Week 16 - Children Feeding Program
Rain tapped the roof like impatient fingers, and the lane turned slick — red mud clinging to sandals, plastic bags twisted into makeshift umbrellas. Still, the hall filled, because hunger does not stay home when clouds gather, and children learn quickly which roofs mean shelter and which mean leaks.
We are grateful in wet season the same way we are grateful in sun: donations arrive as beans, maize, cooking oil, and the quiet faith that Saturday will not be skipped. Those gifts stretch — from bulk purchase to bubbling pot to a child who can stop scanning corners for the next meal and simply eat, spoon steady in hand, listening to rain like it owes nobody an apology.
Mid-week of the first quarter, we kept pace: good weather inside the work, even when the sky disagreed. Happy kids do not fix every structural pain in Kibera — but they remind a community what it feels like to exhale together, bowls in hand, mud on shoes, dignity intact.
Steam curled under the roof while rain drummed the sheets outside — a sound that usually means fewer customers for hawkers, more mud on paths, more colds in cramped rooms. The meal still landed hot.
Volunteers shook water from their umbrellas like birds ruffling feathers, then reached for ladles anyway — same queue, same rule: nobody eats last because they arrived wet. If you funded this weekend, you helped more than lunch; you helped a whole Saturday feel possible, rain and all, socks soaked and spirits stubborn.
Project Site Visit by Rotary Club of IPSWICH (USA) and Kikuyu (Kenya)
It was a great and engaging day of partnership and learning as we hosted the International Rotary Club of IPSWICH team, led by Environmental Lawyer Chris and his wife, Jane, Former President of Rotary Club of Kikuyu Hon. George Ngotho and Rotarian Yumbya for a visit to our project implementation sites. The visit provided an opportunity to review the project areas on the ground, discuss implementation priorities, and strengthen our shared commitment to sustainable environmental and community development. We also had the opportunity to visit the Nairobi Rivers Commission (NRC), where we were hosted by Commissioner Dr. Loice Kipkorir, a member of the Ngong River Committee. We explored opportunities to strengthen collaboration and align our work with the Nairobi Rivers Commission's Restoration Framework.
Community Capacity Building Training
We are currently participating in the ongoing PROVE (Public Space Governance Research, Observation, Validation and Experimentation) Pilot Programme, a four-month initiative by Public Space Networks (PSN) bringing together 11 community groups from Kamukunji and Korogocho. The programme focuses on strengthening community organizations’ capacity to manage, protect and improve public spaces as well as restoring rivers and it's ecosystems. The ongoing capacity-building training is helping CBOs and community organizations better understand the connection between public spaces, river restoration and ecosystem conservation, while exploring practical approaches and stronger collaboration among communities, government agencies, development partners and other stakeholders.
High Level NRC & Development Partners Meeting
Representing the Ngong River Regeneration Network, I'm having the privilege of attending a high-level breakfast meeting convened by the Nairobi Rivers Commission (NRC) in collaboration with the Kenya Permanent Mission to UN-Habitat. The meeting has brought together Development Partners, Government Agencies, Private Sector representatives, and Community representatives to deliberate on the restoration and sustainable management of Nairobi’s rivers.