Hundreds of hungry children benefit four days each week from hot and nutritious meals served through our World Children's Fund supported feeding program in the neglected and impoverished Kambi Teso slum. For many of the children in the program, it is their only meal of the day.

Eldoret, Kenya has an estimated unemployment rate of 65%. The country has about one million child orphans due to AIDS in Kenya- with an estimated 200,000 children living on the streets in the capital city. The WCF supported program in Eldoret serves abandoned and vulnerable children who suffer from malnutrition, disease and exploitation.

Some of the children in the program comprise child-headed households; elderly grandparents or relatives care for others. Some children also endure life in the slums with their families, but suffer from malnutrition due to chronic poverty.

As is common with so with many of our feeding programs in third world countries, children enrolled in the program often turn up with siblings in tow, or strapped to their back. Despite being children themselves, they often bare responsibility for younger sisters and brothers, which means they are constantly on the lookout for food.

In addition to nutritional intervention and food security, the children also benefit from regular contact with program staff that keeps an eye out for social or medical issues.

Our team on the ground in Eldoret often organizes medical outreaches, which serve the children living in the slums. The team recently organized a one-day jigger medical camp.

Jiggers are flea-like insects that burrow under the children's skin and lay eggs, primarily in their feet. Jiggers are common in slum areas, where hygiene is compromised and children do not have shoes. Jiggers cause a painful infection and without proper treatment, a child can be crippled, lose a foot, or even die. The volunteer medical team treated forty children who had jiggers in their feet, hands and legs.

Thanks to committed donors and continued financial support, a water connection to the feeding site has finally been completed. A storage tank was also installed to help ensure that there is clean water in case of outages, which is common in Kenya.

Another donor funded feeding site improvement was the cementing of the shelter floor. Before, it was very dusty and harbored jigger fleas. The new cement floor allows better cleanliness and a higher standard of hygiene for the children enrolled in the feeding program.

One abandoned child loved. One starving child fed. Impact in Eldoret. -One child at a time.

Together, we are infusing hope in the lives of suffering children living in Kambi Teso Slum.