Liu Yimenghan has been devoted to helping poor children in Nairobi, Kenya, over the past eight years. (DONG JIANGHUI / XINHUA)

NAIROBI－Liu Yimenghan, a Chinese youth, says his affinity for the sprawling Mathare slums, on the eastern fringes of Nairobi, began when he embarked on a journey in his college years in the area by acting as a volunteer math teacher for one year and later feeling the urge to continue and upscale his charity work there.

"I had a community service lesson at college and had my community service in Mathare. So, it was my first time in Mathare, and I felt that maybe there was something I could do through my capabilities," says Liu, 27.

Liu moved with his family to Kenya at the age of 13, and studying in the East African nation up to tertiary level equipped him with an in-depth grasp of local communities－their culture, beliefs and value systems. His charity work has nourished the dreams of children in Mathare, an area Liu prefers to call the "Mathare community".

The co-founder of Dream Building Service Association, a nongovernmental organization founded in 2014, now regards Mathare－Nairobi's second-largest urban slum area－as his second home, despite its rampant poverty, crime and environmental pollution.

He says soon after converting classrooms made of iron sheets into ones made of bricks in Mathare, his work evolved to focus on providing food, scholarships, mentorship and talent development to the children.

Liu says scholarships are provided every semester and aim to motivate children from poor backgrounds and their parents to value education since it is the gateway to success.

Thanks to the efforts of DBSA in the past eight years, three schools in Mathare have been renovated, where children have had free meals and received scholarships.

During an interview at Mathare Light Center, one of the renovated schools, Liu says a partnership with Chinese charities and online fundraising have ensured the sustainability of the charity work, for instance, a feeding program.

A child studies at a renovated school in Nairobi, which is a part of the charity work Liu has been engaged in. (DONG JIANGHUI / XINHUA)

The implementation of the school feeding program has involved contracting local suppliers of staple foods who deliver them to schools for preparation into dishes by hired chefs. The chefs prepare two meals a day－breakfast consisting of porridge and lunch made of local staple foods like rice and beans.

Liu says meat, eggs and fruits are provided to the children once a week, hence improving their nutritional status while discouraging absenteeism from school.

During the lunch break at Mathare Light Center, children line up at the kitchen door to receive their free meals－ugali, a local cuisine, and some vegetables and beef.

Kevin Oluoch, the deputy head teacher of the Mathare Light Center, says DBSA has provided free meals at the school since 2017, adding that the feeding program has helped the children grow because they come from vulnerable families, which cannot afford lunch and breakfast.

Oluoch says free meals have been a draw to the pupils from poor households. This school has seen an increasing number of students.

"The children get the energy to learn once they get food here in school," says Oluoch, stressing that parents are also happy to have their children fed in school, easing pressure on their meager daily wages.

Since 2016, DBSA has started to hold talent shows, soccer matches, art exhibitions, youth training and other projects in Mathare to help children pursue their dreams.

Some of these activities have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the feeding program is the main charity work still operating now.

Liu says DBSA's charity projects have covered six countries in Africa, namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi and Nigeria, and the feeding program has covered more than 40 schools across the six countries.