get involved > Nkunga: community transformation
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Staff Profile
Highfield Church
Food for the Hungry UK
Nkunga, kenya
Highfield is raising funds to resource Food for the Hungry (FH) to make a real and lasting difference to one community living in poverty in Kenya. The project started in April 2005 and is anticipated to run for about 10 years with an appropriate exit strategy.
The vision of the project is for holistic transformation of the community and its people, so that they are progressing towards their God-given potential. It will not build dependency on outside help, but affirm their dignity and uniqueness through equipping them to manage their own sustainable growth into the future. Nkunga Village is about 10km from Meru Town in the Mount Kenya region of Kenya. The community occupies 3 square kilometres on the edge of the Mt Kenya Forest. The land is hilly, with thick bush and very stony volcanic soil.
The famous Nkunga "sacred lake" is situated close to the community and provides the only source of water apart from direct rainfall, which is unreliable. The population of about 1,000 is of the Meru Imenti people, who use the Kimeru language and Kiswahili. Within Nkunga village, there is a primary school and two churches. Christianity is the dominant religion. There is no health centre and people have to walk 5km for medical services. Agriculture is the only means of livelihood.
FH/Kenya is focusing on the churches, leaders and families in order to restore broken relationships and build their capacity to be agents of change in their community and to respond to each others needs in a sustainable way.
FH/K is training the community about development, focusing initially on the needs of the children and then the needs of the wider community, especially those who are most vulnerable such as people living with HIV and AIDS and their affected families, families hosting orphans, single parent households, the elderly, the sick and the resource poor.
Nkunga Village is seeing improvement in many areas of extreme need, including:
| Fact file on Nkunga | |
|---|---|
| 1.Very low agricultural productivity, owing largely to the very stony land. | Drought-resistant varieties and crops have been introduced, together with varieties of trees. |
| 2. Poor school attendance. Education is free but many children do not attend school due to lack of uniform and materials, or due to the pressure to help with their families� daily needs. Children are unable to concentrate due to hunger. | Attendance and standards have been improving. Uniform and materials have been provided and families encouraged to value education. A midday meal is provided by parents. |
| 3. There is no clean water source in the community. | Families have been supplied with 100-litre water tanks and a large tank has been installed at the school to collect rainwater off the roof. |
| 4. High levels of abuse (sexual, alcohol, drugs etc). | The whole community is working together to stop this, with support and training from FH and with significant reductions so far. |
| 5. High HIV/AIDS infection rates and high numbers (40%) of orphans. | The community is working together to address this, with support and training from FH. |
| 6. Little income generation activity. | The main prayer groups have started some activities and this will increase. |
more information
To find out more about how this programme please get in contact with one of our team who would be delighted to tell you more about the work in this community.