Family Economic Empowerment in the Kenyan Slums

Due to your continued support we are averaging 32 children per day at the Macheo Malnourished Children’s Program in the Kiandutu slums of Thika Kenya. For this we are very grateful, as are the children and their parent or guardian.

Infants and young preschool children are cared for throughout the working day by five staff members, They enjoy nutritious food, stimulating play and encouragement in achieving new activity levels and therefore progressing in their delayed developmental milestones. This sets them on a path to normal childhood advancement. There is no fixed time that a child is in the program, as it clearly depends on their growth and rehabilitation progress.

Apart from feeding children with nutritious meals, the Macheo Malnourished Children’s department conduct other activities. This includes individual counseling and education regarding nutrition and parenting skills for the guardians of those children benefiting from the daily feeding program. For the sustainability of normal nutritional status of these children after they leave the program, some of their parents are referred to other Macheo departments for ongoing help,

e.g. Macheo Family Economic Empowerment, Macheo Teen Mother Program, Macheo Health Program.

Seminars

Assessing everyday challenges that face parents/guardians in the Kiandutu slums, the Macheo Malnourished Children’s Program organizes seminars to empower these guardians with knowledge and skills. This enables them to give the best attention to their children in terms of love,medical attention and also feeding them a nutritiousand well balanced diet to further their normal growth and development, once they have exited the program. This tries to ensure that these children are kept from becoming malnourished again. The following topics typically addressed:

Malnutrition

Food insecurity

Calcium and Vitamin D

Signs of sickness in a child

Family planning

Food preparation

In order for a child to be successful both physically and mentally and have a good start in life, it is extremely important to have adequate consistent nutrition. This is the primary goal for all the children that enter the Macheo Malnourished Children’s Program and we strive to make sure that it does not end once they exit the program. All other necessary support programs are put in place and their counselor will follow up to see how the child and parent progress.

Macheo US is committed to continue this much needed help for the slum children, who by no fault of their own were born into abject poverty. Thank you so much for your ongoing gifts to feed these children.

In their own words and through their inspiring stories, parents who were once affected by vulnerability remind us of their strength and determination to overcome the most daunting challenges. Through the Macheo Family Empowerment Program, we reached out to women and men who were often left behind – those who struggled with being poor and who were not able to provide/denied basic education and health care for their children, and who suffer greatly from conflict. The parents we serve tell us that through our programs, they have found new opportunities to strengthen themselves, their families, and their communities.

From the field…..

Helping a parent to earn, feed their children and save money: a success story

Ruth is 35 years old with two children. Identifying that she had talent for tailoring ever since childhood, she was targeted and enrolled in the Macheo Family Empowerment Program. She was jobless but had a sewing machine, which was broken and also she lacked materials to use. Her children were malnourished due to inadequate meals at home. After assessment Macheo bought material at the local market for her, she learned how to use a manual sewing machine and transformed the fabric by hand into beautiful clothes. Ruth is now able to pay for her children’s welfare, registering for the National Hospital Insurance Fund, to mitigate a sudden expensive health issue, along with paying for school fees, uniforms and school supplies. This is all due to the help from Macheo and their sponsors. She subsequently has saved her monthly training stipend and convinced her friend to co-sign a loan, so that she could purchase more clothes for sewing. Her tailoring business thrived, and Ruth repaid the loan in a few months. Implicitly she is now learning basic business skills, planning, budgeting and saving, through help from the Macheo classes.

A success like this does not happen in a vacuum! It takes the much needed effort of a group of dedicated people at The Macheo Children’s Center in Thika, Kenya, along with people like you, who see the need and support the cause.

Let’s lift a family onto the first rung of the ladder, one at a time, together. Thank You!