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Published: March 14th 2014
A SOCIAL WORKERS PERSPECTIVE ON THE IMPACT OF SPRING VALLEY BAPTIST CHURCH & SCHOOL IN THE COMMUNITY My names are Margaret Njeri Nderi and I am a social worker at Spring Valley Baptist Church & school. I’ve had the privilege of working for Spring Valley Baptist for the last two months and it has been a very rewarding experience. The vision and mission of Spring Valley is, “spreading the word and love of God through assisting the less fortunate children and youth by providing them with the basic needs, education, promoting integration, character development and empowering them with knowledge and skills.” For the two months that I have worked at Spring Valley I have witnessed firsthand this vision and mission being accomplished and achieved every day. The first assignment I had as a social worker at Spring Valley school was to profile all the students at the school to get a sense of who they are, and the challenges they face every day in the community and in their homes. I accomplished this by interviewing each of the children individually and interviewing the parents of the very young ones in baby class, nursery and pre-unit.After all the children and 
Slum Life vs. Talitha Koum
Not all homes in the slums are unhappy. There are plenty of loving families that take the best care possible of their children. We applaud them for doing such a great job despite their financial circumstances. Because not all children have their needs met, SVA is there to assist. parents were interviewed, individual files were opened for each student with their profile and picture was attached.
Throughout the interview process it was quiet clear that the children come from extremely poverty stricken homes. The children admitted that the only meal they eat is the free ones they get at Spring Valley Baptist because at home their parents cannot afford to feed them or give them any of the basic needs that they require for their survival. After the interview process myself, teacher Alice and Pastor felt it was imperative for me to visit the homes of these children to get a firsthand account of the reality these children face every day when they go home. I have managed to visit about fifty homes in the last one month and it has been a life changing experience. Most of these children live in horrific conditions; their houses are made of iron-sheet and they leak and flood during the rainy season. They do not have indoor plumbing, no electricity, no bathroom/toilet facility in the home and the homes are small and one-roomed. Most of the parents were home when we conducted home visits because majority of them are Talitha Koum Rescue Center
SVA opened Talitha Koum in 2013. They are getting ready to welcome their next set of girls. illiterate and jobless. Through home visits and investigations we discovered that some parents are also very neglectful towards their children. A good example is the case of two siblings that are in Spring Valley going through abuse and neglect at the hands of their own mother. I have attached the story below just to emphasis the kind of challenges the Spring Valley children face every day and why this school and church is the only place these children experience God’s love and protection.
CASE STUDY (names have been changed)
NAME: Sara T. AGE: 10 YRS Class:Three NAME: Michael S. AGE: 8 Class:Two BACKGROUND AND HISTORY Sara and Michael come from a single parent family (mother). They are four children in total in the home and Sara and Michael are the second and third born respectively. They have an elder sister called Cindy who is 12yrs old, and a small sister who is two years old. Sara and her siblings all have different fathers. HARDSHIPS AND CHALLENGES Their mother shows no care or concern for the children’s welfare. She leaves them alone at night to fend for themselves and she often locks the house forcing the children to sleep outside. The children are left stranded with no food to eat at night, are vulnerable to attack, abuse and are exposed to bad weather elements.
Sara and Michael both missed school on March 3rd 2014. When asked the following day where they were the children stated that the landlady had locked all the children outside for the night and their mother did not come home until 5 P.M the following day. The children could not come to school because their uniform and school books were locked inside the house and they spent the whole day hungry with no food to eat. On March 5th 2014 Michael came to school alone and he said that his mother took his sister, Sara away in the middle of the night. During home visits on March 5th we paid a courtesy call to their landlady and she said that Sara's mother is a liar, a drunkard and that she disappeared with the girls the night before and left Michael all alone and she has not seen them ever since then. The landlady stated that she suspects that the children’s mother might Homes in the slum
Many times homes consist of one room. The parent(s) sleep on the piece of furniture (usually a wooden bench) and children on the ground. Some are lucky enough to have foam and blankets to sleep on. be recruiting Sara and her elder sister in to a life of prostitution.
Sara reported to school on march 6th at 6:30 am she claims that her mother took her to Matopeni to visit a man she calls ‘father’ the night before, and in the morning her mother told her to go to school but Sara told her mother she did not know the way to school from Matopeni. Her mother told her to go by force and Sara got scared and left. She did not know her way to school and got lost. She wandered around until 6pm when a lady who knows her mother spotted her and returned her home. Sara and Michael also reported that the landlady has kicked the family out and as of March 6th the family has moved to a one room small iron sheet house. INTERVENTIONS AND SOLUTIONS · Teacher Alice has already made it possible for the children to get free breakfast every morning before starting class. · The children also take tea and bread at ten o’clock and lunch with the other children in the school. · Sara is very vulnerable to abuse and Firewood for cooking
Everyone in the slums cooks over an open fire of either wood or charcoal. one of the solutions that teacher Alice is working on is for Sara to board in the Talitha Koum Rescue Center in the school.
· With further investigations, if proven that their mother is being extremely neglectful and abusive teacher Alice and Pastor will involve the law. · When the boys’ dorm is completed (Joshua project) through the help of God, and the support of our friends and partners, Michael shall be a boarder at the school. They are many stories in Spring Valley school and church similar to this of these two children and overtime Spring Valley has become a safe haven for many children, especially the girl child. The Talitha Koum Rescue Center (little girl arise mark 5:41) was officially opened on March 25th 2013. This dorm houses 51 girls between the ages of 10-15yrs. Pastor and Teacher Alice felt a heavy burden to provide a safe haven for girls who are extremely vulnerable to abuse and neglect or have already been abused. These girls are selected from a wide range of girls in the school and the surrounding community. Most of the Talitha Koum girls are One of SVA's little ones
She is happy to have warm clothes, a new uniform, food and education! victims of rape at the hands of relatives, some are victims of the 2007 post election violence and they watched their parents and relatives being murdered, others come from homes where the parents abuse drugs and alcohol and some are orphans and Spring Valley Baptist is there home.
These girls have gone through unspeakable horrors and yet through the love of Jesus, the help of our faithful donors and the nurturing care and concern of Pastor and Teacher Alice, these special group of girls have learned to smile again, are healthier, they have a higher self-esteem and have also gained self-confidence in who they are. They have become a great source of inspiration to the Spring Valley church and school. The dorm has had a great impact on the girls and it even shows in their school work. In the upper classes the Talitha Koum girls are the highest performing students in the school. Last year when the former class eight students sat for their national exams the highest scoring student in the whole school was a girl called Stella Mueni. She now attends one of the nicest schools in Nairobi and we cannot thank God enough for His favor and mercy in the lives of these young girls.
Another area of great impact I have gotten to witness first hand is the improvement of the health of our new baby class students who were admitted in Spring Valley Baptist School in January this year. These children are between the ages of 2 and 4yrs. Their tender years make them very vulnerable in the Spring Valley slums. When the children started school in Spring Valley Baptist School most of them were suffering from malnutrition, they were also dirty, sickly and cold due to lack of proper clothing (most of them were wearing torn clothes). The children were very shy, lacking in self-confidence and self-esteem. It has been two months since these children joined the school and there has been tremendous progress in their health and growth. The children get to eat free food at Spring Valley Baptist School every day. This free food consists of tea, porridge, and bread in the morning and afternoon and at lunch time they are given nutritional food that consists of a balanced diet. Because of this the children are much healthier, and no longer suffer from nutritional diseases Care Packages
All of our visiting teams deliver care packages with staple ingredients to the poorest of the poor in the surrounding community. like rickets.
On February 12th 2014, each child in baby class was given a free, new, clean and warm uniform to wear to school every day by teacher Alice and Pastor Stanley. The uniform consists of warm woolen hats, a warm sweater, a blouse and dress for the girls, a shirt and shorts for the boys, socks and shoes for all. This has eliminated the problem of the children wearing torn clothes that don’t protect them from the weather elements to school. Due to the support, gentle care, and love shown to them at Spring Valley by the staff, Teacher Alice and Pastor Stanley, the children have gained a lot of self-confidence and are actively participating in all the school and church activities. They are also learning about the love and gospel of Jesus Christ through the bible stories and bible songs taught to them at Spring Valley Baptist School and Church. I cannot emphasis enough how the Lord has used pastor and Teacher Alice through the help of our partners and friends to save the children of Spring Valley slums and to give them a hope for the future. I feel very privileged to work for an organization where I see the Lord’s hand transforming the life of a child every day. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with and make a difference in the lives of these sweet, loving, and innocent children.
Yours faithfully, Margaret Nderi, Social Worker-Spring Valley Baptist School. THANK YOU to all who support or have supported Spring Valley Academy and the Talitha Koum Rescue Center! Your generosity truly is helping save lives. These are just a few stories of the 350+ children that SVA works with. There are many who have now gained a valuable education, received counseling, receive their basic necessities and have hope for the future. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to help us continue rescuing children you can do so by: 1. Sending a check to ITHM 23223 S. Warmstone Way Katy, TX 77494 2. Look us up at www.facebook.com/ITHMinc and press the "make a donation" tab. Please be sure to "like" us while there! 😊 With gratitude, Jennifer Phillips Lawrence
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Michelle Reekwald
non-member comment
So sad to read the story about the neglect that children like Sara and Michael go through, at the hands of those that are supposed to love, protect and care for them the most! It is heartbreaking.... and it breaks the Lord\'s heart! Thank you Jennifer that you a voice for the lost and unheard, the forgotten, the precious children of this world! I am praying for you, your family and the children!