Educating street children in the Mathare slums

Dear friends,

We are because you are and I thank you for being part of our MCFP community since my last letter to you. It’s been 3 months and we (MCFp) hope that you and your loved one have kept safe and are staying strong and have the support you need at this time of uncertainty.

Allow me give special thanks to all of you for the continued support for the lives of more than 390 families for the last 17 weeks. In a special way, we give thanks to friends for coming through this difficult times.

From a total number of 1962 caseloads in May, Kenya has recorded; tenfold number of cases to a caseload of 37,053 from 385,723 tests.

The impact of Coronavirus continues to be felt in every home and workplace. While the cessation of movement into and out of Nairobi Metropolitan Area, Mombasa County and Mandera County have been lifted, the nationwide 9pm to 4am curfew was extended for a further 30 days, schools/learning institutions remain closed until the foreseeable future from January 2021 among other restrictions.

Too many children, especially those living in fragile context like Mathare, already face unacceptable threats to their wellbeing and futures. Beyond COVID-19 itself, children continue to inevitably face heightened food insecurity; increased risk of violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation; and the interruption or total breakdown of essential services including formal and informal education. While children may not suffer the worst symptoms of COVID-19, millions of young lives have been put at risk as weak health systems become overwhelmed by the pandemic and precious resources are diverted. Our health systems are ill-prepared, and they have created inherent challenges in reaching those most in need. People reside in precarious and insecure conditions including large overcrowded and densely populated informal urban settings. Girls and boys in such hazardous settings are particularly vulnerable to a number of threats including malnutrition, disease, physical and sexual exploitation and abuse, gender-based violence and child marriage, child labor, absence from education, and significant mental and psycho-social health challenges and trauma. Children and their families in these contexts often live in poor quality and cramped housing that do not allow for physical distancing. Also, they have limited prospects for livelihoods or must work despite very difficult circumstances. Many people have limited or no access to basic services and supports, including basic healthcare.

MCFp RESPONSE

• We have establish a two-way dialogue with community members at all levels (including children youth and women) that seeks to understand their perspectives, solicits their inputs, shares information, explain their fears, ask questions (and have them answered), and engages them in the response to Covid- 19.
• In Health and Nutrition, we have continued to address food and nutritional requirements for more than 390 family members for the last 17 weeks through food packages. Promises of cash transfers and food to those who are sufferingextreme hardship as a result of the curfew and lockdown don’t seem to have materialized. The fear is if the funds raised by the government from all over the world will go towards the intended beneficiaries or will simply line some politically-connected pockets. Anecdotal evidence and other reports indicate that the KES 2, 000 (about $20) monthly stipend that was promised to the most vulnerable people has still not been disbursed to them despite assurances by various government officials that cash transfers started in April. None of the people, who have either been laid off or have had to close down their small businesses, have seen a cent of the stipend. On medical needs especially the increased malnourished children among the clients we serve by providing added nutritious food as advised by our nutritionist. Within the children/teenage mother’s families we serve, more than 34 children had malnourished issues, 49 cases of abuses from sexual abuse, assault to Gender Based Violence and more than 69 visited a medical facility due to malaria, diarrhea, dysentery, malnutrition, typhoid, among other infections.
• We have continued to provide free reusable face masks to the community members of Mathare and its environment. We have given out 560 masks over the last 17 weeks.
• On Child Protection and Education: Provision of psychosocial support and respond to violence and abuse of children is something we are keen in by supporting the survivors and reporting those that are involved. The closure of schools has seen an increase in teenage and adolescent pregnancies. Stigma and discriminatory school rules are likely to prevent these girls from continuing with their education once schools re-open. To ensure that this pandemic does not turn into a girls’ crisis, all stakeholders involved must come together to ensure the back to school guidelines provided for teen mothers under the National School Health Policy (2009) are followed to the letter. This is being worked on through the several networks we are involved in as an organization both at the National and local level. Additionally, we are lending our voice to advocate for the establishment of government-run safe houses where girls at risk of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence can seek refuge, during holidays and unforeseen circumstances like what we are experiencing today. Over the last 4 months, we have seen an increased risk of sexual exploitation of children, including sex for assistance, commercial sexual exploitation of children and forced early marriages – Case in point - More than 28 girls on average became pregnant daily in Machakos County in the last five months!
• We have also started availing a safe space for where children can undertake studies now that schools are not opened, an environment that is conducive, a study room that is well spaced in accordance with the new Covid 19 Restrictions and up to date curriculum books. We are currently serving approximately 23 at anyone given time.

Allow us to put something into perspective.

It's a chilly morning. While most of us are woken up by an alarm, “Judy” is woken up by the need to survive. The closure of schools and the increasing economic burden on her family violates her right to be a child. And she is encumbered by the responsibility of bringing home an income, “she is 12 years old! I was 15 years when I got her” her mum exclaims. Numb hands, Judy makes the journey on foot through the narrow, litter strewn streets of Mathare, lined with small shacks made of corrugated iron sheets oblivious of abuses that goes on around her to the nearby neighborhood of Eastleigh to try to find a day’s work with thoughts of school haunting her. As the COVID19 pandemic accelerates and pressures on economies rise, girls like Judy are vulnerable to child labor and exploitation. The pandemic has led to the resurgence of harmful traditional views, including those that see girls as an economic burden and a medium of exchange. With the closure of schools, girls are facing a double burden and are defenseless against activities that could compromise their physical, mental, social, and emotional wellbeing.

Allow MCFp to intervene where it can with such cases like “Judy’s” with your continued support…

Giving is not only about a donation but making a difference…Asante sana for making a difference in this uncertain times