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Title: Lutherans Feed Kenyan Children ELCA NEWS SERVICE - NEWSBRIEF April 7, 1997 TOO HUNGRY TO LEARN Staying healthy and getting an education are two big challenges for more than 6,000 children of Mukuru Kayaba, one of the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Sister Mary Killeen, a Lutheran World Relief (LWR) partner in Nairobi, told Na Eng, LWR intern, about the early years of a health and education project. Scabies, diarrhea, ringworm and infection proved constant plagues, Killeen said. Malnutrition burdened educational efforts, while funding remained scarce. Killeen spoke with a local benefactor about the difficulties. "Let's try feeding one school first and see what happens," they decided. The results proved astonishing, Killeen said. "It was expensive, but it made such a huge difference to their learning ability and to their overall health," she said. "I had thought there were many health problems. I was astonished at the difference once they were fed. Most of their problems weren't health problems; they were nutrition problems. Their general health changed completely once they were eating," she said. With a balanced diet, the children blossomed. Killeen explained, "The children were too hungry to learn." Lutheran World Relief is the overseas relief and development arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html