Educating street children in the Mathare slums

The first quarter of the year will come to an end soon, bringing normalcy to the flurry of activities that marked the beginning of the New Year. Your support enabled us to ensure that 100 children in the program reported to school without delay, having met all their academic costs. We have 6 new recruits; the youngest aged 4 years and the oldest aged 14 years. The new recruits have been absorbed into the program following a rigorous process of individual case assessment. The process of assessment takes approximately 3 months, this is because it requires numerous home visits and meetings with possible partners to verify information given. As such, we review applications throughout the year in readiness for intake at the beginning of the year.

We receive numerous applications for academic support from residents in Mathare and surrounding environs, it is always difficult to turn anyone away. We have come to appreciate that, however much we try, we will never accommodate everybody. This gives us courage to face parents, guardians or children whose applications are unsuccessful. We have been able to refer a number of them for various services to our partners within the Child Protection network where they have received assistance.

We are thankful for the support offered by our friends and partners who make it possible to take a child through school, from kindergarten to college or university. Walking this path with the children is fulfilling and challenging; there are countless joyous moments for example when we see new confidence and attitude in a child after joining the program, good school performance, improved grades and finally graduation and employment. We have four students graduating from college this year, and we are excited about the new journey they’re about to undertake.

It is difficult to watch a child struggle to stay in school, a child’s early life experience and home environment plays a big role in their overall behaviour. To mitigate this, we design interventions that will address and meet the needs of the children holistically.

In order to realize the children’s dreams and meet our targets; our goals for this year are:

1. Towards Improved Academic Outcomes: Each holiday, Project Staff will be guided by school report forms in identifying strong and weak subjects and using that as a basis of mobilising beneficiaries into study groups. Capacities of students who perform well will be built as peer mentors/educators to enable them to take charge of study groups. Well-stocked libraries, computer rooms and tutors will enable beneficiaries to work towards improved academic outcomes.
2. Towards Improved Beneficiary Welfare: Nutritional supplements, psychosocial support, an annual health camp, enhanced capacity to provide emotional support and adoption of strategies that will enhance parent-child relations are some aspects of the project that are geared towards improved beneficiary welfare.
3. Participatory Workshops and Other Interactive Forums: The workshops will be facilitated for respective age cohorts: 6-9 year olds; 10-14 year olds; and 15+ year olds. The peer mentors in charge of study groups will also act as group leaders during focused discussions. After the series of workshops, an interactive forum will be facilitated for group leaders from all the age cohorts for the purpose of collation of issues arising from the workshops, and to identify common areas of interest
4. Commitment of Parents to Supporting Children in the Programme: Parenting education and other capacity-building forums {support groups} will enhance the capacity of parents to provide emotional and moral support to children in the programme.

Greetings!

As the year comes to an end, I look back at the past months with pride for what has been achieved in facilitating access to education for 94 children; facilitated economic empowerment for 35 teenage mothers through skills training in garment making and cosmetology and actively participated in advocating for children’s rights across various platforms.

The year has seen many changes in Kenya both in terms of policy and economic indicators. New policy changes have been effected in the Education system as well as in the protection of children’s rights among others. Policy provisions have not been fully realized due to delayed disbursement of funds, however we take note of the positive steps taken to safeguard the lives of all children.

With all the challenges facing the nation, our work would not have been possible without your consistent support, financial or technical and for that we are profoundly grateful. We appreciate that your support goes beyond what has been achieved this year to all the milestones realized over the last 19 years! The money entrusted to us by you has helped us to fight extreme poverty in Mathare, with education as our tool of choice! Your generosity and the dedication and hard work of our team has made this possible.

We therefore take this opportunity to share with you our outcomes over the past year!

Sponsorship Program:

A total of 94 children have received education support this year, out of which 12 students have sat for National examinations; 7 students who have sat for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) will proceed to High School in January 2019, and 5 students have sat for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and will proceed to University and/or Technical Colleges once results are out.

We have had 3 sessions of Holiday program in the months of April, August and November and part of December. This program provides a secure space for children to study and play within interventions in place for academic support, sports and mentorship, thereby limiting their exposure to vices within their communities such as drugs, alcoholism, gangs among others. The program is unique in the sense that its focus is not only academic but also entails a feeding component whereby children participating in the program get porridge at 10:00 o’clock and a hot meal at lunch hour. We are proud to say that up to 485 children have benefited from this program since the year begun. We appreciate your continued support in helping vulnerable children in Mathare access quality education, putting in place the building blocks to enable them achieve their dreams!

Teenage Mothers Program:

The program’s goal is to facilitate empowerment for teenage mothers most of whom are shunned by the families and wider community. The program intends to equip teenage mothers with skills in Garment Making and Cosmetology and support them in getting jobs. Additionally, the teenage mothers are equipped with life skills which go a long way in boosting their confidence, and their ability to make better choices with regard to reproductive health, relationships among others.

This year has seen an enrollment of 44 teenage mothers with 30 successfully completing the program and graduating. Out of the 30 students, 21 are gainfully employed and supporting their families with the remaining seeking stable jobs. The program design continues to improve as we continually learn from challenges faced in implementation. It has emerged that mentorship for the girls is crucial in ensuring they confidently walk their new path to better livelihoods.

Reusable Sanitary Pads:

Tears trickled down her face in shame and fear as her classmates laughed boisterously their fingers pointed in her direction. She had nowhere to hide, shortly the entire school would be aware of her shame. She did not like the words they screamed at her…amechora map ya Africa (she has drawn the African map), amenyeshewa (she has been rained on) among other derogatory words used to refer to a girl who soils herself during her menses. The old rags her mother had given her for use had failed!

This is a scenario common amongst girls from informal settlements and rural poor households. For many girls in Kenya, the memory of their first menstrual period is one of shame and many more are apprehensive for they may not be ready when the time comes. We at MCFpanairobi are striving to change this attitude towards Menstruation by reminding girls, their guardians and parents that Menstruation is a normal process, and there are cheaper ways of menstrual management. This is through our Reusable Sanitary Towels project, where for as little as USD 5, a girl gets to stay in school and live without fear. With the support of donors, partners and friends, we have distributed Reusable Sanitary pads to 1,383 girls. We hope that you will partner with us in the coming year to double this number, build confidence in girls and enhance their participation in school.