Scholars Picnic & Roast Goat to Celebrate Holidays

To wrap up the December term break, CoKF staff took 19 high school scholars to Olepolos Resort for an all day picnic. Olepolos, located in Kajiado overlooking the Ngong Hills, is known for its ideal location and nyama choma, or roasted goat. CoKF ordered an entire goat to be slaughtered and roasted for the group. While the food was being prepared, the kids played football, explored the grounds, and socialized with each other. The group participated in games and activities, like egg tosses and bobbing for candies. Staff members organized get-to-know-you games to encourage group bonding and solidarity. At 2pm, the meat was served and students feasted on every part of the goat. Needless to say, we didn't have leftovers. To wrap up the day, the group stood in a circle and offered praises and encouragements to each other. We couldn't have asked for better weather, better meat, or a better group of students. Happy Holidays!

CoKF Girls Celebrate the Holidays with Mentors

The Children of Kibera Foundation's high school scholar ladies met their mentors on December 8th to kick off the holiday season. The two groups reunited at Prestige Plaza's upstairs cafeteria after three months of separation. Students shared stories and experiences of their last term in school. Mentors listened and offered advice. In the end, mentors presented their mentees with bags of holiday gifts for each girl and her family. We look forward to our next encounter with our mentors, who represent an image of female empowerment and success. We thank them for spreading holiday joy and cheer to our young CoKF ladies!

A Well Deserved Break after Exams

After a long few days of exams, students took a well-deserve break this past Friday. They worked very hard for several days on exams, which the teachers have said they performed very well. The students took the opportunity to do some reading in the library, do word-search puzzles, and play board games. We are all looking forward to the graduation this week, where students will be graduating onto the next class!

Students say "Goodbye" to Teacher Brendan

The Students were sad to see one of the interns leave this past week. They each crafted cards, letters and even necklaces to show Brendan how much they appreciated her time here in Kibera. The students of CoKF were lucky enough to have Brendan as she took a semester off from Georgetown University.

Brendan will be missed at CoKF and we wish her all the best in her studies and beyond!

Girls Club Learns to Bake

This Sunday, the LitWorld/Red Rose Girls Club welcomed Ann, mother to two members, to teach the group how to bake without using an oven. How? might you ask... It's quite simple. You mix your ingredients and pour them into the tin. You then place the tin in a tray of sand over a charcoal "jiko", which looks like a small grill. Then, you cover the tin with a metal sheet or tray and place a few lit bits of charcoal on top. The cake is now heated from all sides and can cook just as it would in a normal oven. Don't be afraid to try this at home!

We also introduced the girls to yoga, courtesy of Africa Yoga Project's Krissy and Emily. The girls giggled their way through the basic poses, trying not to lose balance or shove their foot into someone else's face. Soon enough, they'll be experts. Take a look:

Thank you to our special guests for taking time to introduce theirs special skills to the girls. We appreciate it!

Football Madness

The Red Rose Football Club is coming together very fast. The boys practice now twice weekly with Coach Aswani. As they're preparing to play other teams, you can really see which students are emerging soccer stars. The girls, despite being without uniforms, are also preparing and practicing as a team. Their new coach, Kristina, has already noted who is showing great potential. We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of donated uniforms/shoes to arrive in December, thanks to Washington DC/MD/VA Stoddert Soccer families.

Students Prepare for Exams

This past week, the students were reviewing diligently for their exams. Teachers spent the week assigning review lessons in various subjects such as English, Kiswahili, Social Studies and Math. The examinations, for classes 1 through 6, begin on Tuesday of this week. The students are expected to perform well in hopes of passing onto the next class.

Last week also saw a successful football practice on Friday for both boys and girls. The boys brought out their usual enthusiasm, and the girls matched the energy on the field this week. With the promise of receiving uniforms soon, the girls brought out extra determination to improve their football skills. The girls reached the expectations of their coaches Brendan and Kristina, as several rising stars stood out and show real potential. While it began to rain half way through the practice, the students refused to surrender and wanted to continue the scrimmage, making a successful P.E. class.

The usual group of girls also gathered for Girls Club on Sunday. The girls welcomed Ann, a mother of two young ladies of Girls Club. Ann taught the girls how to bake. They prepared the cake mix, following the recipe that was given. They were then shown how to bake the cake using a traditional "Jiko". The girls also welcomed two Yoga instructors from the Africa Yoga Project, Emily and Krissy. While they waited for the cakes to bake, the girls were taught Yoga, which they enjoyed very much. They were told that the skills they learn from yoga can help them with relaxing and concentration, hopefully something that they case use for their exams this week!

New Intern at CoKF

Hi! My name is Kristina Blundon. I’m coming to Children of Kibera Foundation from an independent study component of St. Lawrence University’s Kenya Semester Program. I’m currently a senior at St. Lawrence, originally from Montreal, Canada. At St. Lawrence, I am majoring in sociology and global studies, with a minor in education. I’m hoping to work in the field of international education after graduation in May.

During the last month of the KSP program, the students participating on St. Lawrence’s program have the opportunity to work with an organization or take on a project of their choice. I found out about CoKF after spending an afternoon here and at the Red Rose School earlier in the semester. I had such a great experience, even for a day, and fell in love with the idea of spending four weeks with the kids here. At the last minute, I changed my independent study, which was originally going to be on the coast of Kenya, and decided to work with CoKF and Red Rose.

I will be working on a variety of different projects during my time at CoKF. While there is a boys’ football team, I’m hoping to get the girls team started. I’ll be working in the classrooms, helping with the girls club, and keeping this blog updated with the latest developments here at CoKF, among other projects. I am very excited about the month ahead!

Office Space

Children of Kibera Foundation steady growth can be measured by the demand for more space. This week that demand was met with the completion of the Children of Kibera office. The new space allows for a more productive atmosphere for all interns and local staff.

Thanks to all of our supporters for making this office possible. In the new space, almost 400 class eights have filled out applications for the 2011 high school schoarships.

Red Rose students continue to appreciate the new library, with The Magic Tree House series being in hot demand this week.

Red Rose Joins Rope Skipping

Two volunteers from Carolina for Kibera, http://www.cfk.unc.edu/, are now coaching the Red Rose upperclassmen in rope skipping. The two young men, Innocent and David, are nationally-ranked rope skippers who have competed all over Kenya. They are volunteering a few hours every Friday afternoon to teach our students all sorts of rope skipping "tricks". Take a look at what they've learned so far:

Feeding Minds, Building Futures

The Children of Kibera Foundation 2010 Gala is officially on!

Read the invitation below, and if you're in Nairobi on the 11th of December and interested in attending, please RSVP to the listed email address/phone number.

Dear Friends of Children of Kibera Foundation,

Thank you for showing an interest in our organization. In order to learn more about the foundation, we cordially invite you to attend our fundraising dinner, "Feeding Minds, Building Futures", on 11 December 2010 at the Panafric Hotel's Simba Room.

Starting at 6:00 PM, students and professionals alike will be sharing their success stories and how they have managed to overcome the obstacles they faced growing up in Kibera. You will learn more about our projects and hear from our high school scholars who have pushed themselves to be top students at their schools. You will also hear from our founder, Ken Okoth, about how his personal experiences have helped to shape the mission of this organization.

The keynote speaker, Jennifer Asego, originally from Kibera, now works for the World Bank in Juba, Southern Sudan. Jennifer is passionate about the plight of marginalized youth and children in the society. She has led successful awareness campaigns on societal issues affecting children and women in Kibera.

Tickets are on sale for 3,000Ksh each. You can also reserve an entire table for 30,000Ksh (10 people). Each ticket covers entrance, a full buffet dinner and dessert, and a live music performance.

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Children of Kibera Foundation at childrenofkiberafoundation@gmail.com or by phone at +254 710 174 521 by December 1st, 2010. Payments must be made in cash at our office or we can send a representative to collect the money from you.

We are really looking forward to seeing you in December!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Children of Kibera Foundation

Street Children

Street Children
by Sharon Khatondi

They sleep in the streets
with nothing to eat.
They beg for money
to fill their tummy.
With the money they buy glue
and sniff it till their nose turns blue.
Reach out a helping hand to the street children.

They search in the bin
from bottle to tin.
But some use their head
and with that money they buy bread
Reach out a helping hand to the street children.

Making New (Pen) Pals!

The Red Rose middle school students are now engaged in a pen pal exchange with the Hickman Charter School outside San Francisco, CA and PS 86 in Kingsbridge Heights, Bronx. The students are eager to learn about student life in the US, and our American friends seem equally as eager to exchange information with the Red Rose kids. There are vast differences between primary school life in the states and here in Kenya, and we're excited to see the kids gain valuable information about their brothers and sisters abroad.

Inspirational Library

Thanks to former CoKF intern, Jacqueline Espana, we now have a small but blossoming "Inspirational Library" dedicated to the high school scholars. We've collected books like Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, Infidel, Mountains Beyond Mountains, and 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa to challenge our students and keep them engaged in real-world stories and issues during their school breaks. The stories that these books tell are incredibly important for all of us, but especially for young people, who are still forming ideas of how they'd like to make change in the world.

If you have any books lying around and you feel they'd be a valuable addition to our small collection, feel free to contact Joscelyn (jostruitt@gmail.com) and we'll figure out a way for you to get your books over here.

700 Books

Last week the 700th book was checked into the new Red Rose middle school campus library. Over the past two months, books have been collected, donated, organized, and then shelved to provide class 4, 5, and 6 their own collection of stories.

Ranging from textbooks to novels, from magazines to children's books, the library covers a wide range of topics. Although at first the most popular were short stories like Berenstain Bears, the students have been encouraged to challenge their minds and pick up chapter books, with the most popular being the Magic Tree House series and The Chronicles of Narnia.

With the new library comes a new vocabulary. During library orientation, students are introduced to words like 'autobiography', 'fiction', and 'reference' for the first time. Students are also taught how to properly treat a book, and are informed about the 'check out' process. Many students have also taken to picking up a book and reading during their breaks- yet another sign of the Red Rose students' desire for learning.

Thanks to all of our friends who helped make this a library, especially Hadley and Lillian Pierce!

Music Festival Success!

For the past year, the Children of Kibera Foundation has been hard at work planning the second annual Kibera Music Festival that took place this past Friday and Saturday. With thirteen secondary schools participating, ten local organizations tabling, over 300 in attendance on Friday and 500 on Saturday, the festival was deemed a success.

The music festival was the last chapter of the End the Violence against Children at Home and at School campaign. Secondary schools were invited to perform acts related to the festival's theme in four different categories: Drama, Song and Dance, Solo Verse and Choral Verse. All thirteen schools participating were rewarded with donated books and vouchers, as well as certificates of participation. Winners in each category were also given additional vouchers and trophies.Besides the students, many local artists and organizations came out to preform, including the Kibera Preforming Arts, JackyZebraz and the Conquerors. Even a group of Red Rose students preformed a traditional dance and a choreography to 'Waka Waka'. Groups were also invited to pass out information about their organizations. Carolina for Kibera, another NGO, conducted HIV testing for free!
All entries to the poster contest held in August were hung up, adding an art portion to the festival.

CoKF Football League Suits Up!

Children of Kibera Foundation is proud to introduce its new football (soccer) league! A few months ago, CoKF supporter from Washington D.C., Cindy Truitt, collected a team's worth of soccer clothes and gear, generously donated from parents of her son's Maryland travel team. Just recently, CoKF came across Mr. Aswani, local athlete, who volunteered to coach the kids every Friday during lunch. As of now, CoKF's soon-to-be-named team is merely practicing and scrimmaging, but once they have a bit more time to coagulate, we look forward to watching them win matches against other schools. The kids are thrilled to be able to participate in the world's most popular sport once a week- especially in their shiny uniforms and shoes. A huge thanks to the Washington D.C. families who kindly donated their things-- we're sure we have future Manchester United the making!

CoKF student takes a shot at goal

Our new team, posing proudly with Coach Aswani

CoKF Intern Sends Love Through Quilt

In June and July, Children of Kibera Foundation and LitWorld's Girls' Club learned how to knit. After starting with basic stitching techniques, the girls graduated to knitting multiple colors together and creating their own shapes. This series of lessons, introduced by CoKF intern Jackie Espana, affected the girls so much that they are now ready to begin making clothes with their new skills. After their initial efforts, the girls received a remarkable gift last month- a handmade quilt compilation of all of their first pieces, made my Jackie. Although Jackie had to return to the US, she worked tirelessly to put together a quilt for the girls- a reminder of the wonderful Sundays spent together in Girls' Club. The girls were ecstatic! They asked that their new quilt be hung in the CoKF office, for all visitors to see. It now hangs in the main office, a beautiful reminder of Girls' Club and the importance of spending time together. So, from all of us: Thank you Jackie!

New Uniforms, Opening Ceremony & Radio Show

Last week was extremely productive, starting with the handing out of new uniforms to our 50 sponsored Red Rose students, thanks to a generous donation.


The children were ecstatic to be given the clothes. Many were previously donning well worn out sweaters with holes in the elbows. But with the donations, everyone was looking ‘smart’- a British-adopted slang word meaning looking well put together.

The students say “Thank you!”

The week continued with opening ceremonies of the new classrooms on Thursday. Parents, teachers, friends, and staff enjoyed performances by every class- a wonderful collection of songs that were obviously well rehearsed. The show ended with a traditional dance done by classes four, five, and six. Speeches were also given by the headmaster on behalf of the school, by Ken and Drew on behalf of CoKF, and by the guest of honor, George Letene, the Municipal Minister of Education.

Parents and other guests were given a tour of the new classrooms provided and built by the Potomac School this past July. Students were eager to show off their new rooms. They were also shown the new library/computer room, where shelves are already filling quickly with books.

We finished the week with a special appearance on Pamoja FM’s radio show, hosted by Ali, a good friend of CoKF. Ken, Jeff, Drew and Brendan were given the opportunity to talk up our upcoming music festival, as well as other CoKF projects. Ali graciously agreed to cover the entirety of the music festival live from the event on October 1st and 2nd.