Mathare Community Outreach provides food for approximately 1250 children in Mathare Valley. We provide two well balanced meals a day for six days each week.  For many of the children, these are the only meals they will receive each day. At lunch time the children have to eat in three shifts as the hall isn't big enough to accommodate all of them at once. "We are excited about our school, because they are feeding us well. God is continuing to bless us, without Him we could not be here", said Beatrice who is in the 5th grade. "If there was no food we would suffer because most of the time when we go home, we find that our parents have not cooked because there is not enough food at home", she added.

We have a Nursery School and Primary school serving approximately 1250 students. Our school is ranked as one of the top primary schools in the region.

The MCO project has about 43 teachers, all of whom are dedicated to their work.  “The job we are doing is not for the money, it is a calling,” says Thomas, the MCO Headmaster. “I derive joy from being a teacher, when I see the children learning well and growing up to become better members of society.” In order to prepare for the days activities Thomas is often on his way to work by 6 am.  

The school has grown tremendously and this is quite evident when you visit the classes.  Students are sitting four to a desk when they should only be two. In some classes the pupils are sitting on the floor. Though there are new classrooms, children in the lower grades continue to meet in the old classrooms, some of which are extremely dilapidated.

The third group of 8th grade students recently completed their Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations. The subjects tested include Math, English, Kiswahili, Science, Geography, History and Political science. There is a lot of pressure placed on the students as these exams are used to determine whether a child will proceed on to high school. When the results came out in 2004, there was a lot of joy and thanksgiving: 18 of Mathare’s 19 students passed their exams.  The next challenge was to try and get all these students into high school. Most of their parents cannot afford to send them to high school as they have low income jobs.  In 2003 a one-story iron sheet building was constructed near the Mathare Community Outreach Church. The building has several rooms that will mainly serve as classrooms. There will also be a laboratory, and home science room. In February 2004, the first intake of high school students began their classes. By 2007, this group of students will sit for their final high school exams.

We have a Bursary/Scholarship Program where we pay fees for street and destitute children who qualify to join Secondary schools.