The truth for the parents of Nakuru is that they have been deciding if they can afford to feed their children or not for many years. There is no such thing as recession in Nakuru as there is no established economy to speak of. If students arrive at school they are malnourished and tired from the journey to get there. Life for the people of Nakuru in Kenya is hard. The number one cause of death in under 5’s is malnutrition. According to the World Food Programme 337,000 children suffer malnutrition.

Africa has the most people living in extreme poverty and facing food shortages. Food shortages are so severe that many children cannot go to school because schools are forced to close. According to Save the Children organization, only 30 percent of boys and 20 percent of girls are enrolled in school during droughts, and only a few complete their education. In addition, 4.7 million children across East Africa are at risk of dropping out of school due to the drought’s impact. The Kenyan government promised to donate money for food aid but has only given 4,000 bags of maize that can last only for a week.

During droughts, food prices escalate. In Kenya, maize prices rose 30 percent.

Food is a necessity to live but in Kenya food almost seems like a privilege since so many obstacles need to be faced in order to feed a family. Besides food shortages, Kenyans have to deal with a horrendous climate and an unstable government which creates a cycle of unfortunate events.

In partnership with a supplier in Kenya a group of fundraisers from Buckden, Cambridgeshire are heading out to Nakuru, Kenya. They will work in five partner schools to improve sanitation, build new classroom facilities and increase safety measures alongside supporting teaching and physical activity within the schools. The aim is to help the children of Nakuru. To give them better facilities and a better chance to change their fortunes.

In order to help fundraise the team will be cycling and running the equivalent distance as it is from Buckden to Nakuru. That’s 9357 kilometres (or 2339.25km each!!) With your help they will raise enough money to cover all the costs and make a generous donation to the project whilst they are there.