ABOUT US
The Lunchbowl Network was set up in 2006 in response to the plight of the orphaned and vulnerable children living in the Kibera Informal Settlement.
WHO ARE WE
The Lunchbowl Network is run entirely by volunteers based in the UK.
The charity employs local Kenyan people as teachers, learning support assistants, cooks, guards and cleaners. Many of the core team live within Kibera and they are committed to changing the lives of the most needy children.
Originally, the charity was set up as a Saturday Dinner Programme, providing dinners for 200 children. Over the past 18 years, the provision on Saturdays has expanded to over 450 children.
The education provision for 528 children includes two Early Years Kindergartens, one is situated adjacent (100m) to Kibera. The other Kindergarten, Primary/Junior Secondary School and Special Needs provision, including a unit for the deaf is located in Karen.
These children endure the harsh reality of life in Kibera. This includes lack of access to clean water, poor sanitation and inadequate education that causes them to be severely disadvantaged. The children in the programme have been selected because of their extreme vulnerability and high need.
For every £1 donated...
95.3% goes directly to where it is most needed
ABOUT KIBERA
Kibera is within the city of Nairobi in Kenya. The UN estimates that there may be as many as 1.5 million people living in a densely populated area approximately the size of Richmond Park in London or Central Park in New York. This means Kibera is home to a fifth of Nairobi’s population.
The high population density and lack of infrastructure has led to acute problems of drainage, sanitation and solid waste management. Most sewage runs downhill in open ditches, resulting in stagnation, insects and environmental pollution. The unsanitary condition becomes a breeding ground for water and air bourne diseases such as typhoid and cholera.
People live in small, cramped, dark single room huts that mostly comprise mud walls, a corrugated tin roof and a dirt or concrete floor. It is common for 5 or more family members to live in one hut and children usually will sleep on the hard floor.
