Virtues and Community Development for Kenya

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your generosity and support for the Virtues and Community Development initiative in Kenya. With your support, we continue to transform our communities into safe, caring, compassionate and capacity -building spaces for the adults and children as well. 

Watoto Watunzwe Programme (WWP)

In order to safeguard students in their homes, we have created a program based on The Virtues Project Strategies,  Watoto Watunzwe(Protecting Children)  Programme, an initiative aimed at educating parents and guardians on child protection policies, fostering open and inclusive communication between adults and children, supporting mental well-being, and encouraging involvement of children in decision-making for their holistic development.

Watoto Watunzwe Programme (WWP) is a child safety and safeguarding programme. The programme targets learners aged 6 – 14 years in 241 schools who will benefit from child protection initiatives, as well as, public participation through art in education (Music, Drawing, Painting, Drama and Skits).

The ultimate goal of WWP is to build the capacity to facilitate attitude and behavior change among all the targeted population in safeguarding and protection of children at home, in the community, in learning institutions, and in the church. The objectives also seek to equip the beneficiaries with appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes to effectively play their roles in safeguarding and protection of children.

WWP provides a platform for mobilized community groups in schools which stand to benefit from training on The Virtues Project Strategies.

This is an opportunity for our Facilitators to blend The Virtues Project strategies with WWP’s creating a powerfully  trained stakeholder database. 

 Livelihoods Response to the Vulnerable

In order to provide equal quality education, your support and the contributions from our farming capacity building initiatives continue to provide support to parents, guardians, community members  and educators in accessing training for alternative income generating initiatives and emotional and mental well-being support groups. These initiatives allow these guardians to effectively provide school fees and food for the children and foster peaceful, compassionate relationships with the children they care for or interact with. These initiatives have brought together guardians, educators and community members to provide schools fees and meals for underprivileged children in their communities using proceeds from the capacity building initiatives.

Thank you for your continous support and generosity.

Links:

• The Virtues Project Website
• Virtues in Kenya Blogpost

It’s my pleasure to write to you as the public communication officer of The Virtues Project in Kakamega and elsewhere.  Among the successful projects this year includes how a Virtues Community helped a family solve their own problem.

A warring couple was having many scuffles that led them to injuring each other.  The police prepared the forms to take them to court whereby both of them were ready for a divorce.  Fortunately, an officer who had been trained in Virtues advised the woman to visit the Gender Based Violence Child Protection and Promotion Desk.  There she met Bibiana Andabwa, the program coordinator who guides and counsels cases using the Five Strategies of The Virtues Project.  The couple was re-united after undergoing virtues training and cards pick and reflecting on the same.  The couple had a beautiful wedding in the church. 

Their daughter was the cause of the conflict.  Her mother wanted her to pursue her education, while the father wanted her to get married due to lack of funds.  A virtues trained team worked out ways to get a loan.  A member of that team, a young parent who had stopped drinking and turned his life around after virtues training, helped her to apply for the loan.  She is now second year in the university.

This successful outcome happened because of changes that Mama Bibiana and The Virtues Project have brought to the community.  The police department had virtues training.  A team of virtues trained people was able to uncover a solution for the family.  The young alcoholic parent had virtues training.  And the couple was able to communicate with each other once again because they had virtues training.  The result was a beautiful wedding in the church with Mama Bibiana as the Best Lady.

Under Mama Bibiana’s vision and leadership, Virtues and Community Development for Kenya is expanding our efforts beyond Kakamega County into three more counties.  In each county, group members are trained to support bringing virtues clubs into both primary and secondary schools.  Teachers will be trained to help monitor integrity in the clubs and in classrooms. 

To extend the program into the community, parents will also be trained. Some parents will be identified as trainers at a community level so they can help spread virtues into families, villages, communities and schools.  Training will be available on the internet and in person.

Virtues and Community Development for Kenya intends to travel to at least two schools in every county every month for virtues training programs and economic empowerment projects. One visit to a single county will cost $200-250. 

We thank you for your continuing support of families and communities in western Kenya and for any ways you can help to also make this new program happen.