It’s always a pleasure to write a blog on the progress being made by The Lunchbowl Network, a charity working on the ground in Kibera, Kenya, the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. 2.8 sq kms with an estimated population of 1-1.5m, living with almost nothing, they are amongst the poorest people on earth.
But not without hope (or smiles) as we discovered when we visited in 2018 to see our 2 40 seat buses that The Brothers Trust purchased to transport children from Kibera to and from schools and other weekend activities.
The Brothers Trust has strict expectations of the charities it supports; namely that the outcomes of our grants are tangible and that the maximum proportion of money invested benefits good causes. This is certainly met by The Lunchbowl Network with 97p in every £ raised spent on the people in their care.
The Lunchbowl Network’s core provision is to feed and educate the neediest children within the ranks of Kibera and this sterling work is already documented in earlier blogs and allows us to concentrate this update on their project to help deaf and disabled children.
The Lunchbowl Network unit for the deaf was established 2.5 years ago for children with profound hearing loss and completely socially isolated as a result. There are currently 15 children enrolled, half from Kibera and the rest from other slums nearby – or as the Kenyan authorities now insist on calling them, informal settlements.
Enjoying a drink at the Pallet Cafe
The Lunchbowl Network employs two specialist teachers of the deaf to arm these children with Kenyan Sign Language and other communications skills so that they can integrate with society and enjoy much more fulfilling lives. As well as language, the children enjoy arts and crafts lessons and three times a year, using the Brothers Trust buses, they make visits to the Pallet Café. The Pallet Café is owned by an imaginative Kenyan businessman to create a venue for everyone but where the waiters and cooking staff are all deaf. The children love the café anyway, but it also serves as an inspiration for them to see deaf adults gainfully employed and creating a successful business.
Christina with her new hearing aid can now enjoy the beat. What a great dancer she is!
During our visit to Kibera, we met a young boy called Jackson who has cerebral palsy. Pregnant women in Kibera do not have access to hospitals and obstetrics we are familiar with and as such, complicated births can lead to instances of cerebral palsy. Jackson’s case is severe. He cannot stand or walk and carrying his rigid and contorted body is a task for more than one person as we all quickly discovered when we took the children to visit an elephant sanctuary.
Catching up this week with Sally, the founder of The Lunchbowl Network, she was able to share some exciting developments with Jackson’s development and other children like him.
Funded by a local Kenyan Trust, we are delighted that Dorothy has joined The Lunchbowl Network team in the special needs provision. Dorothy is from the nearby town of Kikuyu, she is a qualified physiotherapist and works full time with boys like Jackson, including the holiday periods when schools are not allowed to operate.
With Dorothy’s hard work, Jackson is a transformed child. From being confined to lying on his classroom floor in a foetal position, Jackson is now able to sit in a chair for entire lessons. His body spasms have abated so that he can now concentrate on his lessons and gain enormous strides with his learning.
Life in Kibera is tough. Unimaginable for you and I with our running water, fridges, heating and broadband. But life is even more unforgiving for the children of Kibera who face such physical obstacles. Slums like Kibera have too many cases for a charity like Lunchbowl to provide for. Particularly needy children are identified by the community team who also live in Kibera. The Lunchbowl Network has finite resources and capacity for limited numbers of children but the care and support they can provide is life transforming; work which TBT is proud to support and to be able to share you, our supporters. Thank you.