 is the founder and director of GRIPSYARD organization which he founded in the year 1999 in Korogocho Informal Settlements. I am the founder working at the director of GRIPSYARD organization when I move to what GRIPSYARD is, there's an NGO that's worked with the office and a baller of children to care and support and give support to these children. This NGO was founded in 1999 in Korogocho slums as a community school. We'll remember that back then in 1999 accessing primary school was not very easy for the poor. This is because then Kenya was not a signator to the MDG. So parents were not able to take their kids to school. Secondly, HIV and AIDS was ravaging the country. So there are a number of children that were offered as a result. Physically, GRIPSYARD and Korogocho is synonymous we'll be able to locate us. In Utawala, we are in Mihango, like Chief Cup. Again if you ask GRIPSYARD organization or any children's home in Mihango school, you'll be able to locate. GRIPSYARD was founded in the year 1999 first of the school to give care and support to office and baller of children. We remember those days accessing government school was not very easy because the MDGs had not been ratified by Kenyan government. So free education, maternal health, these were things that Kenyans as a population have just hearing for far. So another problem was that so many children were offered as a result of HIV and AIDS. This because access to antiretroviral drugs were not made to the same population. So there were so many children that couldn't access school. Furthermore, this was complicated by the extreme hunger that was biting then. So around November, the same year 1999, there was a need for us to start a program that would address the needs of these children and hence the start of GRIPSYARD organization and that reminds me to tell you what GRIPSYARD means. GRIPS as a fruit, we were looking for an institution where people will pluck, come and pick some of these fruits and to us the fruits were education, health, feeding these children, giving social support. So these were the fruits that children were to get from GRIPSYARD and hence it formed the name GRIPSYARD. So that's how it started. Born and bred in Siaia County under a difficult background, Edmond recalled having to brew Chang'e in order to pay his school fees. Well, I grew from born and bred in villages here, one of the few that understood what poverty is. In real sense, I grew Chang'e so that I could pay for my school fees and those days government, those that were in government stream school, we were paying around 900 shillings a year, which was not forthcoming, so I had to brew Chang'e. Secondly, I came from a very starchy Catholic and my father being the catechist of the local sub parish. My father wanted me to be a priest, so he took me to a seminary with the hope that I will be priest someday. But then this did not work because he thought that the parish would pay for my school fees. So I spent half of first time and I was sent because of lack of school fees to go look for school fees. Then I ended up in a day school which trek I think around 30 kilometers every day as a day scholar. I think even what I do today as much as I did not end up being a spiritual father, I end up being a physical father and many within this organization children called me father Abraham and I think this because of the number of children that we've managed to reach. So asking about my background is I come from a very very humble background but with a Christian, strong Christian foundation. Graves Yard is a non-profit organization working with orphans and vulnerable children and Edmund says he started the institution with only a sum of 20 shillings. Starting an organization with 20 shillings as a capital in itself is a challenge. It means if we had a capital to start secondary, to start an organization then in 1999 today we would be speaking of an institution that is either close to Makinis of Nairobi we'll be speaking of institutions that are like Camryf. I know those are areas that those are the areas we want to go to. Two they don't know why it is shrinking each and every day. The Graves Yard school located in Korogocho has over 1,600 pupils where aside from education other skills are taught and meals are also served. This school is located in a slum area of low income so we have a lot of needy places within the environment we have children who are not going to school we have our children whose families are facing a lot of challenges so we have a sponsorship from a number of organizations we also have children whom we need to assess and see how the school can come in to help in their lives so that they're able to access school and they're able to retain a school going until they get to that stage. In the line of social work we do assessment of cases of children the ones we consider for intake other cases that we do not put into the sponsorship but come also as needy there are cases where a child comes to school their uniform is in such poor condition you understand with a problem here that you need to address other children come they've not had the meal for a number of days other children come when the parents are ill the parents there's been violence people have just separated the other day but you want to maintain them in school so we do assessment of the cases we determine what would be best to be able to assist the child at that moment we also do referrals for example a child is sick the teacher gets you the case from class they get in touch with the nurse so that she's able to see the children and then give some fast aid if it is a case that needs to go to hospital then we do a referral later and in charge of doing the referral later to hospital mainly we do the referrals to Nehema because that's where our sponsors please for their treatment but if at Nehema the case needs a further referral then the hospital will get in touch with the nurse and the organization and decide if it is approved then they get the treatment elsewhere again we have the lunch program that is given to the children so we ensure that all children who are coming to school are able to eat lunch in school this is because in their community where they live and specifically in the various families that some families they don't have meals so for some the main meal they eat is the lunch that they eat in school so we strive to ensure that during school days all the children are able to get lunch the children's health is also a priority as there's a school nurse to attend to the seek cases like the sickler who normally takes his medicines daily and after serving two weeks and over one month he goes for leave here at a hospital to have a good time. To eat the lunch in their studies is a school library whose most of the books are donated by university students who come for community service they are these different students are students and they are these students from the USIU they usually come here for community service after some period of time for period of time I mean after that with their time for living they usually donate something maybe books not only books they usually also donate some tools that can be used in the classroom and then we have students also from from Italy and those students from Italy that the major donors of books see in this library they are these different students and they are these students from the USIU they usually come here for community service after that with their time for living they usually donate something maybe books not only books they can they usually also donate some tools that can be used in the classroom and then we have students also from that the major donors of books see in this library to help in running the business of gripeans are a number of relevant stakeholders and employability of various financial sustainability tactics currently great seed as an NGO we have a board of directors decisions are made at the level of board of directors and then these decisions are brought to the management level where it's find me as the director and of course I have key officers that I work with I have like three senior social workers I have a counter and administrator and then I'm a home manager and it goes down to the teaching fraternity in total we have a population of 50 staff that are taking care of the entire program we have two two partners that we work with one from Italy and one from Canada 700 children are sponsored under the two organization that's in itself is under revenue that takes care of part of our budget two we we are working on a sustainability program where we've wagered on partly on transport and with the hope that the revenue that is generated from the transport also helps to support the program three the children that are not under sponsorship we hope that we hope and we always encourage them to pay money so that in terms of school fees so that we can run and finally we usually appeal to donors and we wish us so that they may be able to donate especially now that the cost of food has gone high we rely on food donations from various companies from various individuals and since covid started this scaled down and it's a concern that I believe that we should continue getting more interested people to give in terms of donations in kind or in cash