World Vision Kenya marks its 40th Anniversary
World Vision Kenya marks its 40th Anniversary
February 19th, 2015: World Vision Kenya is today marking an important milestone as it celebrates 40 years of dedicated service to 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 programmes.
It was widespread drought and famine which first brought World Vision to Kenya in 1974 in Makueni County. After its early relief work, World Vision started sponsorship in Kenya with 2,000 children in 1978 in Matonyok in Narok County. From this small seed, World Vision’s work has grown to provide care to communities through 152,826 child sponsorships in 57 Area Development Programmes, spread across 35 counties. In 2014, World Vision Kenya reached a total of 1,720,090 children through various interventions.
“As an organization we are child-focused and in everything we do, 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,” said Mr. Dickens Thunde, the National Director for World Vision Kenya.
“We want to appreciate our donors and the many sponsors that have made World Vision Kenya want 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,” Mr. Thunde said.
As it marks 40 years, World Vision is keen to maintain its focus on enabling communities reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
“Moving forward, we want to leave a lasting impact on children. To achieve this we want our development interventions to go deeper and we will do this through partnership. We recognize 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,” he added.
The National Director took the opportunity of the celebrations to recognize the children and their communities for their resilience and support. He also acknowledged the Church in Kenya, which has been instrumental in World Vision’s work since its inception.
Mr. Thunde also lauded the government of Kenya for the vital role it has played in ensuring that World Vision is able to implement its projects across the country.
About World Vision Kenya
World Vision Kenya is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. For 40 years, World Vision initiatives in Kenya have helped strengthen the well-being of children in 57 Area Development Programmes spread across 35 of the 47 counties, nationwide.
Our Focus Areas
Our community development approach focuses on health, HIV and AIDS, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), education, child protection, food security and economic development. Through our advocacy work, we enable the voices of the children and their communities to reach decision-makers who have the power to change unjust policies and practices. We work alongside the central government, county governments and other humanitarian agencies to provide life-saving assistance for communities affected by disaster.
ENDS…..
For more information please contact Susan Amu, Acting Communications Manager, World Vision Kenya via susan_amu@wvi.org / 0733440488