Blessed Generation, Kenya - Project 022

ABOUT US - HISTORY:

For more than 35 years Siloam supporters have provided funds to rescue hundreds of abandoned children in Kenya through our caring co-workers at Blessed Generation. The project is currently managed by Dutch missionaries Ria and Fester Fennema who in 2001 took over from the Founders Dick and Linda West who had established the project back in 1984.

Dick and Linda West, a musical evangelistic couple, first began helping by caring for 7 orphaned children whose mother had sadly died giving birth to her 8th child. By the time Richard Norton, Siloam’s Director from the UK visited this fledgling project in 1985, more than 30 children were in their care.

Blessed Generation currently cares for more than 800 children on 3 different sites. In Malindi on the coast, 100 children are accommodated in 4 houses, each cared for by a dedicated housemother who each looks after 25 children. Additional staff look after the cleaning, washing of clothes and security. A female caretaker sleeps with the children each night. In the far west of Kenya at Nyamira, Blessed Generation constructed 10 houses after the last period of tribal violence and election riots in 2008. In each house, 25 children are looked after by a housemother who lives on the site and stays with the children throughout the night hours. The remaining site at Ruiru near Nairobi was provided by the Kenyan Government when the first home needed to move to a larger site. This is now a high school that has been set up to provide a residential high quality senior education for the Blessed Generation teens at low cost effective rates. The children who complete their primary education at Malindi and Nyamira are later transferred to the high school at Ruiru to complete their education and help them qualify for University or learn practical skills useful in the modern Kenyan workplace.

Siloam currently sponsors 25 children at Blessed Generation although many Siloam supporters contribute to the project as a whole rather than being identified with a particular child. During 2017, Siloam supporters provided £9,444 and in 2018 £14,337 of which £5,000 was a special gift to provide solar panels so that the children at Malindi were not totally reliant on mains electricity which is intermittent and spasmodic to say the least.

Gifts totalling £11,771 were provided during 2019 and funds continued to remain buoyant through 2020.

Sponsorship of a child is possible with a monthly contribution of £20 per month which covers the cost of accommodation, transport, medical expenses, food, school expenses including tuition and uniform etc… Sponsors usually receive photographs sent on an annual basis and the children are very happy to send letters to their sponsors as part of their English lessons. Correspondence is now almost entirely through email as the Post Office arrangements in Kenya are not at all reliable.

Most sponsors do find our programme rewarding and other regular gifts from Siloam which are sent to Blessed Generation do make a real difference to the children. We hope more will wish to become sponsors. Even if sponsors are only able to commit themselves for one or two years, they can make a significant difference and their commitment will help save a child from poverty in Kenya by providing education, food and secure accommodation. Siloam has been involved with this project since the very early days and has kept a watchful eye on the ministry developing. Siloam has also been careful to inspect B.G’s annual audited accounts and to send visitors and volunteers from time to time to have a personal experience of the care provided by Blessed Generation for vulnerable children in the organisation’s care.

For further information about this excellent children’s ministry, please visit Blessed Generation’s own website: www.blessedgeneration.nl and choose the British flag for the English version of the text.

We welcome further enquiries and indeed sponsorship enquiries or commitments to help a needy child in Kenya be looked after and educated with practical Christian love.

Kenya 1

Children with their crafts wishing our sponsors a happy  Christmas and New Year.

Kenya2

Sponsored children receiving their Christmas gifts living at B.G. home in Nyamira.

Kenya3

Families of the sponsored children receiving food hampers from Blessed Generation during lockdown.

Kenya4

Special needs newly completed class.

 

Standing Order Form

Gift Aid Form

Want to make a donation by bank transfer?  We would welcome larger donations by bank transfer to save PayPal fees. To make a donation, please log onto your bank online or call them and use the following details to make a payment:
Siloam Christian Ministries, Account Number: 00932329, Sort code: 60-12-35
Bank Address: NatWest, 59 The Parade, Leamington Spa CV32 4ZX.
Please Quote Reference: Project: 022, your Initials and Surname

Kenya5

I am a final year student at Chuka university and I was to sit for my final exam in early April but due to the Coronavirus pandemic doing the exam was not possible. The pandemic has kept me at home for almost six months before the government lifted the ban over University institutions. Staying at home for all those months was accompanied by great challenges, one of the challenges is that it becomes very boring doing the same routine everyday for many months, another challenge is that at home i don't get the quality time and a good environment for my personal studies. I was very lucky to go back to university, finish my semester and sit for my final exams. Computer Science Student.

Kenya6

Since this pandemic started, the government had to temporarily close all educational institutions in an attempt to reduce the spread of Covid-19, which has affected my studies. In that period of seven months, I could have been through with my first year studies because I was to do my exams for first year term three before they gave us a break. I am happy now because I went back to school to continue with my studies and sit for my third term exams. With all the precautions the government has taken to keep all students safe in school I am praying that everything will run smoothly and I as a student, I am going to follow all the rules given in school and keep myself safe. Nutrition and Dietetics Student.

Kenya7

Since the reporting of the first case of Coronavirus in Kenya all colleges were shut down. We were all forced to go back home in the middle of the term. This meant that all learning stopped. For the past 7 months I was not in school and did not go on with my studies since our school could not afford to set up an online class. Coronavirus has affected most of our families since they were unable to work, and it has been a tough time for most of us but I am grateful that I am alive. Now things are getting back to normal slowly and I am glad I went back to school. ICT Student – Railways Training Institute.

Kenya8

My name is Dorcas and I just started my Nursing course in September of this year. Covid-19 has really affected the opening of colleges thus forcing the colleges to undertake online classes. I am finding it challenging. Online classes are a challenge to us, as students because it is expensive in terms of bundles, and also the gadgets used have problems and I lack a conducive environment to carry out my online studies. I hope that the pandemic becomes under control, so that I can attend classes in person. Nursing student – KMTC Voi.

Kenya9

I am Edward Ombui, a new student at the Technical University of Mombasa. I live in rural Kenya without reliable internet access. This makes digital learning difficult to access. Learning using my phone looked 'fun' at first. Why? Use of videos, sharing of resource links, serving assessment tests can all be done at the click of a button. I learnt from anywhere, anytime, every time. It’s adorable! But as stated earlier, demerits seem to outweigh merits. I love learning from the lecture halls. Unfortunately, eLearning has taken all of that away from me. Hopefully we will be able to attend our classes physically in the near future. Environmental Science Student.

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