November 2024

“It Started With a Daily Meal, Now on to Med School.”

We bumbled out of the 15-passenger van and onto the narrow dirt streets that wound through Kalandra, a remote village in South India. As we came around a corner we were greeted by a quickly-forming drumline as the kids from our Feeding and Tutoring Centers raced to greet us.

As the dust settled and the kids led our group on, one young man came up to me. His name was Jana. He told me that he grew up in this village and that he started attending our Feeding Center when he was in 2nd grade. He received a daily meal and tutoring throughout his schooling and excitedly told me he had graduated high school. He told me more kids need an opportunity like he had—so he’s been volunteering as one of the tutors at our center. As we chatted about what was next for him, he motioned for me to follow him. Meandering back through the narrow alley, he took me into a small home.

“Is this your home?” I said. “Yes,” he replied. I asked about his family. He told me his mom looks for different jobs each day and makes about $2/day, his dad—like many of the dads in this community—worked harvesting and cutting coconuts. They didn’t have much to provide for Jana. But then Jana reached back into a little bedroom and pulled out a thick textbook. It was a Med School Exam Prep book. He beamed as he showed it to me and told me he was getting ready to test in May.

The people in Kalandra haven’t had much access to opportunity, but now Jana was on the brink of Med School. His story life has been transformed—and a daily meal with a little tutoring has played a key part in that. A meal for one of these centers costs $.50 and as those little meals add up, lives are brought hope.

A Young Man’s Call.

“If I had not gotten the scholarship, I probably would not have money. Working is not enough. It’s kind of despair. Without the scholarship I would probably have a life in crime and drugs.”

I was sitting with Anthony and his mom in their small, one-room home made of corrugated steel in Mathare, Kenya. Things were cramped, but hope seemed to be present. He was telling me of his journey through school and how he received a college scholarship from The Hope Venture.

The journey started when he had to drop out of high school because he didn’t have enough money to pay the fees. “I had to hustle for some money, assisting a carpenter and making less than $1 a day. Work was inconsistent.” Our partner, Fanuel, would stop by and visit Anthony while he was working, and eventually Fanuel helped Anthony get sponsored so he could finish high school.

But a high school education wasn’t going to be enough…life in Mathare is really hard. It’s the second-largest slum in Kenya, crime is high, and many people don’t have jobs. Anthony’s dad even roams the streets trying to find work, but he often returns empty-handed. As the first-born, Anthony felt the responsibility of not only moving out to make more physical space in their home, but he also felt the call to go out and pursue his purpose.

That purpose is to be a teacher; to get his degree, come back to Mathare, and raise up the next generation of students so they can also pursue a better life for themselves. Thanks to The Hope Venture, our donors, and our partnership with Fanuel, Anthony is able to go after that future with a college scholarship.

Chatting with him I could sense his feeling of responsibility. He himself said that without the scholarship he would probably be in a life of crime and drugs…that’s just reality in Mathare. But because people chose generosity and gave to a scholarship fund, this young man is able to move toward his purpose and improve the lives of others because of it.