In Kibera, one of Africa’s largest slums, school days often start on an empty stomach. Nearly a million people live in an area about the size of New York’s Central Park. Homes are close and made from tin and timber. Paths are narrow and often muddy. Open drains and irregular water supply make hygiene hard. Work is informal and fragile, so when prices rise, food is the first thing to slip. Many children arrive at school having had only tea and a scrap of bread the day before.
St John Community School sits in the middle of this reality. It’s a community‑run school that doesn’t receive government funding and serves some of the poorest families in Nairobi. The Ololo Foundation has been part of the school’s fabric for the past few years funding a daily school meal so children can learn.
Classrooms are crowded and resources are tight, but one hot meal changes the day. Teachers report higher attendance since the meals began, better punctuality and more consistent focus in class. The menu is local and simple, including a highly nutritious bone broth that Ololo plans to study to understand its effect on health and concentration. The ripple reaches home too. When a child eats at school, parents can stretch scarce shillings further and spend the day earning a living rather than worrying about the next meal. A parent committee stays closely involved, and Principal Josiah, who founded the school, ensures the program reflects community priorities.
Last term, the NDY Charitable Trust contributed $5,000 alongside other supporters to keep the St John feeding program running. In practice, support helps fund staple ingredients, fruit, cooking fuel, transport, clean water and kitchen operations. In practical terms, because each meal costs only around 25 KES (£0.14/AU$0.25), relatively small contributions create significant impact and allow thousands of nutritious meals to reach children each term.
The NDY Charitable Trust has committed a further $5,000 this term to support Ololo’s ambition to build opportunity for St John’s students beyond primary school. Many St John students would otherwise finish school at Year 8. Scholarships change that. With support, capable graduates step into strong secondary schools across Kenya. One former St John student has even progressed to a university place in Sydney. Each success shows what’s possible and signals to families – especially for girls – that education can lift a household’s prospects.
Beyond Kibera, Ololo runs opportunity programs at Oloosirkon School in Tuala, near the family’s Kenyan base. Sport has helped dozens of students earn places through sports scholarships into top Kenyan high schools. An arts and crafts classroom now hums with activity, and a school choir sings in partnership with the Nairobi Chamber Chorus after a visit from Australian singers. On Kenya’s coast, the team is working with local government to train lifeguards where drownings are common. These projects are community‑led and designed to give young people more ways to learn, belong and thrive. While NDY’s current support goes to the St John feeding program, these initiatives also need funding to sustain and grow.
The ongoing focus for The Ololo Foundation is clear and practical. Keeping meals steady through price spikes matters most for St John because hunger is the fastest way to lose a school day. Scholarships need to grow so more graduates can accept places offered. There is also a priority to strengthen classroom quality by supporting teacher capacity, because a full stomach and a strong teacher together make the biggest difference. Ololo has prepared a budget to start meals in another high‑need school and is ready to move as funding allows.
Our contribution this term helps cover essentials at St John. Further support can add resilience to the feeding program, sponsor more graduates into secondary school and back the sports and arts programs that build confidence and open pathways. This is a shared effort made possible by multiple partners. Together we can help children learn on a full stomach and carry that momentum into the next stage of their education.