“The academic standard in our school has recorded steady improvements due to the increase in concentration levels as a result of the assurance of meals” – Pastor David Matinde.
Located in the second largest slum in Kenya, Mathare Light Center is a 15 minute drive from the city center of Nairobi. Often described as one of the ugliest and dirtiest slums in Kenya, the Mathare slums are frequently linked with crimes such as mugging, alcohol and drug abuse, child abuse and neglect, and a growing epidemic of rape cases.
More often than not, the dwellers in these slums are easily led into addictions and crime. The intense desire to escape the unending conditions of depression, sickness, poverty, hunger, and high unemployment are leading many astray into a somber hopelessness. Many who are discovering they are HIV positive are sinking into a depression unthinkable and reaching for anything to suppress the anguish, often losing life more quickly.
Those living in these slums have taken on the stigma, given by many, as ‘mental’ cases, because of its close proximity to an area mental hospital and because of the many problems associated with these slums. In the slums of Mathare – basic needs such as food and clothing are a privilege rather than a right. The poverty level is high.
“In establishing the Mathare Light Education Center, it is our vision to have educated, empowered and responsible citizens. Our mission is to educate, feed, support and evangelize to the poor, orphans and vulnerable children, and their families, living in these slums. We want to empower our people to stand on their own,” says Pastor David Matinde of the center.
“In response to the needs of the vulnerable children we serve, our school has been blessed by partnering with Please Pass the Bread to assure the needs are met. We feed hundreds of students twice a day Monday to Friday. We also have a Sunday school program where we minister and feed almost a hundred more children,” continues Pastor Matinde.
“Not only has Please Pass the Bread responded to fill the stomachs of the children God has entrusted us with, our students are healthier, more energetic and alert due to balanced meals they now eat. The academic standard in our school has recorded steady improvements due to the increase in concentration levels as a result of the assurance of meals. Students, who would sneak away from school, or remain absent, to wade the rivers for metals to sell, are now buoyant to sit in class and learn,” expounds Pastor Matinde.
Through this partnership, Please Pass the Bread and the Mathare Light Education Center are now touching and embracing the lives of needy children in the slums of Mathare. We are preaching the true gospel of love by feeding the hungry, spiritually and physically – in words and in action.
“May God bless you richly!” concludes Pastor Matinde
(Please Pass the Bread serves in over 21 locations in Kenya)