Tatu City, Other Views
As the suddenly announced Tatu City makes the headlines informed voices question its justification. One such critic is Mr Omtatah. He describes Tatu as ‘obscene,’ given the acute housing shortages...
Read More...Korogocho Criminals Neglect Continues
The new Constitution with its ground-breaking Bill of Rights is being ignored by some Korogocho leaders, leaving residents, especially the youth, stuck in the mud of the slum. Instead of re-structuring...
Read More...Where’s our water? MathareCouncilors and civic leaders silent For two months
Mathare people are without water. Aware that access to clean wa-ter is guaranteed in the Constitution residents are furious.
Read More...Teachers on the spot over poor KCSE results
The Kenya National Council for Examinations, KNEC, blames last year’s poor results on bad teaching methods.
Read More...Primary School Heads
Meeting in Mombasa for its annual conference, the Kenya Pri-mary Schools Heads Association, KEPSHA, has made its demands loud and clear.
Read More...Mombasa Conference ignores slums yet again
The just concluded con-ference of primary school heads in Mom-basa ignored the plight of slum pupils yet again. Yet in Nairobi alone at least 1.5 Million pupils are being denied free...
Read More...Studies for Practical Patriotism
A Nairobi university college is rolling out a new course for patriotic young adults. Tangaza College in Langata, an affiliate of Catholic university, has designed a new curriculum which aims to train...
Read More...Seminar Ignores Burning Issues
Community leaders from Korogocho engaged in a workshop about the contents of the Proposed Constitution at the Comboni Centre last week, but the practical business of service delivery was ignored. Delegates...
Read More...New Ground
If Christians think that church is all about grace and treasures in heaven, they must think again. With a more down-to-earth approach, Catholic university’s Centre for Social Justice and Ethics recently...
Read More...Amnesty Report Correct but........
Listen to the People's Needs Amnesty International's recent report on the hardship suffered by slum women, has been accepted as generally accurate. But ironically, none of the slum women spoken to...
Read More...Go Forth and Multiply!
Women have been challenged to get out and contribute to the economy of Kenya. Speaking during a graduation ceremony at Kibera Girls' Centre, Mrs. Vanessa Hynes, wife Mrs. Vanessa Hynes presents a certificate...
Read More...Children Speak Out
Empowering Kibera Pupils A group of civil society educationists are planning a pilot study on how to empower children. These educationists include Childline Kenya, the Children's Legal Network (CLAN),...
Read More...Chief Lauds Local Youths
Restoring Nairobi Dam: Kazi Kwa Vijana Kibera youth, especially those of Silanga Village have been praised by their chief for their conservation efforts. Chief Juma Ochola of Laini Saba has appreciated...
Read More...Silence Challenged
Teacher-pupil relationship in slum schools are improving and the culture of silence surrounding issues of child abuse is being challenged. However those bodies responsible for child protection are not...
Read More...Constitution: slums Denied Copies
There are no plans in place for delivery of copies of The Proposed Constitution to the slums of Nairobi, Teach has learned from a source who works in Delta House, Westlands. This is where the copies...
Read More...Kibera Children Demand Their Rights
Kibera children are demanding their rights to Free Primary Education, basic security, food, clean water and better sanitation.They are objecting to Birth Certs, child labour, tribalism and drug abuse....
Read More...Computer on wheels
A local foundation is spearheading a computer literacy campaign in the slums of Nairobi by using a bus as a computer classroom. Craft Silicon Foundation, a 'Kenyan software development powerhouse,' uses...
Read More...Rescue Center For Mathare
A new centre that offers after-rape medication and counseling has been opened in Mathare. The services are for free.
Read More...Chief's Challenged
Chiefs are in the spotlight regarding their defence of children's rights. Speaking to the Area Advisory Committee on Children's affairs, Ms Catherine Maina, the Provincial Children's Officer, complained...
Read More...World Bank to the Rescue of the Youth
Kazi Kwa Vijana Again The World Bank in co-operation with the grand coalition government is making Sh 5.6 Billion available to relieve youth employment in Kenya. The bank takes the view that millions...
Read More...- Tatu City, Other Views
- Korogocho Criminals Neglect Continues
- Where’s our water? MathareCouncilors and civic leaders silent For two months
- Teachers on the spot over poor KCSE results
- Primary School Heads
- Mombasa Conference ignores slums yet again
- Studies for Practical Patriotism
- Seminar Ignores Burning Issues
- New Ground
- Amnesty Report Correct but........
- Go Forth and Multiply!
- Children Speak Out
- Chief Lauds Local Youths
- Silence Challenged
- Constitution: slums Denied Copies
- Kibera Children Demand Their Rights
- Computer on wheels
- Rescue Center For Mathare
- Chief's Challenged
- World Bank to the Rescue of the Youth
Written by Doseline Kiguru Friday, 23 October 2009 11:31
School heads and parents in Huruma and Mathare slums fear a possible cholera outbreak if the current water shortage persists.
Some slum schools have had to suspend their feeding programmes while others have to contend with untreated water sold by water vendors.
This has resulted in low attendance as some of the children help their parents and guardians look for water. Others are kept away by the suspension of the school feeding programme.
Speaking to Teach, Mr. Joseph Agaziva, the Head teacher of Josama Community School, said that unless a quick solution is reached, the feared cholera outbreak would be difficult to contain.
Josama Community School is located at the heart of Huruma slums and boasts an enrolment of 330, who are taught in ten classrooms, but have only three toilets.
As a result of the current water shortage, the head teacher noted that it has become very difficult of keep the toilets clean. He dreads such unhygienic conditions.
The head teacher added that Josama is a community school, and he has to keep the pupils in school despite the difficult situation.
"Since the shortage started affecting us, we have had to charge the students each Sh10 to cater for their food and water," said Agaziva adding, "But this is not enough because a 20-litre jerry can of water costs between Sh20 and Sh3, and food is also expensive." This fee is difficult for many parents.
Though the school is funded by the government’s free primary education programme, it does not benefit from the World Food Programme’s programme.
St Martin’s
A few metres away is St. Martin’s Non-Formal School, on the brink of the filthy Nairobi River. The pupils play near the river, occasionally being forced to wade in the murky waters to retrieve their stray footballs or kites. This has resulted in many cases of diarrhoea and typhoid. But the situation could get worse if the water shortage persists.
The school’s head teacher Mr. Justus Nyongesa fears that a large-scale outbreak in the area might result in the closure of the school..
Nyongesa noted that the schools uses a 1000- litre tank, but the water is also accessed by locals since this is a community school. As a result, the water which is supplied by the Nairobi Water Company once a week, lasts only a few days. This has forced the school to look for alternatives.
The head teacher said that they are now forced to buy water from vendors in the sprawling slum. "We cannot be certain of the cleanliness of this water sold by vendors but what alternative do we have?" asks Nyongesa.
The school which enjoys the free school feeding programme enrolls 450.
Last Updated on Friday, 23 October 2009 11:43 Written by Mary Migichi Friday, 23 October 2009 11:36
The Pure in Heart movement, which has its roots in Dublin, Ireland slipped quietly into Nairobi in June, and already is bearing fruits in different parts of the city.
Some 30 Kenyan youths participated in the 3-day workshop which proved to be a life-changing experience for most of them. Chastity is their clear message. Their ideal is to learn to live and love fully, while reserving sex for the covenant of marriage. They aim to live in purity of mind, heart and body as they explore the beauty of true love and sex.
What of the prevailing culture which tolerates condoms and other contraceptives? These youths remain skeptical about such devices, having studied some of the negative side-effects which government health officials seldom discuss.
Instead the Pure in Heart youths promote natural family planning methods. For them, sexual activity is only for those who are fully ready to pronounce the solemn words I do.
The movement dates to 2004 when a few youths in Dublin, Ireland decided to put John Paul II’s message at his last World Youth Form into practice. Since then it has spread to Boston, USA and to Haiti, as well as to a few European countries, and now to Kenya.
Here in Nairobi a core group of dedicated youths meet on Sunday afternoons at Guadalupe Parish Church, and sometimes at the Daughters of Charity clinic near Catholic University. Sr Anita Hubrich guides both groups.
Ms. Agnes Andeso a member of the Guadalupe group emphasizes the positive insights she gains from her Pure in Heart peers. The same sentiments are echoed by Ms Faustin who greatly appreciates the element of mutual moral support generated by the group.
Still in its infancy, the movement is open to lay Christians, and does not take on the vowed commitments, as most religious orders do. Instead its members may opt for Annual Promises to live up to the Pure in Heart ideals. Members meet on a weekly basis for prayer and recreation.
Written by Mary Migichi
Will parents be able to keep their children at home and provide for them all their basic needs, especially food during the August holidays?
This is a question which might best be answered by the time this month comes to a close and the holidays are over! This is a time when most Kenyans are tightening their belts in anticipation of what may turn out as the harshest economic situation.
This has arisen from prolonged drought all over the country, in an economy highly dependent on agriculture. It is not expected to be easy even for the young ones in our schools.
The Kenyan government recently moved to alleviate a likely domestic crisis by initiating a holiday school feeding programme. However, it is not yet clear how this will work .
The announcement by the Minister for Education Prof. Sam Ongeri that children will continue receiving food rations during the school holidays salvaged a program that was headed to oblivion.
Fears have arisen over the future of the program due to the deteriorating food situation in the country occasioned by failed crops and drought.
Prof. Ongeri mantained that the importance of the program could not be overlooked but agreed the cost of feeding children was hitting the roof and called for donor agencies to support the program.
A crisis meeting held on 28th July, may have been brought up by the looming collapse of the school feeding program in a bid to rescue the situation.
The school feeding program in the country has been in place since 1980 and has been made possible by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).
The daily meal mixed with oil and salt, provides the children with 703.25 calories, including 13.5 grams of protein and 5 grams of fat necessary for children’s growth.
Written by Stephen Mbobu
Though without much publicity, the “One Laptop Per Child” initiative has been going on all over the world with over one million computers given to needy students.The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) idea was floated at a conference in Tunis. Well, since then, not much has been heard about it especially in Kenya.
However, a story appearing in the Daily Nation of July 9 this year triggered in me a lot of interest regarding the project.
According to the story, the One Laptop Per Child initiative had donated 16 computers to Our Lady of Mercy Primary School in South B Nairobi.
The school head teacher was very happy and was quoted by the paper saying, “God has heard our prayer. We embarked on the computer lab, but we did not know where the computers would come from.”The paper further said that the Kenyan initiative aims at the less privileged schools – not those whose parents may have a personal computer at home for their child.
Upon doing some internet search I realized that several such initiatives were also being undertaken across the country.A team of 22 Americans from Burke Presbyterian Church had previously partnered with the Imani Primary School at the Kibwezi Educational Centre, last year and supplied the school with six laptops.
They had also planned to visit the school again in July this year. They had indicated that by the time of posting that article on the net, they had already purchased four computers for the same project.They had adapted what they called the “Sugar on a Stick” (read on the “sugar on a stick” in the coloured box) method to train their team members who do not have the original hardware. By the time of going to press, Teach was not able to establish whether that visit materialized.
The OLPC idea was introduced by Nicholas Negroponte an academic and computer scientist, the co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT is one of leading universities in the world.
In November 2005, at the World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunis, Negroponte unveiled a 100 USD laptop, christened “the Children’s Machine” and designed for children in the developing world. This project is part of a broader program by OLPC, a non profit organization started by Negroponte and other Media Lab faculty members, to extend internet access in developing countries.
Another great intellectual is Prof. Calestous Juma, a Kenyan born Harvard scholar. He is a professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalisation Project at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
According to his resume posted on the internet Prof. Juma founded the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), Africa’s first independent policy research institution designed to advance research on technology in development.
In 1989, ACTS released a path-breaking study, Innovation and Sovereignty, that led to the adoption of the Industrial Property Act in Kenya and the creation of the Kenya Industrial Property Office.Prof. Juma serves in the One Laptop Per Child Foundation board, alongside other bodies which include, the Presidential National Economic and Social Council, Kenya. He volunteers as a member of the International Advisory Council of World Computer Exchange (WCE).
The OLPC association developed a low-cost laptop, known as the “XO laptop” to revolutionise how we educate the world’s children. Software for the laptop is developed by Sugar Labs.This initiative could as well usher the new generation of local computer wizards!
Kibera Benefits From organic Sack Gardens
Organic sack gardens are making their mark in Kibera where already some 1,200 households and schools employ them to feed their families, says Jane Mediva, one of the two officers 
employed by Solidaritaire, a French NGO.
Households can now grow such vegetables as spinach, onions, kale, carrots or tomatoes in whatever free space is available to them. The gunny bags are purchased for Sh 20 in the shops, and Solidaritaire supplies the seeds for free.
The NGO took up the challenge of food scarcity in Kibera in the wake of the political upheavals early last year. In operation for only six months, the project is becoming daily more popular, according to Ms Mediva. She is busy propagating the project among schools, church organisations and women’s groups in her half of Kibera.Njaa Marufuku Kenya The bag garden concept is also flourishing around Dagoretti Market. Here it derives from the Kenyan government’s Njaa Marufuku Kenya (Eradicate Hunger in Kenya) programme which got under way in 2005. The project is headed by Mrs Philomena Chege, with headquarters in Maendeleo House, Nairobi.
Korogocho Upgrading: Mixed Reactions
Residents of Korogocho and Kariobangi are ill at ease with aspects of the upgrading project recently launched jointly by the Kenyan and Italian Governments, Teach has learned. Slum dwellers express serious doubts about the Kenyan government’s offer of structures. Instead they want government to empower them to acquire their own plots, and thereafter they would build their houses. Comboni Missionary Fr John Webootsa who lives and works in the slum advises, ‘People don’t want government to impose structures on them… They want money to purchase plots and are prepared to provide houses for themselves.’ Fr Webootsa is a member of the steering committee of the Korogocho Slum 
Upgrading Programme in which he represents the Comboni Missionaries. The upgrading plans have been in the pipeline since 2004 and emerged from the Viva Nairobi Viva initiative. Residents through their community representatives have clearly prioritised their needs: allotment of lands and funds for individuals to build and own their houses, viable road and drainage systems, schools and clinics, and an overhaul of local government structures. In response, government started holding consultative meetings with locals and put in place a resident committee of 48 leaders, with an executive of 14 members. The steering committee that emerged includes the ministries of Local Government, Finance, Housing, and Lands, as well as representatives of Nairobi City Council, UN Habitat, the Italian Corporation, and the Comboni Missionaries.
Hundreds of meetings
Suspicions about imposed government structures run deep among slum residents across Nairobi, and not only Korogocho. ‘People see what happened in housing
schemes such as those of Mathare and Kibera,’ says Mr Abdi Mohammed, a local community consultant. ‘So naturally there’s a lot of distrust about new structures that appear to be imposed. What we want is a more participatory approach if we’re to achieve a win-win situation,’ he argues. Fr Webootsa also complains about ‘the hundreds of committee meetings’ which cost time and money. However, Mr Michael Nzuli, caretaker at Holy Trinity Church, is less critical. ‘This is a development that will change the ugly face of Korogocho forever. It will bring new infrastructure, houses and especially better security,’ he says. Another question arises about the exact whereabouts of the Sh 210 Million committed by the Italian government to the first phase of the project.
The Korogocho Slum Upgrading Programme is financed by the Kenya-Italy debt for development initiative. The entire upgrading project is scheduled for completion ten years from now. The Kenyan government is committing Sh 4.4 Billion to the joint effort. Korogocho is but one of the Kenyan beneficiaries. But already specific tasks such as numbering of houses, meant for completion in May, has been billed for August. Among the government guests at the recent launch were Deputy PM Musalia Mudavidi, and Nairobi Metropolitan Assistant Minister, MP Elizabeth Ongoro.
Millennioum Goals
Appealing for community support, Mudavidi said the upgrading project would give slum residents proper title deeds. It would also improve their lives physically, socially and economically. Speaking at the same function, the Italian Ambassador, Mr Pierandrea Magistrati, said his government wanted not just to build houses, but to advance the dignity of the residents of Korogocho. In helping to provide infrastructure, basic health facilities and education, the upgrading project also contributes to the implementation of Kenya’s overall Millennium Goals.
Local MP, Elizabeth Ongoro warned that strict measures would be enforced to prevent the wrong people from taking advantage of the new houses, which are meant exclusively for Korogocho residents. Mudavidi also said the government is still considering how best to handle the infamous Dandora dumpsite which has been the object of local and international concern in recent years. In the meantime it continues to poison the air and cause numerous illnesses, some chronic, to local children.
Login Form
Online
Children Stories
