Establish Girls' Empowerment Centre in Rural Kenya

‘As a teen mother, I couldn’t hide my joy when I visited the upcoming and almost completed Girls Empowerment Centre in Kasule. I still lack words to thank our amazing donors for always believing in us. This is a DREAM come true for us girls living in slums (informal settlements) of Kisumu . ’ ~ Salome –Hairdressing student at NIGEE.

NIGEE Girls Empowerment Centre (GEC) continues to enroll more girls for vocational training and linkage to other services, including employment, internship and ‘volunteership’. The demand for the vocational training courses is increasing every day.

The girls and the entire NIGEE fraternity are so delighted to see the building at the finishing stage with roofs, windows, doors and electrical piping completed for the ground floor. We are optimistic that with current giving from donors and individuals we will get the building completed and launched soon.

During the period June – August 2018 NIGEE continued with activities at the current GEC:

• So far we have reached 410 girls with the skills training since the inception of the program in November 2015. In the period under review, we were able to enroll 17 new teen mothers.
• Currently, there are 38 girls enrolled in computer classes, 51 girls in hairdressing and 24 girls in the dressmaking class.
• Our porridge program is doing great and currently 10 toddlers are benefitting from the daily porridge at 10am as their mothers attend classes.  
• To build girls’ self-esteem and confidence, the GEC continues to provide life skills sessions on a biweekly basis; to this end, the Centre has adopted a life skill training manual for the mentors who act as facilitators.
• One of our major challenges is space to accommodate the increasing numbers of girls who wants to access the vocational skills training.  The new GEC is part of our strategy to address this increasing number of girls enrolling for courses but are being turned away due to the limited space at the current centre. When completed, the new site will serve approximately 300 girls at once.
• The GEC safe space/hostel continues to offer a temporary haven for 8 girls and young women who have been exploited or sexually abused and are in immediate danger; we provide ongoing counseling and investigation with a goal of reconciling them with their families.  In addition to counseling, they are linked to appropriate sexual and reproductive health services as their cases are processed.
• NIGEE is also preparing to host the upcoming GlobalGiving Kenyan Workshop to be held on 28th of September 2018 at NIGEE Headquarters in Milimani, Kisumu. We are looking forward to a productive workshop.

Story:

Click here to watch our success story uploaded on our YouTube channel and Globalgiving page;   https://bit.ly/2Q7tfAa

"The upcoming Girls’ Empowerment Centre will help reduce the congestion at the current GEC Centre in Tom Mboya by accommodating the day to day increasing number of girls seeking vocational training services." ~ Milka Ofwa, Chair, Girls Steering Committee NIGEE

More girls continue to stream into our Girls’ Empowerment Center (GEC) in Tom Mboya for Vocational training services. The increasing number of girls at the centre inspired us to start the construction of a spacious GEC to accommodate these girls. The construction is yet to be completed at Kasule/Manyatta B, an informal settlement in Kisumu City.

 During the period April –June 2018 NIGEE continued to advance the GEC within Kisumu:

• So far we have reached 379 girls with the skills training since the inception of the program. In the period under review, we were able to enroll 19 new teen mothers.
• Currently there are 52 girls enrolled in computer classes, 41 girls in hairdressing and 22 girls in the dressmaking class.
• Our porridge program is doing great and currently 12 new toddlers are benefitting from the daily porridge at 10am; knowing that their children are being cared for and are close by, our beneficiaries can concentrate on their studies as the children play under supervision.  
• The GEC safe space continues to offer a temporary haven for girls and young women who have been exploited or sexually abused and are in immediate danger; we provide ongoing counseling and investigation with a goal of reconciling them with their families.  In addition to counseling, they are linked to appropriate sexual and reproductive health services as their cases are processed.
• To build self-esteem, the GEC continues to provide life skills training on a biweekly basis; to this end, the Centre has developed a life skill training manual for the mentors who act as facilitators.
• NIGEE is currently fast-tracking the construction of the new GEC as part of our strategy to address the increasing number of girls enrolling for courses given the limited space at the current centre; the new site will serve approximately 300 girls at one go.

 What the GEC Beneficiaries had to say about the upcoming new GEC Centre under Construction:

Many of the girls at the GEC centre could not hide their joy and optimism about the upcoming GEC Centre under construction. The girls who embarked on a tour of the site early last month were delighted of this spacious, modern and girl-friendly safe space that will help accommodate the overwhelming and increasing number of girls seeking vocational skills services.

Below are some of the quotes from the girls;

“The new upcoming Girls Empowerment Centre will help reduce the jam at the current GEC Centre in Tom Mboya by accommodating the day to day increasing number of girls seeking vocational training services.” ~ Milka Ofwa, Chair, Girls Steering Committee NIGEE

“As a beneficiary of the NIGEE GEC I would like to sincerely thank all individual donors under GlobalGiving for believing in us by supporting this course.” ~ Diana, Hairdressing student GEC.

“With the space for Early Childhood Development (ECD) and girls Hostel, I am optimistic that this centre will serve even young mothers like me as our toddlers would be enrolled to the ECD and even be hosted at the Centre.” ~ Quinter, a young mum and Computer student GEC.

“The GEC has really impacted in our life, I feel empowered and happy to meet other girls whom we share the same aspiration, I believe the new GEC will ensure that all girls in Kisumu are empowered as well” ~ Grace, a teen mother and a dressmaking student.