Give Hope to Kisumu's Underprivileged Children

Milestones

Over 108,000 meals served in the past year through our COVID Relief Program and more than KES 2.5million (~US$23,200) in savings generated for vulnerable communities in Kisumu County.

When we began this journey, we just wanted to help and play a role in mitigating the suffering within our communities. As we spoke to families, we kept learning about the harsh impact they were facing as a result of an economic downturn resulting from this pandemic. So, we kept pushing ourselves, through various ups and downs, month after month, to repurpose our programs and keep this relief effort going.

And here we are... 108,000 meals to over 1,000 families, 618 offline education packs to students during lockdown and 175 sanitary kits for at-risk teenage girls.

An impact story we want to share that really touched us came from Liz, a 13 year old student who shared with us that on the day her mother received a food pack from The Rahul Kotak Foundation, they had absolutely no food left at home and the food pack kept them going for 10 days. As Kisumu is currently experiencing a surge in cases and facing the impact of strict containment measures, we are reaching out to even more families. If you would like to continue supporting our relief efforts, please consider making a donation.

We would also like to honor the generosity of donors near and afar, the resilience of our team, our incredible interns and volunteers and everyone who has shared a kind, encouraging word in support. In the midst of this pandemic, our organization also marked its fifth anniversary.

Upcoming July Bonus Day

Mark the date: 14^th July 2021. July Bonus Day is an upcoming fundraising campaign by GlobalGiving where all donations from $100 and above will be matched as follows:
15% match on donations from $100 - $499
30% match on donations from $500 - $749
50% match on donations from $750 - $1,000

There will be $400,000 matching funds available and we’re counting on donations from this campaign to keep our COVID Relief efforts going until the end of 2021.

A Story from the Ground

“I was getting worried when my national exams were approaching and I didn’t have the proper stationery to write my exams. Fortunately, the Rahul Kotak Foundation provided us with an education pack that contained what I needed. I didn’t have to worry anymore! Instead, I concentrated on my studies which helped me to get a good score in my exams.”- says Larry, a class 8 student from St. Vitalis Nang’a Primary.

Links:

• Follow us on Facebook!
• Support Our COVID Relief Efforts
• Read Our Latest Reports from our Girls Project

We continue to be in awe of the impact that has been created by your generosity over the past year. As we continue to support families that were impacted adversely by the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, we feel a deep sense of gratitude for the support YOU – our incredible community of donors – have given to us.

By the end of February, we have been able to support 881 families (4,172 beneficiaries) providing a total of nearly 75,000 meals. Prior to the re-opening of schools, we were able to support 607 students with education packs that helped them continue to learn at home. We were also able to support 140 teenage girls and their mothers through our menstrual hygiene workshops where we discussed important issues like: personal and menstrual hygiene, body image and sex education. Each girl also received a sanitary kit that will last them at least 12 months and enable them to continue to go to school.

The relief we have been able to provide over the past year has resulted in savings of over KES 1.5 million (US$ 15,000) for the 881 families that have helped them cover bills and other expenses like rent in these difficult times.

Back to School for Students in Kenya

Schools in Kenya officially and fully resumed in January 2021. After a few weeks of adjusting to the new classroom rules, most schools are now running at full capacity. With no major spikes in COVID-19 cases so far, schools are likely to continue until the end of March before breaking for Easter and resuming in early May.

At RKF, we hope to gradually transition back to re-introducing all our programs at schools, especially the daily meals program. For now, we are continuing to support students through their families by providing food relief packs while we closely work in collaboration with each one of our school communities to identify how to improve the programs we offer and the best way to ensure we can adhere to strict COVID guidelines as we transition back.

Early brainstorming sessions with head teachers, teachers and parent representatives from different communities across the County have resulted in meaningful conversations that we hope will create more robust programs with greater emphasis on community ownership. We hope to share more details as this process continues over the coming weeks.

International Women’s Week

8^th March is International Women’s Day and this year we are #ChoosingToChallenge. Our girls project, Empower and Educate the Girls of Rural Kisumu makes sanitary kits and menstrual hygiene workshops accessible to young girls. This ensures:

• we make education more accessible and empower girls to continue with their academic journey
• we stand up against ‘sex for pads’ and bring down the number of teenage pregnancies in our community
• we teach girls how to care for themselves

So far, this program has reached over 440 girls and 200 mums. This year, we are hoping to take that number to 1,000 girls and 550 mums. And this depends entirely on your support and continued generosity.

To celebrate International Women’s Week, GlobalGiving is matching all donations of up to US$50 by 50% from 8^th March to 12^th March.

Links:

• Become an RKF Patron: Make a Monthly Donation
• Hildah's Empowering Story