Kenya Nairobi
The project initiated in 1996 to stem the rampant phenomenon of street children and alleviate the living conditions of the population within Mathare, a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi. Since 2009 the project has also been operating in the village of Seme, in the city of Kisumu in collaboration with the RANEN DUOL SELF HELP GROUP Association, supporting the schooling of some children in the village.
Definition of the economic and social context
Kenya is experiencing an increasing population and about a third of the population is illiterate. A part of the population lives in conditions of extreme poverty that pours mainly into the slums of the big cities, while in the villages families live thanks to work on the plantations and their subsistence depends on the rainy season, when everything stops. The lack of food is compounded by limited access to adequate sanitation and improved sources of drinking water.
In Nairobi, the majority of the population live crowded into the slums on the outskirts of the city, where a life of hardship has led to the spread of “street children”, who have fled from their families or even been removed from them, due to lack of food. They sleep in the bushes, on the sidewalks, living on alms. The consequences are very serious, not only physical (malnutrition, infections and more) but also moral (theft, drug use, violence and abuse of all kinds up to co-optation into criminal networks).
The slum of Mathare has access to drinking water and electricity, upon payment of a fee, there is still a lack of adequate sanitation, clean and easily accessible roads, street lighting and sewage. Housing is precarious and there are conditions of overcrowding and high population density in which the living space of each person is reduced to a minimum.
In the field of education, inequalities increase with the level of education: while gender equality is at the threshold of being achieved for enrolment in primary school, there are still significant disparities in secondary education and enrolment in universities; In addition, greater parental education would lead to an improvement in the health, nutrition, and education of the offspring.
Geographic Location
Kenya has a population of over 48 million and is in the Horn of Africa area where the spectre of drought looms. Mathare is the second largest slum in the country on the outskirts of Nairobi , with an estimated population of around 500,000 people.
The village of Seme is located in the port city of Kisumu, the capital of the county of the same name;it overlooks the Kavirondo Gulf of Lake Victoria and by virtue of its location it has developed as a lake port and commercial centre. l
Composition and structure of the project
The activities take place in the Parish of Kariobangi, in the St. Anne’s Chapel, a unique environment built of sheet metal and with a concrete floor. The kitchen and bathrooms are exterior; the desks and chairs are made of plastic. The staff are 2 teachers, a director, a social worker and a cook.
The project also supports children and adolescents aged 4 to 17 in private schools around Nairobi where they pay for schooling (payment of fees, uniforms, and teaching materials) and lunch. In Seme, the children attend government schools and receive a hot meal at the association’s facility staffed by two cooks, a cleaner, two guards, an administrator and a collaborator who looks after the children.
Activities and services implemented
- – Pre-school activities lasting 3 years, the first two of which are kindergarten with pedagogical games aimed at the cognitive development of the child and the last year of school approach with English, writing, reading, humanities, and scientific subjects, according to the government programme.
- – A snack and a hot meal for all the children of Magnificat and Seme
- – The payment of school fees for children and young people aged 4 to 17 for whom personalized pedagogical support is also provided.
- – Primary medical care
- – Distribution of food and clothing packages
- – Training meetings between the children’s parents and project collaborators aimed at strengthening a relationship of mutual trust where parents can be made responsible for the healthy growth of their children.
- – Periodic workshops for families oriented towards social and human formation where there are moments of discussion and concrete workshops on family life, children’s education, healthy nutrition, the importance of personal and home hygiene.
- – Entrepreneurial workshops in collaboration with other local associations to improve the economic condition of parents so that they become self-sufficient in-home economics and towards the schooling of their children.
Beneficiaries
- – The programme is aimed at 197 minors and their families in whom there are serious states of promiscuity, poverty, misery, disease, poor hygiene, lack of schooling and malnutrition.
Actions
- • Sponsorship – SAD
This is an ongoing commitment to support a food, school-training and sanitation programme aimed entirely at the individual minor and his or her family, both of which are part of the AFN project.
- • Project Support – SOP
This is an ongoing commitment to support a food, educational, educational and health and hygiene programme aimed at the entire group of minors and their families who are part of the AFN project.
- Donations
These are free-flow payments, in support of a food, school-training and health and hygiene programme aimed at the entire group of minors and their families who are part of the AFN project.
What can you do?
- Long-distance support of a child. Please contact the coordinators in your country to confirm the annual amount and payment details https://afnonlus.org/contatti/#world
Reason for payment “New SAD Kenya” and in subsequent payments “SAD Kenya renewal”.
- Support for the project. Please contact the coordinators in your
to confirm the annual amount and payment details.
- Donations – Please contact the coordinators in your country to confirm the annual amount and donation details.