Mathare North

Term 2, 2021

Greetings from the Mathare North center! By the grace of God, another awesome school term has come to an end. It is our pleasure to share some of the highlights with you friends on the wonderful work of transformation that has been happening in our school and in the community.

Blessings,
Selina Gathura
Headteacher, Mathare North

Total Enrolled: 975 students
Total Unsponsored: 279 students

It is a great privilege to share the story of one of our parents, Ivy*, who is a single mother of six children with three of them being students at the Mathare North center. Ivy and her children live in the neighborhood and she does casual work to support her large family.

We met Ivy in May 2020, during the COVID-19 break from school, through MOHI’s Executive Director, Mary Kamau. Two months before, Ivy had been blessed with triplets (all boys) and right after delivery, her husband abandoned her and their six children. When we met her, the babies looked so small and they were underweight since the mother had no milk to feed them. One of the babies weighed about 2.6 pounds and they were often in the hospital to address health issues brought on by the low birth weight.

We immediately brought Ivy into the MOHI program and she was able to get food for her children as well as social support from the social workers and the pastor from our local Outreach Hope Church. When schools resumed in January 2021, her three children were part of the new recruits to join the school in grades six, three, and kindergarten.

In the six months that these children have been here, we have seen a difference in them. They now look much healthier, their self-esteem has improved significantly. They interact so well with other students and are happy to be in school. The triplets, who are now 16 months old, are now healthy toddlers thanks to the nutrition advice Ivy continues to receive from our CHE workers. 

She is really grateful to MOHI for coming through for her when it seemed like all was lost. Seeing her children going to school puts a smile on her face and the stories they give her about their experiences at school lifts her spirit. Ivy is a hardworking woman who continues to do her best to fend for her children and she is determined that they will have a bright future.

It is always great to see lives transformed and we thank God for His doing in the lives of the families we serve. We are hoping to see more lives transformed in Jesus’ name. Amen.

*Name changed

• This term we received the results from the national primary school exit exams held in March. We are delighted to inform you that out of the 1,245 candidates from MOHI, our school had the top student. 
  • The boy scored 406 out of 500 marks and has been selected to join one of the country’s top high schools. 
  • The school’s overall performance was really good and five other students are also set to join national schools (these are the highest-ranked high schools in Kenya) something that we are really grateful to God for.
• By the grace of God, our kindergarten learners graduated and have now joined grade one in this new school year. We really thank God because when these kids joined us, most of them were very tiny and they could not express themselves very well. It is so amazing to see how they have grown and have acquired a wide range of vocabulary and are able to read and write. They have also acquired knowledge about God through learning memory verses and gospel songs. 
• This term we have adopted the new model in the social work department whereby social work and CHE were merged and their roles harmonized. 
  • The model has made it easy for the social workers to help community members improve their standards of living because social workers are working using small groups which are easy to monitor. 
  • Among these groups, we have been able to achieve healthy homes and do economic empowerment to some families; teaching them on income-generating projects such as soap making.

• We received an American intern from our partners at CMF International and he engaged in various activities at the center:
  • Actively being part of the daily devotions
  • Helped in making furniture repairs at the center
  • Participated in mentorship lessons
  • Sharpening the skills of our chess players

• Pray with the Mathare North center that we will receive the funds we need to complete renovations happening in the school building.
• Pray for the community we serve that the Lord may establish them financially. Many of them lost their sources of income due to the effects of COVID-19 and have not recovered.
• Pray for all our children as they have recently started a new academic year on July 26th.