised through Eat So They Can is having on Kenyan communities.
One project that the GVN Foundation contributes towards in Kenya is the Porridge Program at the Pipeline Camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). In 2007, due to the post-election violence in Kenya, many families were forced to abandon their homes and ended up living in IDP camps. The GVN Foundation works through our partner organization in Kenya to assist families at the camp, which is located near Nakuru.
We have funded a porridge program for the children at Pipeline IDP for the past three years. The program has helped to reduce malnutrition and improve the children’s ability to concentrate in school. Our goal is to continue this program for at least one more year while the families settle into their new location. Currently, 157 children aged between three and seven years old are benefiting from the porridge program.
The GVN Foundation has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and we align our work with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Our porridge program is directly contributing towards the achievement of MDG 1 - eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The program is also indirectly supporting the achievement of MDG 2 - achieving universal primary education, as the porridge program is improving the children’s ability to stay awake and concentrate during school.Our distribution team visited the Pipeline IDP camp and helped out with the porridge program there, while distributing resources. In total over $13,000 worth of resources was given out to children’s homes, community projects and IDP camps during the week long trip.
If taking part in an Eat So They Can Distribution Trip appeals to you, there is still one place left on our Peru Distribution Trip from 10-17 June! If you are interested, please get in touch as soon as possible. Otherwise, remember to sign up to host an Eat So They Can event this year – the funds you raise will go towards improving the lives and futures of people who are most in need, such as the children of the Pipeline IDP camp.
Also, check out our May 2012 newsletter here to read all about the latest developments for Eat So They Can 2012!
-Elizabeth and the ESTC Team
