Build Lives
Our impact

Real people. Real results.

Numbers tell part of the story. Behind every one of them is a child who stayed in school, ate lunch, planted a tree, or found their voice.

children reached since 2019
2,582 +
trees planted and growing
5,660 +
schools with completed projects
12
counties across Kenya
3
Milestones

The journey so far

  1. 2019

    Build Lives begins its work in Dagoretti South, Nairobi. Since then we have helped channel over $150,000 into our programmes.

  2. 2020

    WASH programme scales up across partner schools, with handwashing support and hygiene education through the pandemic.

  3. 2021

    Four diet gardens created with The Pollination Project (USA); 5,660+ trees planted with Kenya Forest Service, Equity Bank Kawangware, Studio Nga’ari Foundation and Kenya Biodiversity.

  4. 2022

    A quieter year. After the loss of our founder’s father, Build Lives paused to grieve and regroup — holding on to the values that started this work, and quietly laying the ground for everything that came next.

  5. 2023

    Partnered with Studio Nga’ari Foundation to restore a stretch of the Nairobi River. Launched a girls’ programme at Olekemunge Primary in Kajiado — 200 girls reached with mentorship and sanitary support — and supported a new borehole. Began feeding programmes in Nairobi at Mutuini (40), Kagira (30) and Ruthimitu (30), alongside a partnership with Worthmore Solutions.

  6. 2024

    Reached 45 children at Mama Ngina Primary in Nakuru with GO Solar Systems and the Mama Ngina Alumni. In Laikipia, 30 children at Kanyoni Township Primary, and a partnership with Nanyuki Green Champions to restore a stretch of the Nanyuki River.

  7. 2025

    60 children supported at Mwariki Primary in Nakuru with Two DM Contractors, 30 more at Kanyoni Township Primary in Laikipia, and 10 students at Mukuru kwa Ruben Secondary in Nairobi.

  8. 2026

    Partnered with the County Government of Nakuru to develop and draft a school feeding policy, with a special sitting at the county assembly on 13 May 2026 — now awaiting resolutions. Welcomed 100 more children at Olekemunge Primary in Kajiado with Studio Nga’ari Foundation. Today around 453 children are on our school feeding programmes and 200 girls on mentorship and sanitary support.

Gallery

Our work, in pictures

Dozens of schoolchildren working in a green field during a diet-garden day
Diet garden day — pupils planting and weeding together
Pupils in blue uniforms tending crops between tall trees
Learning to grow food in the school garden
Children bending to tend seedlings in a garden
The harvest supplements the school lunch programme
A Build Lives team member speaking at a tree-planting site
On site at one of our tree-planting schools

More photos and stories from our programmes are on Instagram and Facebook.

Watch

Seeding a better future for children

Filmed by our partner The Pollination Project, this short film shows our diet gardens programme through the eyes of the people who run it.

Help us write the next milestone.

Every shilling, every hour volunteered, every partnership moves a child closer to a quality education.

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