Author: Lauren Blair

2 women in Kenya, seated on a bench outside a home and holding hands

Mental Health Awareness Month: When Healers Need Healing

by Martha Omar, Lauren Blair

  • Posted on May 21, 2026

*AI-generated image used to protect privacy At Kupenda for the Children, we walk alongside families as they experience a variety of emotions, from the love and hope they hold for their children with disabilities to times when, despite every effort, they experience unimaginable hardship and loss. During Mental Health Awareness Month, we honor families and…



A young girl stands against a textured, weathered wall, wearing a bright blue dress with red circular patterns and light-colored sandals. She faces the camera with a calm, neutral expression, her hands resting at her sides.

A Place to Belong: Mercy’s Journey from Fear to Faith

by Lauren Blair

  • Posted on April 8, 2026

In many low-income countries like Kenya, children who are deaf often begin life in isolation—without access to sign language, schooling, or even basic understanding from those around them. Mercy’s life once reflected these challenges. Today, her story is one of change, marked not only by education and opportunity, but by the confidence to step into…



A Kenyan young woman standing in front of a white wall, wearing a white collared shirt.

From Grief to Hope: Florence’s Story

by Lauren Blair

  • Posted on April 2, 2026

Many of the children with disabilities Kupenda supports have stories shaped by hardship. In their communities, disabilities are often seen as a curse, and children are undervalued and denied access to basic opportunities—barriers that can become even more significant during seasons of instability or loss. This Easter, we are reminded that even after the darkest…



A woman wearing a sleeveless red dress and glasses sits indoors beside leafy green plants, smiling at the camera in soft natural light.

Making a Loving Impact

by Lauren Blair

  • Posted on February 16, 2026

This Valentine’s Day, we celebrate a different kind of love—the kind that is not just a feeling, but a choice to stand with children with disabilities, even when the journey is hard. For Lucky Mahenzo, Kupenda’s Deputy Executive Director in Kenya, love is more than a calling. Her very name, ā€œMahenzo,ā€ means ā€œloveā€ in Giriama,…



Education Without Exclusion: Keeping Children with Disabilities in Their Communities

by Lauren Blair

  • Posted on January 26, 2026

In Kenya and many other low-income countries, children with disabilities face significant barriers to accessing education. Deep-rooted stigma often leads communities to believe that disability is a curse and that children with disabilities are incapable of learning or attending school alongside their peers without disabilities. As a result, only an estimated 2% of children with…



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