Educating street children in the Mathare slums

Celebrating Street Connected Children!

Friday 12^th April 2019 marked the 9^th International Day of Street Children, MCFPanairobi joined 20 Organizations (Nairobi Street Children and Youth Consortium) to celebrate the strength and resilience of street children. Over 650 street connected children participated in the event which sought to raise awareness on the need to ‘Commit to Equality for Street Children’ by appreciating their humanity and resilience to face daily challenges.

Street children are an important cohort to MCFPanairobi as we trace our project origins with them, they continue to be a big part of our work as we strive to facilitate and promote their basic rights and dignity. At this event, it emerge that the numbers of street children are continually on the increase with little being done by the government to safeguard them.

Stakeholders were challenged to design interventions that will provide street connected children with similar opportunities to other children as outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. MCFpanairobi together with other stakeholders committed to share information on existing interventions for street connected children, to lobby and advocate for their rights. Further, organizations present agreed to hold one another accountable in their work to meet needs specific to street connected children.

Peer Learning for Teenage Mothers

In this quarter, 30 teenage mothers participated in a learning visit in collaboration with Fortress of Hope in Komarock, Nairobi. The visit was aimed at providing a platform for sharing experiences with positive role models and mentors.

Fortress of Hope runs a girl’s mentorship program to equip young adolescent girls with Life Skills. There were ten (10) young ladies between the ages of 19-25 years who led discussions around contraceptive use amongst adolescents, sexual relationships and leadership. Teenage mothers shared their life experiences, challenges and approaches to navigating life’s challenges. They were challenged by the day’s mentor who had overcome teenage motherhood, and were leading successful lives.

The session gave hope to teenage mothers, and confidence that with support and good decision making their lives could change for better.                  

Sports for Behaviour Change

MCFpanairobi has in the last one year embraced sports as a tool to enhance knowledge amongst our constituents. Sports has become effective in strengthening the Life skills and resilience of children and youth. In the month of April, sports was used to communicate and pass information on crime, drugs, and peer pressure. Activities employed are simple and memorable hence enhancing memory for the children.  This promotes positive behaviour and attitude change while equipping the children with knowledge and confidence to handle any risky situations they may face.

Additionally, the children were trained on crime avoidance within their schools and communities. This was facilitated in conjunction with Kwetu Crime Si Poa Organization-Reformist Organization. This is an Organization established in partnership with the Department of Corrections and comprises reformed convicts who share their experiences to deter youth from crime. They were challenged to stand out and be agents of change in their communities by choosing to speak against crime.

We plan to host a meeting with parents in the month of August 2019 to raise their awareness on crime at home and in their communities, how to engage children to prevent their entry into crime.