Korogocho Nyayo

Term 3, 2021

Greetings from the entire Korogocho Nyayo family! We give glory to God for helping us complete this school term. We are so grateful for your support and partnership as we continue working together to transform lives through the hope of Christ. God bless you.

Blessings,
Bob Otieno 
Headteacher, Korogocho Nyayo

Total Enrolled: 542 students
Total Unsponsored: 204 students

*Ivy, a mother of three, is a parent at the Korogocho Nyayo center where two of her children are in grade four and grade one. The family became part of the MOHI program when her second born – *Stacy – joined the school as a kindergarten student in 2016.

Ivy’s marriage has been abusive for a very long time and we learned just how bad things were after observing how withdrawn and tense Stacy was in and out of class.  We discovered that the child would witness domestic violence every night from her father who would come home drunk, insult his wife and violently throw her out of the house. Ivy would spend many nights out in the cold and she would sneak into the house early in the morning to prepare her children for school while her husband slept.

At some point, things went from bad to worse after Stacy’s father tried to kill them by putting poison into their food. By God’s grace, the children went to bed early that day without taking supper. When as usual the mother came home in the morning, she found the food and noticed it had a weird smell akin to a poison used to kill vermin. She discarded the food and then spent the day looking for a house. In the evening when the children came from school, they packed their belongings and moved out.

Ivy did not have a steady job then but the thought of losing her children was not an option she was willing to live with. She sent her older son to go live in the rural areas with her parents and then stayed in Nairobi with the two younger children. We conducted numerous home visits with this family in order to offer support, guidance, and counseling. We encouraged Ivy to save a little from the money she was getting as a casual laborer. We ensured Stacy and her sister had plenty to eat at school and the administration allowed them to carry home whatever food remained at the school. In this way, the family had something to eat at least five times a week.

A few months later, Ivy’s husband suffered a psychotic break as a result of the drugs he was using. He started hallucinating and was behaving as though he is mentally challenged. When he stripped naked and took to the street, Ivy stepped in – she took him in and nursed him back to health. During our home visits, we were able to convince him to seek treatment which he did both at the MOHI clinic and also at the national mental hospital. He is now doing better and is no longer the violent man he once was. The family is now back together and they are living in peace. We give all glory and honor to God for it is He who has made all things possible for this family.

Ivy was eventually able to set up her own food business and she can now feed her family as well as meet the other basic needs. She always has a broad smile on her face and is constantly thanking Missions of Hope for supporting her during those trying moments. Her children, especially Stacy who was affected the most, are now doing better and we have noted an improvement in their academics as well as social engagements.

**Names changed

• We are grateful that all the 64 newly recruited kindergarten pupils reported to school this term. It is so exciting to see these young souls adjust so quickly from their home environment to the school culture and enjoying every bit of it. We bless the Lord for them.
• We are very proud of our soccer teams, both boys and girls. They participated in a local competition and emerged as the winners! They are now set to compete in regional competitions next term.
• All our academic calendar activities went on as envisioned and we are grateful that there were no interruptions. All our students were able to sit for their end-of-term examinations and most of them recorded excellent results.

• Pray for good health among our students, parents and staff members since many cases of sickness have been reported this term.
• Pray for the families we serve that they will be economically empowered and will live in peace and harmony in their homes and with their neighbors.
• Pray for political stability for our nation as we prepare for general elections in the year 2022.