Diane meet Irene - Irene meet Diane

One of our precious young ladies from Penda Project is Irene Misena. She was a part of our very first class of Penda students that entered secondary school four years ago. Irene excelled both as a student and as a leader and now is the primary leader of the children's Sunday School at New Hope Church. Irene recently began a new phase of her life as she enrolled at Nairobi Aviation University in their hotel management program. We are excited that she is among our first class of university/college-level students and are expecting great things from Irene.

In July we had a very heartfelt reunion as Diane Peters from Sagemont Church in Houston was privileged to be with us in Africa and to meet Irene for the first time. Diane has been Irene's sponsor for the past three years and it was an emotional meeting as each party got to meet the other for the first time. These are moving relationships for both parties and we love the close bond that develops between our young people and their sponsors. You may never get to be like Diane and meet your student personally, but please be assured that our Penda students love and appreciate each of their sponsors and realize the vital role they play.

Progress or Excellence? - A Letter from the Directors

One of the inherent dangers of exclusively working in poverty-stricken areas with materially challenged people is we can sometimes only measure success by the standard of how far we have come, instead of overall excellence. It is easy to allow progress to be the final goal and as long as we are moving forward we can become complacent about the level of progress and the future rate of growth in a particular community. That is the place where New Hope Initiative finds itself now in one of our largest projects, the Kibera New Hope Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya. The progress in this institution has been amazing. We replaced most of the dilapidated buildings, the student population has grown dramatically, we instituted a daily feeding program, the staff has been enlarged, and we have seen a 400% increase in the number of our students who annually pass the secondary school entrance exam. The blessings in Kibera are astounding and we are continually thankful for what we have achieved together with our passionate partners.

However, the future in Kibera is not without its challenges. Will we settle merely for dramatic progress? Or are we going to continue to strive for even greater excellence? You can easily excuse complacency by saying, "it is a slum school and we can only do so much," but we are convicted and convinced that our ultimate goal must be more than progress and nothing short of excellence. We are in the process of evaluating our educational ministry in Kibera. We should have no less expectations for Kibera, because it is a slum school, than we would for any other educational institution in the world.

The past successes have been amazing, but we cannot grow complacent. There is still plenty of room for progress at Kibera New Hope Primary School. The classrooms are too crowded, staff/student ratios are too large, the new facilities deteriorate too rapidly, and 40% of our students per year do not pass the critical secondary school entrance exam.

Our goal is not progress only. We are driven for the sake of the children of Kibera to see New Hope Primary School become a model school. We ask that you would pray with us, and offer any advice or expertise that you might have in this coming challenge. Change is never easy. We desire to change the cultural mindset of an entire community and we are absolutely convinced that we can and will achieve the goals we have set. We will not settle for the subtle trap of being satisfied with progress. We are committed to strive for nothing less than absolute excellence.

Summer 2013

For some the number 13 has an unlucky connotation, however for New Hope Initiative the summer of 13 promises to be a season of amazing opportunities. We have an incredible schedule of nine teams, 150 motivated individuals, who will join us in East Africa with a great desire to make a difference through the work of NHI. We have some of the most diverse and talented teams we have ever assembled. Our work will include day camps, musical teams, sports camps, village ministry, medical opportunities, construction teams, and women’s initiatives. Also during this summer we will dedicate the new wing of our medical center in Arusha, Tanzania and begin a major building program for the school and clinic in Kibera. We also will focus in the coming weeks on major improvements to the Kibera New Hope School. We are confident these changes will help make the school one of the finest educational establishments not only in Kibera, but in all of Africa. We would ask you to pray for our leadership, the team leaders, and every team member coming to work with us in Kenya and Tanzania. Pray that this summer will be a life changing experience for all.

A Special Place for Special Needs

Those of you who are familiar with all of New Hope Initiative’s projects might wonder why you haven’t heard anything regarding our orphanage for children with special needs in some time. Our last visit there was several years ago and we wanted to wait before sending an update. In September we visited the orphanage with a team from Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas. Our project in India is easily our most unique, as it diligently cares for children with both physical and mental challenges. The orphanage is small, as we are only meeting the needs of 15 children. This is a result of both funding issues, as well as the extra care required by the children.

The challenges these children face range from mild academic-related delays to extreme developmental issues that have rendered them totally incapable of caring for themselves. Some of the children have physical disabilities and one is hearing impaired (see Im(re)paired). Five of the fifteen orphans do not suffer from mental or physical challenges and serve as mentors and helpers to the more challenged children.

These five, all girls, were abandoned by their families who did not want to raise more female children. Abuse and other unspeakable horrors awaited them if left to a life on the streets. These young ladies, ranging in age from 12-14, are a great help to our facility.

Our goals for this center are to increase monthly funding so that we can add about 10 more children and to move our new director, a local named Jenny, from two days each week to a full time position.

Jenny has a degree in physical therapy and experience with children with special needs. She is doing an amazing job and we are incredibly happy that we added her to our staff of caregivers.

We also need a deep-water well on the property as all water is currently brought in by truck. A new well will cut operating costs, raise the level of care, and allow for farming. Not only will this improve the children’s diet, but give them valuable skills needed to survive.

The orphanage can be a challenging place. This is due to the extreme nature of the challenges these children face, and also the reality many of these children are discarded like trash because families believe they are a curse from the gods. However, no matter how great the challenges, it is awesome to see the difference we are making in the lives of these very special children. It is because of your continued prayer and support that we are able to serve this community.