Message from WV Kenya National Director Dickens Thunde during the 40th Anniversary Celebrations

Message from the National Director, Dickens Thunde

Today, World Vision is marking an important milestone as it celebrates 40 years of dedicated service to the children and communities in Kenya.

World Vision has been working to empower and improve the lives of Kenyans since 1974 and is involved in assisting 35 of 47 counties in the nation with clean water and other programs. As a child-focused organization, what we want to see is that children thrive. We want to create an environment that will enable children be able to attain the fullest potential that is endowed in each one of them.

As we celebrate, we want to remember the dedication of those who have worked so hard before us, recalling many signs of God’s grace in our history. We are encouraged by what has happened in the past, as we look ahead to the enormous work that still lies ahead.

I want to appreciate our donors and the many sponsors that have made World Vision Kenya what it is today. We are deeply indebted to them for their generosity. This 40th anniversary celebration is about those donors. We thank them for their faithfulness in supporting the work that we do.

In a special way we recognize the government of Kenya. We acknowledge their support through the host country agreement, which has contributed to the success of our work. We value the partnership we have with the central government and the county governments, which enable us, reach the communities where we work.

This celebration would not be possible without the support of the children and their communities. We salute the communities for their resilience. Your partnership has been invaluable in enabling us achieve transformational development.

We recall with immense gratitude the partnership we have enjoyed with the Church in Kenya as they supported World Vision more directly in the past and now as a key prayer and advocacy partner.

It was a widespread drought and famine which first brought World Vision to Kenya in 1974 in Makueni County. Hunger remains a threat, made worse by the accelerating drought cycle in East Africa and the increasing conflict in our region. We are reminded at this time of the important role that World Vision staff and donors play to help preserve lives and protect communities affected by natural calamities and conflict.

After its early relief work, World Vision started sponsorship in Kenya with 2,000 children. From this small seed we have grown to provide care to communities through 152,826 child sponsorships in 57 Area Development Programmes, in 35 counties in Kenya.

We celebrate 40 years of service, maintaining our focus on enabling children and their families and communities to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Whether taking the lead in nutrition and food assistance, or promoting local businesses and developing markets through Vision Fund and economic development activities, World Vision Kenya has demonstrated innovative practices that are vital to modern development work. We celebrate the gains in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and the efforts that we have made in advocacy to further the aims of the Child Health Now advocacy campaign. From the humble beginning in 1974, World Vision’s work in Kenya has grown immensely. In 2014 a total of 1,729,090 children were reached through our interventions.

Moving forward, World Vision would like to leave a lasting impact on the children. We want to see children do the things that they would want to do without any hindrances whatsoever. To achieve this we want our development interventions to go deeper and we will do this through partnership. We recognise that we cannot do anything on our own thus we need to partner with the communities, children, the Church and the government. We want to continue to grow our partnership with our donors and many other like-minded organisations.

World Vision believes it is possible to end extreme poverty if we all stop at nothing to focus on the most vulnerable children in the hardest places to live. We also believe that when children and communities are involved in the decision that affect them, real and lasting change is possible.

Finally, allow me to congratulate the staff of World Vision Kenya. Through the years our staff have demonstrated that they are truly dedicated to ensure we reach the children and communities that are most in need. I salute all our staff for the good work.

God Bless World Vision. God Bless Kenya.

Dickens Thunde

National Director