Wells, houses, education

Diverse aid projects by CBN in Kenya

In October 2025, a team from CBN Germany traveled to Kenya to visit various humanitarian projects that CBN supports there. For many years, CBN has been involved in the East African country with its humanitarian aid organization Operation Blessing, supporting water projects, medical aid, nutrition programs, and investing in education and micro-enterprises so that people can build a future for themselves and escape the cycle of poverty and hunger. Julia Brinkmann, coordinator at Operation Blessing, reports on this trip.

Day 2 – Slum in Nairobi:

On the very first day in Nairobi, our team visited a slum under police protection, where approximately 500,000 people live in corrugated iron huts without electricity, water, or sanitary facilities.

Right next door is the Mama Africa Pendo School, a place that offers children from the slum education, love, and hope. For nine years, Operation Blessing has been supporting this school to give children a start in a future worth living.

Day 3 + 4 – Drought in Marsabit:

We set off on the long, bumpy, and hot journey into the desert in northern Kenya. We soon realized that water plays a crucial role here when all our bottles were empty. The feeling of thirst is a daily companion for the people there. The drought that has prevailed there for 10 years poses a massive threat to people’s health. Operation Blessing is helping here with bag gardens, nutrition programs for 0-5-year-olds, and water projects.

Tara has already received a bag garden and can use it to feed her family and many neighbors. It’s a project that is setting a precedent.

Day 4 – Fetching water in Marsabit:

Then we visited a well in the Marsabit area. The residents walk up to seven kilometers across the hot desert sand in temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius to fill their 20-liter canisters and then walk back. Due to the drought, the groundwater has dropped so low that the well only has water for half a day. Distribution must therefore be well organized so that everyone gets something. Fetching water often takes the whole day and is very exhausting. Nevertheless, our team encountered very friendly and grateful people with open hearts. Some of our staff sat down on the desert sand with a group of children and, with the help of a translator, told them stories about Jesus and prayed with them. The children were curious and very happy. Even though communication was difficult, we laughed together.

Our team tried out the clever device the Kenyans use to pull their water jugs home much more easily. What a relief!

Day 7 – School lunch in Loitokitok:

At the end of the trip, our team traveled to southern Kenya, where they visited a school and helped serve meals. This warm, nutritious meal is so important for the health and concentration of the students. Women from the village also cultivate sack gardens at the school. This gives them a rich harvest and at the same time teaches the students about this form of cultivation, which enables them to achieve good harvest results.

Day 7 – Visiting the Massai at Loitokitok:

Afterwards, we visited a Maasai family for whom Operation Blessing had built a house. In an area where wild animals and difficult weather conditions are part of everyday life, a sturdy house means protection above all else and is a prerequisite for building a livelihood. At the foot of Kilimanjaro, the village community danced and sang for our team and our companions from Operation Blessing as a sign of their gratitude.

It was an impressive trip that clearly showed us from Germany how vital the aid that CBN provides to the people there is. With hearts full of gratitude for all the wonderful encounters with the local people, but also especially for the work that the Kenyan team is doing there, we returned safely—with the hope of being able to provide even more support in the future to make people’s lives easier and more livable.

You too can be a blessing! Donate today for a water system in Kenya: