My name is Alex Kitili and I am 24 years old. I was born and raised by a single mother since my father had passed on while I was in class two (second grade). In the slums of Mathare, life proved so difficult for me and my mother. Though she struggled as she could, things would not get better.

In the thick of all this, she gathered what she could working at a nearby pub just to have a few coins to pay for my school fees. Sometimes she would do this at the expense of meals for me and my small brothers and sisters.

In 1999 I finished my Primary `O` level studies managing to get 370 points out of the possible 500 a performance that was very impressive especially to my mother who was working tirelessly to see me at least succeed in life. In a twist of events my mother was diagnosed with Tuberculosis immediately after I had been through with my primary studies, this send chilling to my nerves since I could easily tell that my dream had been shuttered, the dream of becoming a Professional Journalist in the world of film making.

Fortunately my uncle intervened in my situation and took me to a charity school (Mully Children’s Home) where I completed my secondary school studies and attained a C+. They sent me to a college (Smart Media Colleges) where I did a diploma in Journalism and attained the possible distinction grade with 86.2points. Besides that they also paid for me to do a diploma in Information Technology where I achieved a distinction grade.

I am privileged to say that The 1010 Project has become a major beacon of hope in my life and am sure that I will make it in life. It gives me a lot of pleasure to impact other children who are going through what I underwent and encourage them to hang on, for the future looks brighter.

My dream is to become a well-equipped champion of hope and an influential element in the fight against poverty in my community and the eradication of the itching problems in Kenya, Africa, and in the whole world at large. Thank you.

The current drought and famine crisis in the Horn of Africa (Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti) directly impacts The 1010 Project’s friends and partners in Kenya. My heart aches when I think about the challenges that this brings to community leaders as they seek to serve and provide for the hundreds of kids at their schools and orphanages. My heart aches when I think about the hundreds of thousands of hungry stomachs, health issues, loss of hope – and even the loss of lives –  resulting from the worst drought in the region in 60 years.

All of The 1010 Project’s US and Kenyan-based staff, interns, and board members are working collectively to better understand the situation and to think creatively and strategically about how we can best support our partners during this severe food shortage.

Many of our partner schools have been forced to close their doors for an extended period of time because they simply cannot afford to feed all of the children. The cost of food has more than quadrupled. Imagine if your family’s dinner cost went from $15 to $60 every single night for weeks and months on end. Now imagine you are responsible for feeding up to 300 children at these escalated prices! Keep in mind, these non-complaining kiddos eat only beans and ugali (a very plain tasting, pasty-textured, ground-up corn dish) day in and day out.

When I asked my Kenyan colleague Josephine to prepare a report of current needs, she estimated that $5000 would enable twelve of our partner organizations to feed 1000 children for a month!

Historically, due to our size and scope, The 1010 Project has not been in a position to provide emergency aid or food relief. Rather, as you may know, we focus on working alongside our partners to support them in their goals of becoming more self-sustainable. We provide access to loans or grants so our partners can start or expand long-term, sustainable, income-generating activities that enable their schools, orphanages, churches, HIV/AIDS support, and women’s empowerment organizations to be more financially secure so they can stand strong during difficult times such as this.

While many of our partner organizations have been extremely successful with their income-generating projects, most of them are not yet in a position to survive this food crisis without emergency aid. They have a concrete and monumental need, and we need to hear and respond to that need. Our current strategy is to connect our partners with larger emergency relief organizations. We are all working hard toward this end. In the meantime, one of our Kenyan advisory board members has organized a vegetable drive to provide food for at least one of our partner schools and we pray for other miraculous provision for other partners who remain in need.

Please join us in praying for and providing any assistance in the following:

1. Connections to larger relief organizations that can assist our partners with emergency funding to provide food for the children in their schools and orphanages.
2. Wisdom, encouragement and perseverance for the incredible, dedicated leaders of our partner community-based organizations.
3. Fortitude for the families of all the kids represented at these schools and churches and for the orphanages and safe houses.
4. The right amount of rain so that food will be grown and distributed in abundance.

May we have grateful hearts and generous pockets to share our abundance of food and blessings.