Imago Ministries Scholarship Project

Hope Can Be Found

In a world overwhelmed by conflict, instability, and uncertainty, it is easy to feel powerless.

Governments struggle against one another. Nations remain divided by war, politics, and ideology. Religious wars and persecutions, interdenominational infighting, and deconstruction are on the rise. Humanitarian funding for well drilling, food, medicine, and education is being withdrawn and are vanishing from the most dire and impoverished areas in the world as well within the confines of large and prosperous economies. The ecology is in a state we have not experienced within most of our lifetimes. Conflicts within the scientific, governmental, and economic sectors about the ecology are not leading to any kind of absolute direction or resolve locally, nationally, or worldwide. Overall corruption and violence seem to be overtaking everyone and everything.

The price of food, healthcare, housing, and education are becoming and have become beyond the reach of many people worldwide. It often feels as though meaningful change is beyond our reach.

Now here comes the however in all of this. Within a small and tiny community inside the country of Kenya, there is the potential to open an ever so small crack into the doorway of changing the lives of the least of these. All of this in a small yet community-based action that can have generational impact beyond the national, continental, and worldwide influence.

A small group of special needs students—individuals who have already overcome physical, mental, and educational challenges—have the opportunity to learn a trade that can immediately impact not only their own lives, but also the lives of their families and communities. With these skills, they can earn a sustainable income, improve their family’s living conditions, and contribute to the economic strength of the community around them.

There is only one obstacle standing in the way of this progress. It is a small amount of funds by our western standing for the cost of a year’s worth of education, room, and board.

To many of us in the West, five hundred dollars may not seem overwhelming (64,876.09 KES – Kenyan Shilling). For a family on the outskirts of a Kenyan town, the average salary is about $183.00 (23,744.65 KES) a month. For them the five-hundred dollars represents almost two and a half months salary. That is an extreme hardship for the families we are talking about who live a very meager existence, at best mere subsistence. $500.00 would be an incredible amount of money that is well beyond their current abilities.

Yet the impact of any vocational training can be extraordinary.

The average carpenter at the low end in Kenya earns about $2,665.00 (345,700.01 KES) per year. That is $223. per month (28,934.73 KES). As an “unskilled” carpenter’s assistant, they could earn $1,405.76 a year (182,400.42 KES) or $117 per month (15,181.00 KES). These figures are significant to a family living on meager subsistence. Being given the basics of skills of any occupation can literally change the course of events for the individual, their families, their communities, their nation and yes even the world. These earning can dramatically improve access to food, housing, healthcare, and education.

This is not merely charity for a moment. It is the opportunity for lasting transformation.

As the old saying goes:

“Give a person a fish and they eat for the day, teach them how to fish and they will eat for a lifetime.”

That is exactly what this effort seeks to accomplish: giving individuals the ability to provide for themselves and their families for years to come.

At present, there are three special needs students prepared to begin vocational training if the necessary funds can be raised. One year’s fees are just under five hundred dollars. That covers room, board, and education. Depending on the student’s program and capabilities training may require one to three years. Our immediate goal is to raise $1500 in order to provide the first year of education, room, and board for all three students beginning in January 2027.

We are not asking any one person to provide the entire amount.

Every dollar matters. Every small gift becomes part of something larger. If 500 people each gave just $3, the goal would be reached. It would become a village-to-village gift of hope, dignity, and opportunity.

Donations can be made through the donation section of the site, the GoFundMe campaign at wwwgofundme.com/f/support-special-needs-students-in-kenya, https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-16305, or may be designated for the Educational Fund and sent to:

Imago Ministries Inc

8306 Red Holly Lane

Jacksonville, FL 32221

Together, even small acts of generosity can create generational change.

Transform Special Students Lives with Education in Kenya