A successful Bible distribution exercise was done in Samburu East Sub-county, Samburu County, to distribute Scriptures to children and youth in the region.

The six days exercise covered the areas of Archer’s Post and Wamba areas with Samburu County. A total of 10,092 Scriptures to children in 33 schools. The children were overjoyed to receive the Scriptures, as this is not a daily occurrence for them.

About 80% of Samburu is mostly covered by conservation, mountains and poor road infrastructure. Wild animals pass through the villages, deeming them vulnerable to invasion by the human population. The schools are in dilapidating state, some classes are at the brink of collapse as the buildings were largely built during colonial times, while others have poor foundational structures.

The Samburu community faces several challenges, including illiteracy, with an estimated that 79% of the population being illiterate; therefore, they don’t find value in education. Harmful cultural practices, early teenage pregnancies and early marriages, gender-based violence, among others.

Different schools had their unique challenges that contributed to the poor performance of Christian Religious Education (CRE) as a subject. For instance, learners depend on teachers to read the Bible for them, children are perceived to belong to the school, parents care less of them, there is a gender imbalance where boys in the schools are the majority as compared to girls, girls are married off early and removed from school, and some children lack school uniforms.

Other challenges include increased bandit attacks, which require the learners to be on high alert and affect the class concentration span. Also, education is not a priority for many of the residents.

Many parents can’t afford to buy Bibles; the majority come from very humble backgrounds. The Bibles they received from BSK will go a long way to help the children establish a structured Bible study club in the school; they will also read to their parents, since most of them are illiterate, and help the children improve their reading culture and improve their performance in CRE.

Apart from Scriptures, the schools need a lot of support, including training on how to use Programme for Pastoral Instruction (PPI) materials, since most of them don’t have a structured way of teaching God’s word to the children.

The children were excited to receive the Bibles and look forward to reading them with their families. The teachers are looking forward to the Bible changing the children’s way of living and their perception of life and finding hope in the word.

We thank our donors and partners for ensuring that children in Samburu receive Bibles. May the word of God bring transformation to the lives of every child who receives the word.