Here is a short list of some of the projects that KIOMM has been involved in. |
- Elshadai Limuru
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Kiomm Kenya members visited with the Children of Elshadai home in Limuru
These children are former street children in Limuru as well as orphaned children who have been left behind by their parents mainly due to the HIV/Aids Pandemic.
The mission behind the visit was just to spend a day with them, cheer them up, eat with them, listen to them, play with them and gives them gifts (school supplies, toys, clothes etc.)
The experience was so gratifying, playing and dancing with the children, the effort made to see these children smile; forgetting the misery that has befallen them. Affirming to them that there is hope in the midst of what they have gone through. Assuring them, they are not alone in this but there is someone who will walk through with them.
One of the Kiomm members said, spending time with them and listening to their conversation, she found out these children had big dreams and hopes buried in their little hearts, but the question is are they achievable? She found out among these children, there were potential business men, engineers, politicians etc.
What can one do to make these dreams a reality? That is the question we need to ask ourselves.
At the end of the day, they celebrated with a lot of dancing, food and drinks.
It was a day well spent.
Thanks to Kiomm Kenya Chapter. - Mukuru Village
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Mukuru Village Slums Nairobi
Mukuru slum is situated about 10km outside Nairobi, Kenya, and the conditions there are deplorable and inhuman.
Mukuru slum is approximately 35 years old. It comprises 20 villages just outside Nairobi with a population of over 600,000. Families live in corrugated iron shacks measuring 10' X 10'. Large families are crammed into this tiny space to survive. The people are landless. Some were pushed from their rural homes by tribal and land clashes. Others are refugees and many know no other life.
We visited a school in Mukuru slums which houses orphans and street children. The “school’ is a small place with two rooms each housing three classes. The members drove there and at one point had to abandon their vehicles since the roads were unbearable and came to an end.
The school is run by volunteers and the majority of the students are orphans and children of widows. The school is situated next to the Nairobi River. Actually it is more of sewage than a river. The school is made up of corrugated iron sheets walls. Some of the sheets are missing providing some “widow” in the dark classes. The benches (forms) are small and pretty low. There are no desks. The children learn three classes in the same small room. Often children suffer from health problems that are attributed to the condition of the classrooms. The makeshift structures are congested. Whenever it rains, learning materials get wet and blown away by the wind. The children wear different colors of uniform depending on where they came from and some none at all.
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Although primary education is free in Kenya, these children have not been able to walk to the nearest public school, and they cannot afford the uniforms. One important reason that makes some children go to this school is the lunch program which was initiated by volunteers. Orphans and children from very poor families go without food at home. Coming to a school that has a lunch program ensures they at least eat one meal a day.
Amidst their misery, the children could afford a smile. They sang for us and recited a poem about how it is not their fault that they are orphans. It was very moving.
We donated toys and clothes to the school to be distributed to the children according to the needs. The toys would be used by the children during break time. The play ground is so small and extremely dangerous. During heavy rains the “playground” is swallowed by the river. The children’s walk to school is bridge made up of a sewage pipe.
The children were very happy to receive the donations and they requested that we provide desks and uniform for them. Their teachers are volunteers and the lunch program is an incentive for the children to keep coming to school.
Apparently the government is aware of the existence of this school. The children and the community need it. When you look at the children, they are healthy and happy looking. Thanks to the volunteers who have provided the lunch program - Tom Mboya Centre
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Tom Mboya Resource and Youth Center, Mbita
The Center trains women, especially young women on IT. They have about ten computers and 100 students who come in at various intervals during the day. One computer is shared by about five students at any one time. Students who are full time come to class three hours a day, five days a week. Part-time students come to class two hours a day, three days a week. The women are mainly school drop outs who have children (you could call them victims of teenage pregnancies). The majority have children. Those without children have been forced out of school either due to poverty, death of parents or just the lack of interest in giving higher education to girls in this part of the world.
Jane who is a member of Kiomm visited this centre in Mbita on behalf of Kiomm and met with Dan Otendo who is the coordinator of the centre.
The reason for visiting this centre was to officially hand over the text books that were donated by KIOMM earlier in the year. The books had been laid out on the shelves and they were already being accessed by students. Jane was informed that there were plans to hire a librarian who will formulate a program for lending books to other members of the community especially school children in primary school.
One positive thing about the centre is that it caters for young mothers. They have a day care centre where children can sit and play while their mothers attend the computer classes. Kiomm was able to donate toys to this day care to keep the children busy. Kiomm had a lot of Computer books and story books that had been shipped from USA and Canada that were donated to the center. The administrators and students at the centre were very grateful. During another visit to Mbita, Jane found students using the donated books while waiting for their turn to use the computers. She also found children reading the story books. We are glad that we did what we could for this communityTraining
During Jane's many trips, she was able to train women on something that would really benefit them. She trained over 100 women on HIV
AIDS and on Income Generating Activities (IGAs).During a later visit, She found that one of the women that had been trained had
started a salon and was selling shampoo which she had been trained how to make.The center also implemented one of its projects of providing seed money for entrepreneurship to the young women. The women had not applied for the funds because they did not yet have business proposals. But after learning some IGAs they were now able to put in some
proposals.
How do you break the cycle of poverty? By empowering people to use their God given Talents to generate income.
Kiomm appreciates all who donated books, toys and their time. Thanks to Jane Odongo for her expertise..
- Kraft Primary School
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Dr Kraft Primary School, Eastlands Nairobi
One of our major short term projects last year was to provide school supplies to school children in different areas. This went very well at the Dr. Kraft Primary in Eastland's, Nairobi. You may wonder why we are doing this. Primary Education is free in Kenya, but parents have to provide school supplies and school uniforms to these children which sometimes they cannot afford it. You may think it is not a big deal, but some children have not been able to go to school because of lack of these things. By providing school supplies, we alleviate some burden from these parents, and also make it possible for the children to go to school.
Three members of Kiomm visited the school to do the presentation of the school supplies. As they got to the school they were welcome by the head teacher, the deputy head teacher and the school PTA chairman. They met in the school office and had a good discussion with them regarding who we were and what our mission was. We were able to present the school supplies to the lower classes of kindergarten, standard one, two, and three. Soon it was break time and the presentation of the school supplies became a huge ceremony. The whole school gathered at the assembly grounds. Kiomm Members Motivated and encouraged the students. Apparently two Kiomm members went to the same school and they are doing very well for themselves and the society which was a very good example to the children. That was a motivating factor for these children that successful and responsible people can come from such a school. The children were eagerly waiting to hear and receive from these visitors (Kiomm). Jane who is Kiomms representative in Canada was called upon to say something. She told them how some Kenyans in the USA and Canada think about Kenya a lot and that is how they coined the name KIOMM. These people decided to do something about Kenya being on their mind. They decided to give back to the community and be a blessing to the less fortunate people in Kenya. Dr. Kraft Primary School was chosen at random to receive the school supplies. Dr. Dan Shikanda, a national footballer and a doctor is actually a product of this school. She asked the children whether they wanted to become Doctors, Lecturers, Lawyers etc. Then she assured them that it was possible since Dr. Dan Shikanda and many more are a living proof that Dr. Kraft Primary school produces doctors, lawyers etc. In short the School Supplies went to about 300 Students. The package consisted of the exercise books, rulers, pencil sharpeners, erasers, crayons, makers, pencils etc. all donated from our fellow Kenyans and friends abroad. The whole process was very fulfilling to us. The teachers were amazed at what we had done. They informed us that they had no idea what they were expecting from us but they were pleasantly surprised.
We appreciation goes to all that made this project possible