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Join the Tenderfeet Team. We're 70% of the way to our goal of 50 sponsors!
Ten for Tenderfeet is a program that enables you to partner with Mama Margaret helping the Tenderfeet kids for only $10 per month.
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Please click here to see a video tour filmed during the Lahash team's 2007 visit.
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The Tenderfeet students and teachers at the Riruta school, February 2008.
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Tenderfeet kids love visitors. Here Craig Garratt from Busselton, Australia visits the Kibera location
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Mama Margaret, who started the Tenderfeet school in 2000, provides a safe haven for the children.
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4 yr old Cathy Khulman is an especially needy student at Tenderfeet.
To find out more about Cathy and other children in need of sponsors, please click here.
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This burned out church in Kibera is a remnant of the post-election riots. Tenderfeet survived the riots, but it was a very difficult time for everyone.
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Teacher Karen is one of the pillars of the school, providing a great education through thick and thin.
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Mama Margaret cheerfully prepares a meal for the children. It's a challenge with a kerosene stove.
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Mama Margaret chats with friends of Tenderfeet Fritz Brown and family during a recent visit.
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Tenderfeet kids get involved in the learning process.
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The school is located in East Africa in the city of Nairobi, Kenya.
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Children at the center are served what may be their only meals of the day.
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Click on the image above for a video tour from November, 2005, of Kibera and the Tenderfeet school.
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Latest News: November 13, 2008
Top: Mr. Burns and 5th Graders David Burns teaches a Sunday School class of 5th graders at Cornerstone Methodist Church. The class had been studying and discussing examples of Christian service. Many of the kids were familiar with Tenderfeet through the fundraising efforts for Shadrack and Boaz.
The class decided that they should do a service project of their own, raising money for the kids of Tenderfeet. The goal would be $200, which would be used for school supplies for the needy children attending Tenderfeet.
It was decided that during the month of October, the class would sell donuts between church services. At $1 per donut, that means they would have to work hard to meet their goal. The kids made posters and even went to other Sunday school classes to let people buy donuts.
The response from the church was great, and everyone came through in a big way. When the month was over, the class beat their goal by a mile. They raised $303 for Tenderfeet, which will make a huge difference to children who can't afford school supplies.
Earlier in the year, a 5th Grade class in Aurora, Colorado also did a fundraiser for Tenderfeet. Led by Teacher Kate Goodell, the students raised funds for emergency packs used to help those children affected by the post-election riots.
Isn't it wonderful to see young people making a difference for those in need?
What is Tenderfeet?
Please click on the image The school has two locations. The original location is in Kibera, Africa's largest slum. Earlier this year, part of the staff and students relocated to nearby Riruta, about 5 miles from Kibera. This was necessary for safety reasons due to the ethnic violence following the riots of the December 2007 elections.
The school was founded in 2000 by Margaret Nyabuto and currently has 30 students in Riruta, with more being added over time. In addition, 32 students from the former site in Kibera are being sponsored so that they can continue to attending school (pictured here).
Tenderfeet partners with the non-profit charity Lahash International.
The school is supported entirely by donations, mainly through the Ten for Tenderfeet program. Would you like to help Tenderfeet? Please click here to make an online donation.
Previous News: November 3, 2008
Phelix Ondiek I'd like to share the stories of two Tenderfeet kids, one a current student and the other a former student who has moved on to the next stage of his education.
Phelix Ondiek is a four year old boy that attends Tenderfeet in Kibera. His family fled and relocated to Riruta after the riots in January, but his mother could not make enough to support the family in the new location. After a few months, they returned to Kibera even though it is not as safe for the family. Phelix's father passed away in 2004 from HIV/AIDS. The mother is HIV positive. Phelix is frequently sick and possibly HIV positive as well, but has not yet been tested. The mother is the sole bread winner in the household from her vegetable vendor business in Kibera.
Phelix has two brothers and two sisters. He is known for cracking jokes and loves singing. He receives assistance through the sponsorship of the Brown Family and the Urban Outreach organization.
Wickliff Wesonga Wickliff Wesonga was admitted in Tenderfeet in 2001. After completing several years of school at Tenderfeet, he was ready for the next level, joining Ayany Primary. He is now twelve years old in class six.
Mama Margaret wishes she could continue the education of children like Wickliff because it's a struggle at Ayany. Classes are overcrowded and school fees are extremely difficult for his family to pay (although Ayany is officially "free", in fact there are many hidden fees). Unfortunately, Tenderfeet doesn't have the staff or facilities to educate children like Wickliff.
Wickliff is an AIDS orphan, and was born HIV positive, but -- thank heaven -- is able to obtain life saving ARV drugs. He lives with his uncle who is also HIV positive, and has three brothers and two sisters. He loves playing soccer and reading storybooks. Wickliff depends on good samaritans to help with life expenses, and recently has received assistance from the Tenderfeet Orphans Fund.
These two boys have already faced more challenges than many of us see in a lifetime. Thankfully, they are now getting some help which gives them hope for the future.
More News
We are now keeping all the older news on a separate web page. Please click here to read all the Tenderfeet news in recent months.
Shadrack's Successful Surgery
The happy news is that the funds to pay for the surgery were raised. The surgery was successfully completed on March 28, 2007, and now Shadrack is in a school for children with special challenges. He's doing great!
Tenderfeet Children's Center provides a warm learning environment for extremely needy children. Almost all of these children are orphans or have only one caretaker. Many have lost a parent or parents to AIDS, while others were abandoned.
Tenderfeet provides the opportunity for an education, which would not be available otherwise. The school also provides two meals a day for the kids -- which for some may be their only chance to eat all day.
Hope is Alive with Mama Margaret The school is administered
by Mama Margaret Nyabuto, a courageous woman who has served children in the slums for 20 years.
In order respond to the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS and poverty, she formed the school in 2000 and
now has 3 teachers educating the children of Tenderfeet.
She has faced tremendous setbacks and obstacles in the past few years, including being evicted three times in one year due to unscrupulous landlords, dealing with her own financial struggles, having her life and school threatened during the riots, and her own father was murdered last year. Nevertheless, she has persevered for the sake of the children.
Margaret is convinced
that long-term holistic projects that care for the emotional, physical, and
spiritual needs of the residents - especially the children - is the best
hope for the slums. Lahash International, a U.S.-based non-profit organization, partners with Mama Margaret in bringing health, education, and
spiritual guidance to the slums. You can help feed these kids
Please find out more by clicking here. There are two ways to make an online donation.
If you have a PayPal account or prefer to use PayPal, please click on the button below:
Lahash has also added the secure online Groundspring system, which was designed for charities and is used by many non-profit organizations. You can now make automatic monthly credit card donations with this system.
Please click below to contribute using the Groundspring system
The screenshot below shows the Groundspring options for becoming a Ten for Tenderfeet sponsor. In this case, click "I want to make a recurring donation every Month", choose Partner Organization to be Kenya (Tenderfeet) and Special Projects to be Ten for Tenderfeet.
U.S. donations are tax-deductible under article 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
Margaret Nyabuto and Lahash representative Lahash Representative for Tenderfeet: In Kibera:
For more
information on the Tenderfeet school, on visits to the center, or ways you can
help with the vision, please visit www.lahash.net. Lahash International is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
Bottom: selling donuts to middle/high school group
to sponsor Tenderfeet
A wonderful success story of Tenderfeet is that of Shadrack Otieno. Shadrack is a former students of Tenderfeet. He was facing a serious medical challenge, which required brain surgery.
Dax Mitchell in Kibera
Kenya Programs
16506 FM 529, #130
Houston, TX 77095
713-584-3975
dmitchell@lahash.net
(254)-0724-788-482
(don't dial the 0 in 0724 if calling internationally)
Tenderfeet Education Centre
c/o Margaret Nyabuto
P.O. Box 13444 Code 00100
Nairobi, Kenya
