Helping Hand Appeal 2017
With support from Mary’s Meals, Eric is working hard to overcome poverty and fulfil his ambitions
Eric is a teenager bursting with ambition. He knows exactly what he wants and is willing to work hard to get it. After seeing someone dancing, he knew he wanted to do the same thing, and all the hardships of his life will not stop him from achieving his dream.
The 13-year-old from Eldoret, Kenya, lives with his mother, brother and sister. As his mum is sick, every day is a challenge and as the oldest sibling, he takes a lot of responsibility on his young shoulders. However, he faces things head on, with a quiet confidence and positive attitude that arises from sheer determination to improve his life.
“In the future, I want to be a singer and dancer. I love dancing,” he said.
“I am in the Environmental Club at school and sometimes we dance for our guests. The only people who know I can dance are my mother and the people in my class. I sometimes entertain them.
“I saw someone else dancing and I liked it. The music was catchy and I really got interested in it.
“There’s a local dance group in Eldoret called One Family One Talent. They are famous in Eldoret. It’s a mixed group – men and women. There is a local song that is good to dance to that they use. I practise with a group called Pulse. There are four of us, aged up to 18.”
Things aren’t easy for Eric and his family. Money is tight and there is often not much for food. As a budding dancer, he needs lots of energy to be able to practise, and if he doesn’t eat he will be too weak to go through his moves. It means the meal provided in school by Mary’s Meals is a lifeline, giving him the strength he needs to not only attend school and lessons, but to train for his dancing too.
“We practise after school sometimes, but there isn’t much time before it gets dark. I sometimes feel hungry, but not too bad because it’s short practice, and I can still feel full from the Mary’s Meals at lunchtime. I sometimes keep some of my lunch to eat before I go to practise dancing.”
“On Saturday, sometimes we practise dancing all day. If there is nothing to eat, I feel very hungry. Sometimes we put money together and buy something to eat. If not, I don’t have the energy to dance.”
Eric is also a highly industrious boy, going to an Environmental Club when many other youngsters are at sports, making items using recycled materials that they will go on to sell. “I go at 4pm three times a week, after school, during ‘games time’. The teacher, Mrs Tum (pronounced Toom), markets and sells everything for us. With what she gets, she buys
“THE FOOD HAS BROUGHT A LOT OF CHANGE IN MY LIFE”
food for us to take home. One of the things we make is a carrier bag from the old Mary’s Meals sacks. There are many women in the market who buy them and carry things in them, so when I see that I feel good.”
Mrs Tum has seen the positive effect Mary’s Meals has had in the area. She said, “Mary’s Meals is a great help to us all.
“Everything we can do to get a small amount of extra food to the children, we should do, so we are really appreciating the people who give their money to Mary’s Meals. And even after the food is cooked, we are also using the bags to provide more food.”
For Eric, the food has had a transformative effect. He added, “It’s brought a lot of change in my life, because most times, I’ve got nothing to eat except for Mary’s Meals, but with this at least sometimes I can carry something back. Sometimes I have breakfast and sometimes not, and the same with supper.
“The only food I am certain about is Mary’s Meals at lunchtime. When I go to dance practice after school, I might get something there. Mary’s Meals really helps me. It gives me energy.
“I want to change things back at home. My house is very small – we do the cooking outside, the bathroom is outside – so I’d like to build a bigger house for my mother.”
With your kind donations, you can help Eric make his dreams come true.