A year ago, schools throughout Kenya were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that included the Seed School located in the largest slum in East Africa — Kibera on the outskirts of Nairobi.

For more than 100 students who attend the Seed School not only were their educations were interrupted (with, of course, no possibility of attending classes virtually), but for many, if not most or all, they lost the regular meals they received at school made possible by the supporters of Bread and Water for Africa®.

However, thankfully schools have since reopened and our meals program has resumed, and the student body has increased to 177 students putting increased pressure on the school administrators to ensure every student receives two meals each school day.

Patrick Ndongo, director of our partner the Seed Foundation which operates the school, explained that the school administration and staff strive to transform the lives of the children in their care by not only offering them hope through an education but keeping them happy and healthy through the feeding program.

In February, Patrick reported the mission of the Seed Foundation and School is to transform the lives of vulnerable children intellectually by giving them the opportunity to access quality education.

“This cannot be achieved easily without a realistic feeding program in place,” says Patrick. “Support received from Bread and Water for Africa® enabled the Seed Foundation to provide a reliable feeding program.

“This kept the children to attend classes regularly and gave them focused concentration in classes. Without the feeding program, it would be impossible for a regular school attendance which would heavily jeopardize our work toward meeting our goal.”

Among them is Novella, a 13-year-old orphaned girl who has been attending the Seed School for four years who lives with her stepsister.

“I feel so much privileged to be studying at Seed School,” Novella told us. “This because I get porridge in the morning and different categories of food at lunchtime.

“Many times, I leave the house without having taken even breakfast; this makes it so difficult for me to concentrate in my studies.”

As for Patrick, the impact on being able to provide students with steady meals has been obvious and immense.

“When I listen to the feedback from the parents, they are so impressed with the feeding program, which has led to a significant increase in enrollment at the school. And going through the school register, it is evident that the class attendance has improved.

“Many of the students are attentive in class unlike before. This has made them improve in class performances leading to more skill and talent development. The feeding program has helped significantly in improving children’s performance levels in class and extracurricular activities.

“This leads to positive growth and improved health, keeping nutritional deficiency diseases at bay.”