One of the positive things that happened due to Covid-19 was the resurgence of after-school programs in some of the vulnerable regions that we serve. The better part of 2020, these became a major avenue for providing education to hundreds of the children that we support as schools remained closed down. Now with the schools open for in-person learning, we have continued the programs in some of our centers because of the immense benefits to hundreds of the children. Some of these benefits include keeping the children occupied in positive activities during weekends, especially in urban centers. We can provide spiritual guidance, counseling, training life skills, talent nurturing, communication skills, and physical fitness, among others. We have also seen overall improved academic performance by the students who are actively participating in after-school programs.
Emma, one of the teachers in our program at the Kyumbi site had this to say: “Initially the children had low self-esteem, but we took time to train them on building confidence. For example, we had them practice by standing in front of their peers and do presentations. We have also been teaching them the importance of both personal hygiene as well as keeping the place around them clean. We have seen improvement in how they present themselves when they come to school.’’
UPDATE:
A few weeks ago, I presented some 32 vulnerable children who have completed 8th grade but desperately need sponsorship to go to high school. Thank you for your generous response! However, we have 19 who are still available for sponsorship. Please go online or call us today if you would like to sponsor one or a couple of these amazing children.
Thank you for caring!
COVID-19 UPDATE:
As of Wednesday, June 30th, 2021
The daily positivity rate continues to fluctuate standing at 8.8%.
Since schools re-opened for in-person learning last month, there has not been any sharp rise in new cases. Terrific news!
Except for passengers traveling from India, international travel restrictions have been lifted but still with Covid protocols specific to the country being observed.
There were 4,285 new positive cases which are slightly higher than last week, bringing the total number to 184,161 cases.
There were 140 deaths this past week which is more than twice the number reported in the previous week. The death total now stands at 3,634.
Unfortunately, positivity cases in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya have doubled over the past few weeks prompting the government to move nightly curfews in the region from 7:00 pm to 4:00 am. The rest of the country remains under nightly curfews from 10:00 pm to 4:00 pm and these will remain in place for another 60 days.
Some 1,378,585 people have been partially vaccinated with only 370,465 (26%) having received two doses of AstraZeneca.
We continue to thank God for His protection over our staff, sponsored children, and their families.