In 2019, Bread and Water for Africa® began a five-year initiative to ensure that students at the Seed School in the Kenyan slum of Kibera, located on the outskirts of Nairobi, receive meals every school day.

Kibera is the largest slum in Kenya and one of the largest in the world. Children living there often go hungry, as their parents have no means to provide food for them. Many are forced to beg or scavenge for something to eat

At the Seed School, however, the students not only have access to education, which is their only way out of the slum, but they also receive two meals a day.  For  most of them, these are the only meals they get all week.

Patrick Odongo, the founder and director of the Seed Foundation, which operates the school, considers it a necessary expense. However, the school has struggled to cover the cost day after day, week after week, and month after month for years.

This was the case until Bread and Water for Africa® took on the mission to provide grant funding. This ensured that each of the 200+ students received breakfast and lunch every day at school. This significant accomplishment was made possible by the support of our loyal and generous donors.

“The feeding program is vital as families in Kibera are unable to provide more than a meal for their households,” says Patrick. “Without the feeding program, it is impossible for the children to concentrate in class or come to school regularly.”

Patrick went on to explain in this year’s request for $14,610 in grant funding from Bread and Water for Africa® —which amounts to approximately 10 percent of the school’s operating budget—that the Seed School feeding program “enables the children from the Kibera slum to attend school regularly and fully concentrate during their class sessions.

“Well-fed and educated children are a pillar in any society and a foundation for a vibrant society.”

In addition, he notes that “The program has a significant effect since as students can get these meals in school every single day, it will reduce nutrient deficiency diseases.

It’s not surprising that most of the students living in poverty in the slum lack a balanced diet. According to Patrick, this can lead to deficiency diseases such as marasmus (severe undernourishment causing a child’s weight to be significantly low for their age), kwashiorkor (a severe form of malnutrition that occurs when there is not enough protein in the diet), or rickets (a bone disease that causes soft, weak bones in children due to a lack of vitamin D or phosphorus).

And as we have done each year since 2019, our Giving Tuesday campaign – “Eat, Grow, Study” has supported the Seed School feeding program with funding to provide meals to 200 students -110 girls and 90 boys – each day.  The meals include porridge for breakfast and ugali (a Kenya staple food made from ground corn), beans, vegetables, tomatoes and onions for lunch, all for just 56 cents each.  This means that we can feed 200 children each day for the small cost of $112.34.

“While the immediate benefits of the school feeding program are clear – such as feeding hungry children, incentivizing regular school attendance, and preventing malnutrition and illness – Patrick also highlights the long-term benefits for both the students and the wider community…

“The project’s major outcome is that the level of illiteracy in the community will be reduced, and more young people will grow up having big dreams to brighten their future.

“They are able to focus on their education, and we are going to have great young leaders for the community in the future.”

Join with us to help 200 children in Kenya’s largest slum to Eat, Grow, and Study.