April was a regular school vacation and schools were supposed to reopen on 29.04.2024. However, this was not possible due to the heavy rain and flooding. Many roads were washed out, making it impossible to get to and from school. Bonface has sent us some videos in the last few days that have left us speechless and he tells us how sad he is about the heaviest rain in Kenya’s history, which lasted from the beginning of the month until a few days ago. When he recorded the videos for us, many people had to leave their homes. Many families in the slums of Nairobi are affected as there is a lack of good ditches to collect and drain the water. ULT’s vision of giving children a future through education was severely limited in this situation.

The start of school was postponed by the government to 13.05.2024. The children therefore had to stay at home for the time being. Many of them came to the organization during the day, where they played together, did puzzles, listened to music and danced. We are grateful to have volunteers on site during this time to support our team with this increased care effort.

Lea is now on site and has been able to get an overview of the current situation herself. She reports that the schools actually reopened on 13.05.2024 and the children can therefore return to their everyday lives. Fortunately, the situation has improved and it is no longer raining to the same extent as it was a few days ago. As a result, the roads can be used better again and fears about one’s own housing situation can gradually fade. However, it is important to mention that it is almost impossible to predict the future weather situation and therefore there is no guarantee that it will continue to improve.

On the other hand, Lea also tells us that the consequences of the flood disaster are still ongoing and unfortunately mean a tragic housing situation for some families. We are particularly saddened by the living situation of three of our ULT children, as they and their families had to be evacuated from their homes. The houses, their clothes including their school uniforms, the few possessions they had were washed away. Nothing was left behind. They were unable to help themselves when the floods reached their homes. Fortunately, they were able to find temporary accommodation with neighbors. However, this is obviously not a permanent solution.

Therefore, Bonface is addressing you on behalf of the entire ULT and ULI team with a big

“We ask you to help us give them back a home. A place where they can sleep.”

We want to help the three children and their families as soon as possible so that they can go back to school and chase their dreams without worry. An individual donation on top of our general donations would bring us a big step closer to being able to give them a home again.

We are delighted to have such a great ULT family at our side, who always stand by us in emergencies and actively support us with donations. So a big thank you at this point!