There’s a special kind of holy chaos that comes with back-to-school-forms to fill out, uniforms to size, supplies to buy, and children to encourage. But at Operation Smile Children’s Home in Lower Poonah, Williamsville, this year carries an added weight of wonder: it’s the first new school year since the home reopened and…
In the Maasai language, “Matonyok” means “make the effort.” That phrase becomes especially powerful at the start of a new school year, when pencils are sharpened, uniforms are straightened, and children line up-many of them carrying a story that could have easily kept them from ever sitting in a classroom. Haven of Hope…
In the Kampala region of Uganda-near Mende-a new school term is more than a date on the calendar. For the children of Kabagambe Childcare Foundation (KCF), back to school is a celebration of something they once believed they would never have: a real chance. Not long ago, these children lived with the crushing…
Back-to-school season looks different when a child’s “neighborhood” is a maze of high-rise concrete, narrow walkways, and relentless survival. In the Embakasi (Pipeline) area of Nairobi, many children grow up surrounded by hardship so intense that some live and die without ever leaving the slum. For the most vulnerable-children abandoned, neglected, or found…