I was lucky enough to volunteer as a teacher at Blessed Hope Academy in Kibera, Nairobi and it was truly an eye-opening experience. The teachers and the kids really left a mark on me with their kindness, happiness and generosity. I was welcomed like a local and when I had to leave them, it was heart breaking.They taught me a lot of life lessons in such a short time and they made me realise that nothing is impossible if you really want it. As I am unable to move there and dedicate my life to it as a volunteer for family reasons, I have decided that I can at least help them improving the school conditions.

I am aiming to raise £3,000 to provide basic food for the kids for the whole year. This will be a huge help for the school and for the parents, as 66% of them is unable to pay the school fees of $5 dollars a month, despite this being the cheapest for a primary school with a meal program in Kibera.

Please dedicate 5 minutes of your time to read more about Kibera and Blessed Hope Academy and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do support with anything you can. There are no small donations, anything at this stage can help to give the kids a chance for a better life!

KIBERA AND BLESSED HOPE ACADEMY

Kibera is the biggest urban slum in Africa and one of the biggest slums in the world. Living conditions in Kibera are tough and beyond our imagination. In most of Kibera there are no toilet facilities. One latrine (hole in the ground) is shared by up to 50 shacks. Once full, young boys are employed to empty the latrine and they take the contents to the river. Unsurprisingly, this practice has made the river water unclean to drink and the biggest cause of typhoid and cholera in the region. The unemployment rate of Kibera residents is 50%, and even for residents that are employed, the average salary is less than $1 per day. Receiving an education is critical to these children if they are to have an opportunity to escape Kibera.

Blessed Hope Academy was founded in 2012 for this reason. It is the cheapest primary school to attend in the Kibera slums with a meal program (per Networks for Voluntary Services – Kenya), and still, the parents struggle to pay. The goal is to change the face of the Kibera slums through education. The vision is that gaining an education will become the norm for the children of Kibera, rather than the exception.

MY CONTRIBUTION

In order to support the school, I have decided to go out of my comfort zone and partecipate to a series of sport events. Those of you who know me well will understand how tough this is for me as I am just not a sporty person at all! But this is for a good cause, so here is my plan:

September 27th: I start a 6 weeks Martial Arts course to get fit in a short time. It is going to hurt like hell, especially the 6:30am early start...

December 9th: I will be running a 5K race in Battersea Park in London as my first baby step towards something bigger. Just to embarrass myself even further i will be doing it dressed as Santa.

April 15th: my first 10K run in Brighton. Hopefully it will be warm enough to cope with the wind from the sea. But it is England, so who am I kidding?? It will be freezing!!

June 30th: my second 10K run, this time in Richmond. Maybe warmer? Hopefully running quicker than my first 10K run?

September 2018: to be confirmed, but the idea is to be running a HALF MARATHON in Windsor! That would be the final torture test for me!