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Nearly an entire generation of Kenyans has been lost in the devastating wake of HIV/AIDS, an epidemic that has left grandparents to raise their grandchildren under the most dire of circumstances—extreme poverty, ill health, and starvation.
The Ember Kenya Grandparents Empowerment Project aims to provide support for these grandparents on many levels, from peer relationships that provide education, encouragement, and help for one another, to resources that will nurture the long-term needs of their grandchildren’s future and ultimately their entire community in Funyula, Kenya.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston, IL has committed to help address some of these families’ most critical and immediate needs in two crucial areas:
Supporting the education of 1500 children by providing the mandatory school uniforms they could not otherwise afford.
Funding hospital insurance for 105 of these grandparent/grandchildren families, in concert with a government pilot program.
Meet Sharon
Sharon lives with her grandmother in the Nambuku location of Funyula in western Kenya. She is a student at Nyakwaka Primary School.
As is the case for many in this rural area of Kenya, Sharon’s grandmother could not afford to buy her the school uniform that she required to attend school. Sharon would go to school in the only uniform she had—a single torn dress.
Her tattered clothing isolated her from the other students, making it difficult for her to make friends and leaving her feeling ashamed. Eventually, she was sent home due her poorly torn uniform. Her grandmother unable to afford a new uniform for her, Sharon had to stay home for a full term even though she wanted to be in school.
Desperate for help, Sharon’s grandmother turned to Ember. Thanks to funds donated through St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sharon was able to be fitted for a new uniform and is happy to be back in school. She and her grandmother are very grateful to the Ember Project and St. Luke’s for making this possible.
Listen to Sharon’s story on YouTube.
In 2008, we helped 714 children just like Sharon stay in school through funds donated to the Ember Kenya Uniform Project. With your support, we can help many, many more.