Kenya (MNN) ― Almost 20 million people need emergency aid in Africa's Horn due to drought. Northeast Kenya has been hardest hit.
The Kenya coordinator for Kids Alive, Linda Mugo, explains, "Our recent rainy season was short. We haven't had good rains, which means that even the natural facilities of water, like rivers, do not give enough water. People are going without enough food for their animals, and they're unable to grow crops."
Food prices have more than doubled in the past year, making survival more challenging. Kenya's Ministry of Water has embarked on drilling boreholes across the country.
Mugo says the nearest source of water for their Boys' Center is polluted, compounding problems for the 60 boys living there. "Some people will go to the river to wash their clothes, and they will take the animals to drink water there. This is also the same river that we are pumping from. The ideal for us would be to drill our own borehole, and this would give us safe drinking water. It would help us reduce sicknesses."
In Kiganjo, the Boys' Center provides residential care for boys between the ages of 9 and 18, giving them opportunities to become productive members of society. The children attend local schools and are involved in sports, music, Christian youth camps, and other activities.
Most boys from the home graduate from high school and have the chance to attend college, giving them opportunities for a better future that would not have been possible without Kids Alive. The Center also provides a community program that provides education support for about sixty children from needy families in the nearby community.
It is apparent that the work of the Boys' Center is critical to the area. To sustain the growth, they have to have access to clean water, and the solution to that problem is to drill a borehole. However, funding is holding them back.
The price tag on a new borehole is $30,000, but it provides so much more. "We talk about the story in John of the lady at the well, and we share the story of salvation by tying in the practical use of clean water with the water that comes from faith in Jesus Christ."
It's part of their mission to care for the whole child by providing for the full range of spiritual, educational, social, physical, and emotional needs, believing that children should have the opportunity to grow and develop to their full potential. If you want to help, click here.
