 It is the little things in life that matter, more so when they include making a difference in the lives of those around us. Meet Mr Pravin, a businessman and philanthropist who has taken the initiative to feed the less fortunate children in society. My name is Pravin Chohan, born and brought up here in Nairobi Kenya. I have a family and two boys who are 11 years old and slowly coming to 12 and they are twins. And yes my family and for myself we stay here in Nairobi and in terms of profession I am a civil engineer by profession and I work with a company called David Engineering Kenya Limited. We are part of Tononoka Steel which is a group company and we basically do steel fabrication work. Pravin has focused more on the slum areas where he identified a number of reliable persons on ground to make the program a success. Today it is here to tell you about my journey into how I have been helping the slum children with feeding programs. And the feeding program that I started is now almost about 6 years old. We initially started in Diamond Plaza. Near Diamond Plaza we used to feed about 150 children from the deep sea slums. I wanted to help someone whereby I did not expect to thank you from them. I don't want any appreciation just the very fact that I have played my part and I have helped them. The biggest challenge we have are street children coming at your car knocking on the window asking for something. So this happens is that you know when these children come and they want something. Now the biggest challenge or the first and foremost challenge that they have why they do that is why because they don't have food. When you find someone coming at your car the first thing they will ask you is give me 10 shillings for food and why because they are hungry. So what would happen is that these are the children who are moving around. Unfortunately we have issues whereby they would come and tell us of course we have the problems whereby somebody would snatch from the window and things like that. But yes that is a problem but on the other hand you ask yourself why are they doing that. Because at the end of the day they want something in their stomach and being hungry they would be forced to steal and things like that. Praveen has also other projects underway that will be beneficial to society. So what I decided was why don't we have a program of feeding and that's how six years ago I started feeding every Thursday near Diamond Plaza 150 children from the deep sea slums. Now we had started off with about 50 children whereby we used to give them a hot meal. One of the donors would give us a hot meal and then another one would give us a banana or an apple and we would give those 50 children. But after some time when they started realizing food is being brought here more people started coming in so I had to reach out to more donors. So for almost a period of three four years we would get donors who would give us bananas, apples, mandazis. One would give us a hot meal and everything from 100 to about 150 kids we were feeding. And this really used to help them because they didn't know to have food and you would find the same children here near High Ridge in Parklands. And now they started going down because they were getting food. But after that two years ago COVID came and the government announced that there should be no gatherings and this really struck because we couldn't feed them and so everything came to a standstill. And after that what we did was for a couple of months the first case as you know came in March and we were like we need to stop now we can't do much. So we stopped in High Ridge and then from there we went to we stopped completely. A month or two later some of my friends in the slum areas told me that Praveen now things are getting tough because people are being laid off. People don't have jobs now slum areas are having a lot of problems. Is there any way we can assist? So that's when the idea came into my mind that why don't I go and feed deep inside the slums. And so I started talking to a few of my friends and I said this is the idea I have and would you be able to assist? So slowly by slowly I got friends who said yes we can give you the ration but then you'll see how to cook and take it to the slum. So first we had the challenge of course that where will we cook and what will we do. So what we did was we started off for one or two months by giving ration packs. So we would give one kilo of beans, one kilo of rice, a kilo of sugar, tea leaves and make a small pack and give it to the disabled families in Huruma or in Korogosho like that. And then what happens is that ration pack would last them maybe at the most two weeks then what happens after that. So we again came to the drawing board I started asking my friends how more you are able to help. And this is when the idea came in that what if we do an actual hot meal feeding program. So we started looking at the logistics and seeing how that would be possible. So we went to a couple of donors so again the donor said look we will give you the ration. You need to find a place to cook. So I approached some of my friends so the temple in South Sea the Gurudwara one of my friends is a committee member over there. I asked him if he could help and he was very kind enough to say why don't you do the cooking over here. So at least it's done in a hygienic place and that's how we started off. And what happened there after was we started with feeding about 250 children in Kibera slums. So I have a friend called Ibrahim he did the groundwork. So we found a place near the MOC and we went and gathered a few children in that slum area. And we told them that we will bring you the hot meal. So we started off with beans and rice and every Friday we would cook for about 700 children. So in Kibera we started first with about 300. At the moment we are close to about 900 children in Kibera. Ibrahim Naishi Kibera. I have been working in Pravin for some time. I have been working in Pravin for some time. I think I am up now in 2017. I have been working with the children in Machakora. So I have been working with them for a long time. I am very passionate about Saidiya. So I came in to support. As the months progressed we had another friend called Oscar. He was in Mukuru Kwajenga behind Pipeline. When he saw me posting this on the social media he said that he would wish to be part of it. So we started in Mukuru Kwajenga where again we started with about 200 children. At the moment we are feeding in Mukuru Kwajenga every Wednesday we give them a cup of Uji. Every Thursday we give them a hot meal. And every Saturday we give them a hot meal. So on this every day we are feeding roughly about on this three days rather. We are feeding about 800 to 900 children. My names are Oscar Odera. I am best in Nairobi. And my relationship with Pravin is basically humanitarian point of it. We have been close for almost three years. And we have been reaching out to the people, to the Vanareboniti people before even Covid came in. We are already on the track. We do feeding programs mostly in the slums. Like in Mukuru where I represent. Fitting program is actually helping a lot of children and we are urging anybody who can will to come and support to join hands together. We reach out to more children in that feeding program. Me was recommended to him by a friend of mine. And then from there we started the feeding program. But I can describe him as a philanthropist, a real philanthropist who reach out to the children, who reach out to the community. And he has an aim of reaching out to more people. So again when I was posting this on my social media a few other donors came up and said since you see what happens is so many of the people would want to give something but they don't know where to give. And the biggest challenge is even if they give they don't know whether it is being put to the right use. So when they started seeing this happening on social media it was not of course marketing is always there but then more importantly it was to show that the donors who are giving. The food is going to the right place and to the needy. And that's when a third person came in and they said that they run an organization called Usikimiya which is in Soweto. They take care of sexual gender based violence victims. So we started the third program over there. So at the moment now again we started there with about 200 children. We are now feeding every Tuesday and Thursday about 600 children with a cup of Uji every morning. And every Wednesday and Friday almost about 1200 children. So that way we have a couple of our donors who have now been consistent. So every week they would give us a particular amount of ration and based on that now we would do the feeding. We now moved on to Korogosho where we are currently doing about 300 children. We have started only about a month ago and another one we started in Kawangware two weeks ago and in Kibagare. So there we are feeding roughly about 250 children. So the whole idea we have grown from the time we started during the days of COVID which was about 200 children. At the moment all the slum areas if I put together we are feeding about 6500 children every week. He says the feeding program is a bridge to other sustainability programs. The feeding program is all about how we connect and have the bridge between us and the slum children. Or the parents. So now we would go and when we are doing the feeding somebody would come to us and say this is the problem we have. So now it happens that what is that form of sustainability we can give them. So that they don't need to rely on the food. And this is how we would have approached donors. Some would give us sewing machines. Some would give us maybe even a popcorn machine. Some would give us other forms of help. When we started doing all this we got a lot of feedback on whether this thing is really working or not. So some of the few success stories that I could perhaps reiterate is there was a time about a year ago when one person when we were feeding came up and said I want to ride a bike. I know how to ride a bike. But can you help me? So obviously I could not buy a bike. But I told him why don't you come and help and I'll spread the word and see if somebody could help. Now coincidentally from some other places he came and somebody managed to get him a bike just from somewhere else. So one day he came here and told me probably I have a bike. Now can you help me? So I said what do you do? So he said I'm doing boda boda and trying to earn a living. But of course that will not happen every day. So I connected him to my wife who runs a business and all the deliveries are done through him. So him being honest enough during the feeding program to help me to help the kids to make sure all the kids are standing in line before they get their food. And that way I found him to be honest enough. My friend what he did was he managed to get a bike and he got the bike on higher purchase. Now one year down the road he is able to pay his daily installment and at least earn some living from the money that he earns from the deliveries that he does. Another case scenario is whereby in Soweto we used to have a lot of sexual gender based violence cases. So the chief in that area when she came and saw that we are doing the feeding with Usikimiya about 8 months after the feeding program was happening continuously. One fine day we were just talking and she came up and said probably do you know that we used to have about 20 to 30 cases reported every day of some husband beating up the wife why because there is no food on the table. The COVID has impacted the jobs he doesn't have a job the wife doesn't have a job and the wife would come in the night saying I need food for the children and the first thing is to be beaten up and the kids and the wife sent out of the house or like that. So with the feeding program in Soweto happening on Tuesday and Thursday with a cup of Uji and Wednesdays and Fridays with a hot meal at least one meal they have managed to get and almost 60 to 70% of the cases in the last two years dropped in Soweto because the food has been given to them. The program has had its own fair share of challenges. Of course that challenge is always there because if we are planning if we have cooked food for 100 or maybe in our case we have cooked for 500 children and then 15, 20 turn up then we would just assess how many children are there so of course reduce the portion a bit and that way maybe the cup of Uji is slightly smaller or the food we give it a little smaller portion at least everybody gets but our aim is always that the children get first. The biggest challenge again we had was where do we cook the food. So I would really like to thank my friend in the South Sea Gurudwara the temple because through his committee we get hot meals cooked every Friday and Saturday and they cook for us free of cost they don't charge us we provide the ration but they would of course provide their facilities of the kitchen and the workers and so they will cook for us and that is all on donation and we really thank them for that. A similar thing happened when the Lions club Huru when they came and they learnt about this so they said that we would be able to assist you so in high-reach primary they have a feeding program that goes on every day and so every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday they cook for us at the high-reach primary and again I really thank them because they don't charge us for the cooking we would provide the ration and they will cook for us and the biggest thing now with us things move about it is important to realise that this is a team effort so the donors are kind enough to bring in the ration because it's my passion I would ensure that the food is cooked and kept ready so the people who are on ground I have told them that it's your responsibility to ensure the kids who are coming are the needy kids and it is your responsibility to ensure whether it's in South Sea or in Parklands you come and pick your food on time it shouldn't be that the food is ready by noon and you are coming to pick the food at 4 o'clock so your job is to ensure that by noon you have come and pick your food children's responsibility is if it's a cup of Uji they need to come with a cup if it's a hot meal then they need to come with a plate and a spoon so if you don't come with that you don't get a meal so kids are quite amazing they are quite resourceful so when you are doing your when you are serving you'll find a small plate a white plate, a green plate, a broken plate or if it's a cup of Uji you'll find a small cup a big cup, a big mug or a small mug or sometimes the thing that really touched me was I would find a kid coming with a tomato sauce bottle so that he can be filled with Uji so that is the resourcefulness of children in the slums that as long as they are getting they will ensure that they come with something to drink something to drink in and it's quite amazing and you get to learn also quite a bit as it is, the program success is attributed to a number of people I'm not more that I have help it is more that the donors when we spread out a case say that look this is the help that we need we have so many people, Kenyans are very loving no matter what we think but in all fronts Kenyans are very loving people and once you spread out the word it is amazing how somebody somewhere would want to help but they just don't know how or where or what to do so when they hear such cases they would come and easily give up sometimes now I get calls of people saying look I have old clothes if you are going somewhere and you need them feel free to pick them somebody will call me and say look I want to give a bill of unga do you need one and I would say yes come and drop it and we will see how best we can feed and how best we can help so this is how we are now trying and seeing how best we can help the slum children in Nairobi Covid has really impacted the lives of so many people in a bad way but sometimes it is something small that we can do that can make a big impact in the lives of people whom you don't even know we are slowly coming up with new projects as we move around sometimes we see a lot of old grandmothers and old grandfathers who are in the slum in a small room they are sleeping in a bed which is infected with bugs and they don't have food so slowly by slowly the next project we are coming up is taking a packed lunch for the grandmother or the grandfather and ensure that they have a decent meal we also are planning on more different ways on how we can help in terms of feeding and more importantly is all this is not possible without the help of the donors the real thanks goes to all the donors who are helping in this and I have some who say Praveen don't take my name here is the stuff please make sure it goes to the right people but my name should not be taken others we always acknowledge and whenever we put in our social media platform we always try and ensure that we say a big thank you to the donors whoever the person is Praveen nav his life with a difference as opposed to back then when he took most of the things for granted it's not always a success story from there but it is also a learning for us because sometimes we take things for granted the food that is on our table our children would take it for granted that they are getting chips, burgers, pizzas or even the meal that we have every day it is very very important to thank God that whatever God is giving us we should be thankful for it and not take that thing for granted not only as adults but also to teach our children that the food that they are getting is very very important and they should not assume and take it for granted and sometimes you would find some children saying that oh I want a burger today and I want a pizza today and I am not going to eat ugali and sukumawiki today and all that but here is a child in the slum where the only meal that he is getting is just a plate of beans and rice or maybe a small plate of ghidari and that is also only the day that we have taken the food otherwise the rest of the days is just fending for himself and whatever best he could get is what he is going to eat previously I would worry oh I have this problem what am I going to do how will I tackle it and what is the way forward I would really get depressed but then over time I have learned that helping the slum children if they are able to put a smile on their face and they play and they run around and all that then I have so many things much more to be thankful about and so what I do is every morning when I wake up I say this is going to be the best day of my life so you know if you have said the same thing yesterday and you are saying the same thing today and you say the same thing tomorrow then every day is the best day of your life charity begins from home so what I have done is of course I first and foremost would want to thank my wife because without her support all this would not be possible she does get scared when I say I am going in the Kibera slums or Soweto slums but then the people she has met the slums are really not bad as they sound yes there are problems and there are thieves in the slums and everything but then with the right kind of people there is really not much to be afraid of the same values he has learnt in life Praveen is passing on to his children I also take my kids in the slums because what happens is when they have their birthdays yes the party at home with their friends is always there so I make sure that either in that week or the weekend of their birthday week I take them to the slum and I tell I make sure that they they feed the children in the slums and they sing a birthday song for them so that the slum children when they are singing a happy birthday song for my sons my son would appreciate what he is giving it is a learning for him as well and in that way whatever we are giving to them and I would request and say to all Kenyans that it is always good to teach your children also start at a young age teach them the importance of giving because you never know how that will help them to mold their lives to becoming a better person as they grow Hanga is a problem that has plagued humanity therefore getting a mil daily is something which will be grateful for and support such wonderful programs to remain effective to all the Kenyans and to everyone watching this video if you want to reach out my social media facebook pages Praveen R Chauhan my instagram profile is also the same hoping to start a youtube channel very soon with all the work that I do under the same name if you want to reach out to my number it's plus 2 5 4 7 2 1 3 4 8 4 5 4 and I know I love Kenya and let's make Kenya a better place than it already is at the moment and I know we can make a big impact in the whole world