Educate and Empower Street Children in Kenya

Students from Penn State University spent two weeks in May working and learning with youth at the CYEC. The students worked in four general areas:

1. Business Development: This team offered workshops for the youth on the basics of organizing a business, identifying resources and opportunities, record-keeping and basic business plan development. They also had team-building activities as there are a good number of new youth in the cooperative. Several CYEC youth have small businesses so Penn State students met with them to explore ways to increase their profits. 

2. Agriculture: Several youth produce vegetables in the shamba (garden) at the Centre to generate income and provide fresh produce for the children. The Shamba team focused on soil health this year, including mulching, composting and crop-rotation. The Centre also has a dairy cow and several goats. The Dairy team assessed herd health and nutrition as well as overall management to improve productivity.

3. Food Safety and Nutrition: This team taught youth basic safe food handling and nutrition as they're transitioning to cooking on their own. They also partnered with the ag team to identify nutrient-rich crops for the shamba.

4. Gender: The Gender team helped ensure all our activities were appropriate and inviting for all youth at the Centre. 

The students and youth had a productive time, learning together, making friendships and changing lives. Please see more on the class blog below.

Your support helps to continue this work. Wednesday 15 June is a GlobalGiving Bonus day, and gifts are matched at 50% while funds last. Give early to ensure your gift has an even greater impact!

Links:

• Penn State Class blog

Soul Sisters is a group of more than 20 teenage girls at the CYEC between the ages of 13 and 19 years. It started out as a mentorship program which aimed at educating the girl child on real life situations and how to manage teenagehood and the pressures that come with it. It is a program that equips the young ladies with good social morals and eventually molds them into mentors. 

Four of our girls recently participated in a week-long girls’ camp hosted by the Peace Corps in Meru .The camp, Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) was focused on HIV awareness and prevention. Other topics learned were sexual rights, gender sensitivity, sexuality, relationships, communication and decision-making skills, their body, puberty and reproduction and sexual reproductive health.

The camp had more than 100 young girls from Eastern and Central region who participated.