Children are the future of our society, the ones who should have it better than we do. Our Saturday program is aimed at helping children and young people to develop behavior and skills that will enable them to succeed. Every Saturday, we open our doors to over 100 children from our neighboring communities and a few from further villages within the district.
The younger children are engaged in fun filled, educative and interactive activities. They participate in Bible studies, play on the playground where they build their interpersonal skills and then share a meal before they depart. Some of the children were lonely before because they did not have peers to play with but that changed when they joined the Saturday program.
One of the parents told us, “Before participating in the Saturday program, my child was lonely and unhappy, and when he was at home, he wanted someone to play with. Since he started interacting with others, he has changed. Now he is outgoing and has some new friends. Even at home he plays with other children, which shows me that he has evolved.“
The older ones, take part in the youth empowering youth program where they explore topics like transformation leadership, English proficiency, decision making skills and friendship among others.
Discipline is also a focus for both. The children and youth are taught to respect their elders, value education and keep good company.
A parent of one of our teenagers reported, “We used to feel helpless. Our children would leave home without permission. They were loitering and fighting with other children, but since they have been participating in the program, we have seen that they have changed because they have learned new habits.”
The Saturday program runs from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m every week and it is evident that the children are happy and enjoy coming here. We have a total of 500 children who are divided into 3 groups arranged in a weekly rotation. Every 4 weeks the same ones come.
We have built a strong reputation for our program in the district and every day, parents and children line up at our office to get registered. We would like to have more children participate, but unfortunately, we are limited by our capacity, financial resources, and staff to do so. If you would like to support us, you can do so on our website.
