Schools had closed, matatus were fuller, and parents disappeared into the city’s noise — selling, cleaning, guarding gates — anything to keep rent paid. In the gap, children drift. We opened our Saturday anyway: games scratched into dust, someone’s little sister asleep on a bench, the slow climb of numbers from two hundred to four hundred and six people fed in one day.
Donors and volunteers kept learning and laughter going — puzzles, songs, a stubborn attempt at group reading that dissolved into giggles. Two months of holiday stretch ahead when January feels far away; that is a long time for idle hands and empty afternoons.
So we planned ahead: African cultural dance and music on the horizon, and the ETCO Computer Centre preparing to welcome its first learners. Festive season is not only lights in town — it is also the season when a settlement either organises for its children or loses them to whatever passes the time.
Walk with us through the long break — sponsor a meal, teach a drill step, share a laptop. The numbers proved the need; your response decides how steady our answer can be.
