Kibera Nursery School

HOPEHIV funds Kibera Nursery School in the heart of the Nairobi slum.

Orphaned pre-school children attend the nursery and are provided with breakfast and lunch every day, meals they otherwise will not get. If any of the children are ill the school pays for the doctor's fee and any medication. Home visits and support are also provided to orphans and their guardians. Needless to say, hundreds of children are turned away as there is sadly not enough room for all who need good nutrition and schooling.

Over the years the teachers at the school have struggled on low, and sometimes no, pay. They desperately need outside support to continue classes in their makeshift corrugated iron classrooms. Without the one meal a day provided, many of the children would go hungry. The school, run by The Salvation Army, is also badly in need of materials, play equipment and better facilities.

"No human being should have to live in a place like this." HOPEHIV founder Phil Wall spoke these words as he left the Nairobi slums in Kenya, which are home to 600 000 people. He was horrified that whole families had to live in one-roomed, rat-infested mud dwellings, on rubbish-strewn streets with open sewers.

Kibera Nursery School, funded by HOPEHIV, was first stop on Phil and wife Wendy's tour of projects in Kenya in 2005.

"The school provides a ray of hope in an unbelievably desolate place," said Phil. "I will never forget the wonderful people of Kibera, but the place should be labelled 'not fit for human consumption.' I have felt very depressed during the visit but also inspired by the people and our supporters who want to change things for the better."