The center was originally set up as a home for street
children, providing residential care for the boys of the local towns and
communities. Since then, the ministry has expanded to include children
orphaned by HIV/AIDS or other tragedies. Kids Alive now has around 60 boys at the center.

For the past few years of ministry, their only supply of
water has been water they pumped from a nearby river. However, in October, they begin digging a
well.

Less than a week ago, they hit water.

Linda Mugo with Kids Alive said, "It's been quite an
exciting project. One of the boys who watched the water spout
out of the ground said, ‘This is God!'"

Mugo said there has been a tremendous response of excitement
from the boys at the center as they realize how God is at work. When the water
had been on for over 24 hours, Mugo said, there were still boys standing
outside just staring at it.

Not only are the boys excited, but the surrounding community
has witnessed how God has provided.

"We've had drought for most of the year, and the community would
come to us and ask for food and help in different ways. For them, as well, this
is a miracle because it's something that we've all been praying for and looking
forward to," reported Mugo.

With the completion of this well, every Kids Alive residential
center and the surrounding community now has access to a well, and Mugo said
this is the last well they plan to dig in the near future.

Clean water from the well ensures that the children and the communities
have less of a chance of contracting malaria or dysentery through a bad water
sources, as well as lowering their risk of malnutrition.

Because the center's source of water is now secure, Kids
Alive can focus more of their efforts on the spiritual well-being of the kids
and people in the community.

"We request that people pray with us so that we're able to
reach out, not only to meet the needs of children, but also the spiritual needs
of the adults in their lives," Mugo said.

Through their Keeping Families Together program, Kids Alive is
ensuring this takes place.

To help with Kids Alive's efforts in Kenya or to learn more
about what they are doing around the world, click here.

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.