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OFA: Kenya

Kenya

K enya is a low-income country where roughly 79% of the population live in rural areas and rely primarily on agriculture for its livelihood. Almost half of the country's 40 million people are poor and unable to meet their daily nutritional requirements. There are over 2.5 million orphans living in Kenya. Despite improvements in conditions since the early 1980s, the poverty rate has remained steady at approximately 48%. This persistent poverty has many contributing factors: Kenya has one of the world's fastest growing populations, putting pressure on the country's resources; environmental degradation including poor water management, soil erosion and climate change have decreased agricultural yields over the past decades; and frequent drought conditions threaten progress in economic, health, and environmental sectors.

Since independence in 1963, diverse tribal groups are a source of considerable conflict within Kenya, as they compete for land, financial resources and political power.

Kenya has a severe, generalized HIV epidemic. Despite a decline in HIV prevalence in recent years, there are still 1.6 million young and middle-aged Kenyans living with the disease. There are more than a million orphans in Kenya as a direct result of this disease.

OFA has two partners in Kenya: Young People of Purpose Community Centre, situated in the heart of the Kibera Slums and Christian Outreach for Community Empowerment and Development.

Young People of Purpose Community Centre (YPPCC)

Class at the Kibera Tailoring & Dressmaking Institute Y oung People of Purpose Community Centre is run by Josiah and Judith Sellanga, who opened their home to orphans in 1998 after the death of many of their close relatives through HIV/AIDS, TB, typhoid and malaria. At present, YPPCC is caring for 151 orphans (6 in the sewing school; 5 in the city; 140 in the countryside). Josiah and Judith's dream is to build an orphanage where quality education can be given to orphans otherwise denied a chance to learn. At the moment, finding the money to pay for school fees can sometimes be difficult. YPPCC hopes to train the orphans' guardians, who are often widows, with business skills to empower them and give them the ability to take care of more orphans in the community.
Directors of YPPCC: Josiah and Judith Sellanga In January 2006 the Sellanga's set up a sewing school in the Kibera slums – the largest slums on the African continent. They now have six students and last year submitted a business plan to Orphanages for Africa for assistance. OFA is providing funding through our Small Business Grants Program to this venture, creating opportunities for orphaned girls and boys to have a brighter future. The school currently has four sewing machines and one overlock machine. They need another fourteen sewing machines and are also hoping to expand into another classroom, which will also require another teacher.

Learning new skills in sewing and tailoring provides these young people with a chance to make something of their lives and become self-reliant, escaping the cycle of poverty. In 2007, seven of the students sat for Government Trade Tests and two former students are now employed in a Textile Factory.

Josiah and Judith's Preschool Education Centre in Bondo

I n February 2013, the Preschool Education Centre in Bondo became operational. The house, owned by Josiah's late mother, was renovated using donated funds. The school opened with 8 children but this number quickly rose to the current 42 children that attend the preschool. Approximately half of the children are orphans, live in poor homes and eat food with little nutritional value impacting the most important stages of a child's development.

The school operates with two teachers; one paid and one who teaches on a volunteer basis. When their guardians are able, the children pay 100 KES per month to help pay for the teacher's salary of 3000 KES. The children, whose ages range from one-and-a-half years to seven years, attend the preschool between the hours of 8:00 am to 12:30 pm. Lack of funding prevents the school from operating outside of these hours.

Christian Outreach for Community Empowerment and Development (COCED)

Pastor John on Maize Plot June 2013 T he Christian Outreach for Community Empowerment and Development was created by Rev. John Okumu Masinde after sympathizing for many years with the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in his community. COCED's mission is "improving people's moral and living standards through teaching God's Word, economic empowerment and social advocacy". The ministry's vision is "to develop a community (where) people's (lives are) transformed by the Gospel and empowered economically and socially".

COCED currently cares for 50 orphans, all of whom live at home with a guardian or grandparent. The ministry provides care through various activities such as home visits, praying for and with the children, and counseling and providing encouragment to the guardians.

Pastor John with orphans on bible-giving day Regular social gatherings are held during holidays when the children are not in school. This gives the orphans an opportunity to meet, socialize, interact and learn from one another. On a recent outreach gathering this past August 2013, a bible study was held as the orphans were given a copy of The Gospel of John. They were also given food (flour, greens and fish), blankets, pens and soap during this time.

COCED is participating in OFA's micro-enterprise program with both cabbage - a very successful crop last year (2012) and maize farming (2013).

Sources:

In Brief:

  • 45% of Kenyans live in extreme poverty. The average yearly income is $840 US.
  • Kenya is home to 43 million people with an average life expectancy of 55 years.
  • 1.6 million Kenyans are living with HIV.
  • There are 2.6 million orphaned children between the ages of 0-17; 1.1 million as a result of HIV.

Sources:
  • The World Bank: www.worldbank.org
  • Wikipedia: www.en.wikipedia.org
  • UNAIDS: www.unaids.org
  • Unicef-Childinfo: www.childinfo.org
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