The Solomon Project
An introduction
The Solomon project is advocating the needs of some of Kenya’s poorest children. It works in partnership with Mary’s Meals, providing meals to chronically hungry children in their local school using local produce and community volunteers.
Bringing change through school meals
The Solomon project provides daily meals to chronically hungry children in their local school. The children then have an incentive to attend school and through education, gain a better future for them selves and their communities.
THE RESULT
- Daily attendance dramatically rises.
- When the gnawing pain of hunger is removed, concentration in classes improves.
- Better grades lead to greater opportunities in life and a chance to break the cycle of poverty.
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Where and why
Eldoret is a town in West/central Kenya, which is the nearest conurbation to the remote area of Turkana. Many people fleeing the drought conditions have ended up here. Previous to that, Eldoret was the epicentre of the post election tribal conflict from 2007 onwards which resulted in neighbour massacring neighbour. Many of the children being fed by the Solomon project are orphans as as a result of that period.
The schools feeding programme is mainly centred on the slum areas and is aimed at getting street children into schools. Their situation is desperate. They live in gangs on the streets. Most sniff glue to suppress hunger pangs and to dull the pain of life on the streets. They are given this by adults who run the “barracks” where they gather for safety in numbers. They are constantly subjected to brutal attacks and have horrific stories to tell.
The influx of children who’ve arrived as a result of the drought has made the problem even worse. Previously it was only boys who were living like this, but now there are girls too which has given rise to the new phenomenon of street families, where babies are being born on the streets and in the rubbish tips where the children live. We are told many of them, once weaned off the glue, are very intelligent and make good students.
Our vision for the future
We want to see a difference in the lives of children in Eldoret.
We aim to continue to provide food in schools, practically being delivered by our partner Mary’s Meals.
We aim to continue raising awareness of the daily reality of life for children in Eldoret and raise funds to extend the feeding project throughout the schools in Eldoret.