Sekanani is a beautiful rural area approximately 3 hours from Nairobi. It shares its boundary with the world famous Masai Mara reserve. This means that at a close distance the locals, who are traditional Masai people, watch countless Safari 4x4 vehicles passing by to enter the safari game drive. It is surreal to see an area so close to one of the country’s biggest income generating tourist attractions suffer with extreme poverty. Many kids are malnourished and the people are living a hand to mouth existence. Crops can rarely grow as wild animals, such as elephants regularly trample through their gardens and farms. The children are often prevented from going to school as the parents fear animal attack.

We in Jengana became aware of a project in this area and went to visit. When we saw at firsthand the extreme level of poverty we were delighted to be able to respond immediately in a small way with a supply of children’s clothes.  We were further drawn to the importance of the work when we heard the stories of girls not getting access to school and the heavy sense of traditional religion in the area. The lady running the project, a Kenyan lady from Nairobi has a unique role as she herself is Masai and understands the traditions and what the women especially are facing. She has opened a church which now also exists as a school which is a safe place for local children who were not allowed to walk the miles to the nearest school. She acts as an advocate for many young girls being forced into early marriage and is respected in the area. We had planned to partner with Eleanor to do some building work in the area with our Summer 2020 team which unfortunately could not go ahead.

When the pandemic hit, this area which already struggles to feed its people took an extremely bad knock and with animal markets closing, people couldn’t sell their sheep and goats which is a common source of income. Jengana were delighted to be in a position to support Eleanor’s feeding programme. Funds sent, thanks to our supporters, meant that 72 families were given beans and maize to feed their families, that included 120 children. 

We hope to be able to partner further with the people in Sekanani in the near future, and help with building work in their church and school plans. Please pray for us as we seek God’s leading on our involvement in this area.