Educate, Feed & Protect Children in Kibera, Kenya

One of the things that makes St. Vincent's unique is that once a child is admitted into our program, their family becomes part of our family, and we commit ourselves to walking with them over the long haul. 

Out of this commitment has emerged our scholarship program, which currently serves 45 students from primary school to university. We provide multi-year scholarships to children from Kibera, including those who have graduated from our nursery school and their siblings. Our program is different from many others in Kibera: while we encourage students to meet their academic potential, we know that highly vulnerable children face many barriers to success. We select scholarship recipients based on their need and our continued support does not depend on academic performance. We also encourage caretakers to contribute, even if it is a nominal amount, to develop a sense of ownership and pride over their children’s education.

Romario is one of these students. He overcame significant odds to graduate this year with his Bachelor's degree, the first in his family to attend college. Romario wrote this letter sharing his thoughts about the impact of education on his life and the importance of St. Vincent's supports: 

“I would like to express our sincere gratitude for your generous and selfless support towards my university education. Indeed, without your most generous contribution, I don’t know what would have become of me at present. Sincerely, this means the world to me. You have invested in the future of a young man who was almost hopeless and running out of sorts. I still wonder how to best express my appreciation. It is an overwhelming feeling that will never depart.

I came to this organization as a young man, whose hopes for a better future were waning and having been bruised by the acrid atmosphere of life outside school. Coming from a family that struggled for its basic needs, my good grades from high school meant nothing, and only a few people could sympathize with my sorry state. After a meeting with the board members, I was filled with hope and I thought I could dream again. Since then, things have never been the same.

Today, I come out as a graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Biotechnology with a First Class Honours from one of the most prestigious universities in Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. What a moment to be alive! I am proud of this great achievement. I can now look into the future with great enthusiasm, a scientist in the making. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support I have received from St. Vincent’s.

I look forward to pursuing my Masters degree in Biotechnology in the near future, and God willing, abroad! Through this, I would also be able to impact my society positively in a medical and economic sense. Thank you very much St Vincent de Paul Community Development Organization. May God’s grace be sufficient to you all as you aspire to continue serving humanity.”

‘From the moment mum told me that I can become who I want in life, I never looked back. I gave it my best shot each passing day both in my academic and sports fields.'

These are the words of Grace, an alumni of St. Vincent’s Nursery School. Grace graduated from our Nursery School in 2006 and continued through our scholarship program. Now 20 years old, Grace has just completed secondary (high) school and is waiting to join university later this year. Coming from a humble background of her loving mother and an elder sister, Grace has lived in the Kibera slums her entire life, an experience she vividly remembers as ‘not an easy walk in the park.’

“Sometimes we used to fear when the clouds would get dark, simply because we knew our house would be messy following heavy pounding of the raindrops that would hit hard our torn, old, rusted iron sheets so that one could easily see rays of the sun. Rainy days often left us standing as guards holding water basins on top of our heads as a shield." 

Despite the challenges of growing up in Kibera, Grace remained focused and aimed to finish her studies with her head held high. Grace’s hard and ‘smart’ work, coupled with the support of her mother and St. Vincent’s, has propelled her to success. Apart from academic assistance, St. Vincent’s also supported Grace to join a tennis program from the time she was in our Nursery School. She participated in many tournaments that exposed her to people and places outside of Kibera. She dreamed of becoming the best tennis player in the world, just like Serena Williams.

During the past year of COVID, Grace persevered, despite the odds stacked against her and other students forced out of school, left to study at home without a teacher. And the stakes were high as Grace prepared for Kenya’s national secondary school exams on her own.

“This is one of my memorable moments, having to stay at home studying and at the same time thinking about the last secondary school national exams. These are exams that define one’s destiny after high school. Studying at home without the assistance of a teacher was not easy for me, luckily mum kept pushing me, that she only wants the best from me.”

Today, Grace’s dreams have changed: “I want to study education, because I have a passion to become a high school teacher and impact positively on children that come from underserved communities like Kibera.” 

While Grace waits to join university, she is back at our Nursery School volunteering her time to gain valuable experience with children that will face a similarly challenging journey to success.