School Feeding Program
Tenth-Year Anniversary 2011-2021
OVER ONE MILLION CUPS OF PORRIDGE SERVED
School garden development progress
2021 saw school gardens, tended by parents and community members, doing exceptionally well. Schools harvested notable crops of maize and beans to feed students. Plantings were completed for the 2022 season. KUEF grants supplemented the school farms’ harvests.
KUEF's 2020 RESPONSE TO Covid 19 in Kithoka:
KUEF sent $4,550 for grains to be safely distributed through our partners and the County Health Dept.
10 pound bags of meal were distributed to about 1,500 students
Thank you to those who donated funds to relieve food insecurity.
For updates check our Face Book page: https://www.facebook.com/Kenyan-Urithi-Education-Fund-Eliminating-poverty-through-education
In 2011 KUEF initiated the development
of a school feeding program to
provide enriched porridge at two local primary schools.
Many children came to school having only a cup of tea for breakfast and then nothing to eat all day. Our Research Interns conducted baseline research that revealed, according to WHO standards, almost 38% of these primary school children were malnourished and, alarmingly, some were "wasting" or severely malnourished.
This project was developed in conversation with school principals and staff at BLISS, Gichunge and Kithoka Primary Schools, and also with parents and community members.
Bill Gates called
malnutrition "the biggest missed opportunity in global health."
REPORTED RESULTS OF PROJECT:
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Increased enrollment
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Improved attendance rates
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Improved attention, engagement and participation in class
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Improving health of children
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Increased involvement of parents
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School staff encouraged and suported
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ALL food is locally grown and sourced
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A cup of enriched porridge is provided every day for over 700 children
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Through NOC (Nurture Our Children) the local community organizes and facilitates this program
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School gardens are cared for primarily by volunteer parents of the students.
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NOC is accountable to KUEF and local leadership through AakaaKenya
KUEF also partners with BLISS to support agricultural projects though school gardens, a Greenhouse and various animal projects.
Cooking prior to the new kitchens
was done in a classroom and outdoors.
Milestone Reached
In 2017 KUEF fulfilled a promise to build adequate school kitchens at both primary schools when a level of sustainability was reached by school gardens.
These facilities provide the capability for NOC to prepare lunch for students.
Read more about the primary school kitchens at:
New efficient cookers provide needed capacity
You can help feed these children!
Consider a donation to the Feeding Program and literally NOURISH young lives. Currently KUEF provides a 1/2 liter of enriched porridge for over 700 children every school day.
You can donate through PayPal, by clicking on Donate above (no account needed) or by check.
Checks made payable to: KUEF Inc. (memo line: Feeding Program) may be mailed to:
Kenyan Urithi Education Fund, Inc.
P. O. Box 2182
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-2182