Penda Sponsors Needed for 2016

Each year, the eighth grade students at New Hope Academy (NHA) anxiously await the results of the “Kenya Certificate of Primary Education” (KCPE) tests. In Kenya, the government provides an education only through eighth grade. If a student wishes to continue to Secondary School (what we would call High School), s/he must finance his/her own education. Virtually all the students from NHA can’t afford the school fees and other expenses associated with Secondary School. That is where Kibera Penda Project (KPP) comes in. KPP works to find sponsors in the U.S. to pay the school fees for qualifying NHA students. To be accepted into the KPP program, students must meet certain criteria. For girls, a KCPE score of 250 to 275 qualifies her to attend day school. A score above 275 qualifies her for Boarding School. For boys, a KCPE score between 275 and 300 qualifies him for day school and a score above 300 qualifies him for boarding school. Because boarding school offers the opportunity for a student to escape from the poverty of the Kibera slum, the students (and their parents/guardians) hope for a boarding school opportunity.

The day school to which KPP sends qualifying students is Olympic School on the outskirts of the Kibera slum. Students walk to and from school each day. The boarding schools are located in the town of Masinga (about three hours from Nairobi) – Masinga Boys and Masinga Girls Schools.

KPP currently has 133 students in the program.  Thirty-six students are in “Form 1” (what we would call 9th grade), thirty-three students are in “Form 2” (10th grade), forty students in “Form 3” (11th grade) and twenty-four in Form 4 (12th grade). Forty-eight students attend day school; forty-seven are at Masinga Girls School and thirty-eight in Masinga Boys School.

Forty-one students still need sponsors. For only $360 per year (or $30 per month), a person can sponsor a student in day school. Only $600 per year (or $50 per month) sponsors a student in boarding school. We strive to facilitate communications between a student and his/her sponsor. When we visit our students, we ask them to write their sponsors a letter and we often carry letters and pictures from our sponsors to their students. Sponsors especially enjoy meeting their students in person if the sponsor joins NHI on one of its many mission trips to the Kibera slum.

So far, KPP has seen sixteen of its sponsored students go on to college. We are very proud of our students for working so hard to break the cycle of poverty. If you find called to do so, we would love to add you to our KPP family.

You Have To Earn It!

We had an interesting and somewhat troubling experience this summer in Kibera. We had two NHI teams at our Kibera Academy campus who were participating in a variety of special projects and our students were also involved in important mid term testing, so it was a very busy day in the midst of a busy week. About midday on Wednesday I noticed a few unfamiliar faces who were obviously visitors on campus. So I asked them who they were and why they were on our compound. Their response surprised me a good deal.  They were on a mission trip to Uganda and their flight had been delayed so they wanted to see a poor neighborhood in Nairobi. With that limited response the visitor grabbed a child's hand and marched into one of our classrooms. At first glance this may seem pretty innocent to you, however it is a situation that is wrong on so many levels. This is the type of behavior that gives short term missions trips a bad reputation and even causes people to question the validity of such an experience. Let's examine the different levels on which this encounter was so wrong. 1. The visitors did not speak with the administration before entering the school. Can you imagine taking a group of people into an American school and wandering the hallways and entering the classrooms without permission? Do African schools deserve any less security and respect than American schools.

2. Poverty is not a tourist attraction to be visited like a monument or national park. The residents of Kibera are a wonderful community of individuals who will lovingly welcome you to their neighborhood IF you have come as a friend. However, it is an affront to their dignity to treat this community like just another stop on your mission to "save Africa."

3. It shows a great amount of arrogance and a significant lack of respect. To interrupt a busy school schedule, to the point of entering classrooms uninvited, because some how you think your mere presence there should warrant every one else altering their routine for you.

4. YOU MUST EARN THE RIGHT TO BE INVOLVED. Even the best intentioned short term mission trip is severely lacking if it is only another stop on your or your church's tour of the world. It is subtly demeaning and overtly discouraging to residents of communities like Kibera when visitors come and have activities, evangelistic events, or even charitable activity but have no commitment to any long term involvement in a neighborhood. Poorly done mission trips have conditioned the local residents to welcome people into their hearts and lives and yet often they know they will never see them again and that is a bittersweet hurt. It is so important that mission trips are done right. We earn the right everyday for our involvement in Kibera and the other places NHI works. We earn it through prayer. We earn it through investment. We earn it through love. We earn it through longevity. It is personally offensive for me to have people with no commitment whatsoever to run in for an hour and take pictures with our kids and leave with a false sense of accomplishment. Good short term missions involves training, preparation, sensitivity, humility, and commitment. At New Hope Initiative we may not always do it perfectly, but we constantly strive to bring our teams into a mutually rewarding partnership with local ministries where each party learns, grows, and is affirmed through the experience. May God please spare us any more "mission trip tourists."

Meet Madam Francisco

This lady has become a very bright spot in my life and work here in Kenya. Everyday that I walk into the New Hope Kibera compound, she lights up with a big smile and greets me. She always compliments me and makes me feel like a celebrity just walked up, and I am the celebrity. I have come to adore her, trust her and laugh with her often. Madame Francisco Mutunga is the Deputy Head Teacher at New Hope Academy in Kibera. I like to tell everyone, she runs the place. And, while many people come together to accomplish our work, Madame Mutunga is the solid cornerstone that holds it all together. She is loyal, hard working, bright, and has a deep integrity. She loves her family and has made the New Hope family part of her own.

I sat down with her to talk about her work and views on leadership. I love her concise yet thoughtful responses to my questions.

Q: How long have you worked at New Hope Academy and what position did you start in?

I have worked here at the school since 2006. I started as a teacher, teaching math, Kiswahili, science and CRE to Class 4, 5, & 6.

Q: What was the school like then?

Terrible. Unexplainable.

Q: Why did you become a teacher?

First of all, I wanted to work with children and mentor them. Secondly, in the teaching profession, as you do the work you can learn more. That was appealing to me - to continue learning while working.

Q: Now, that you are in administration at the school, do you miss teaching?

Yes, I miss it, so now I try to find time to be in the classroom as much as possible. I teach science, to Class 4 and math to Class 5.

Q: Who has been the most influential leader in your life and why?

When I was young, my father died, so my uncle took care of me. My aunt (his wife) became very influential in my life. She taught me the realities of life and many things that have helped me in my life.

Also, Head Teacher, Festus, has influenced me and taught me many things in leadership and real life situations.

Q: How do you define leadership?

Leadership is the ability to direct and involve yourself and others in planning and doing certain things.

Q: What are your hopes and dreams for the students of NHA?

Many of our students come from poor families who stay within the slum all their lives. My hope is that God would help them learn and get a good future and help their families leave the slum and get a better life than they have

By Lauren Allgood - NHI Kenya Leadership Director

Penda Project Grows

Our incredibly successful scholarship program takes young people from our Kibera Primary School and helps them to further their education into secondary school, college, and university. Here is the record of 5 years of amazing growth.

• From 14 to 121 high school students
• From 14 to 41 students yearly that pass their entrance exam
• From 1 to 15 college students
• From no sponsors to 89 sponsors from 17 different states.
• From a staff of 2 to a staff of 7
• From a yearly budget of $4,200 to a yearly budget of $70,000

This incredible record of growth in such a short period of time presents incredible challenges as well. We now have 41 brand new high school freshman who are in need of a scholarship in order to attend secondary school in 2015. We have allowed these young people to enter school in a bold step of faith and we are searching for new sponsors who will commit to $30 or $50 dollars per month to cover the cost of either day school or boarding school for one of these wonderful young people. This is one of the very best investments you could ever make, literally giving these young people a chance for a future.

If you are interested in sponsoring a specific student please visit www.kiberapendaproject.com or email Kelsey Baird at kelsey@kiberapendaproject.com

The Penda College Experience

We are very excited that the number of college and university students in our Kibera Penda Project has risen to 12. These are the very first classes to matriculate to this level and the number of Penda college students will continue to rise rapidly in the years ahead as the program matures. Although the Project pays for the tuition of the students so they can attend school, it is the responsibility of the student to find money to cover the amount of their living expenses. This is not only a financial necessity for the project but is also a healthy balance for the students so they can grow and mature in every area of life during their college years.

Some of our students are very fortunate and can live and eat at home during these challenging years. Other Penda project students must work enough hours to be able to fund their own living expenses. Several of our young men are taking college classes at night and are working construction during the day on other New Hope Initiative building projects. We have a group of students who are being trained and prepared to apply for jobs in the hospitality industry that will not only pay their living expenses but also provide them internships in their chosen field of study. You can imagine that working all day and going to classes all evening is a very challenging schedule. It will take great commitment and time management for these students to be successful at both.

We want to thank those of you who sponsor these wonderful students. You are making a profound impact in their lives. We also ask you to pray for them that they will be able to manage effectively the challenges of their rigorous schedule.