Momentum marks 2010 start of CoKF projects

Dear Friends and Fans of Children of Kibera --
Just wanted to send you a quick greeting and share the message that CoKF is on a roll as we begin 2010. We have seen great momentum on all our projects this month-- Red Rose School, High School Scholars Program, CoKF offices on the ground for better service to all. We are delighted to share a slide show with beautiful photos from last week of our different projects. Please take a look, as they say, a picture is worth more than a thousand words.



We have opened up a new Red Rose Middle School that now houses classes five and six, eliminating some of the congestion at the Red Rose lower school. The site will need four new toilets and three new classrooms to eventually accommodate all of the Red Rose Middle School from class four to class eight.

CoKF's coordinator Jeff and our current interns Jos and Jackie will begin working also in the new CoKF office that's located at the Red Rose Middle School. We have never had an office before, but the growth of our programs and increased demand for our services made it necessary to finally open up an accessible and friendly office in the heart of Kibera.

We have selected eight new amazing young leaders who excelled in KCPE, partnering with them on their journeys to quality boarding schools, and on to university. These scholars have shown true leadership, and we are honored to invest in their continued success through the full scholarships we offer each year. More than 300 candidates made inquiries into the scholarships. Our team on the ground made home visits to about 50 homes, and we selected the eight scholars from a group of ten finalists. It was a very rigorous competition and selection process.

We deeply thank all our supporters for making these programs possible through their generosity and our CoKF Board of Directors for their leadership and dedication to the foundation's mission. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support the work we are doing for children in Kibera, please visit http://www.childrenofkibera.org

Sincerely,
Ken Okoth
Founder, Children of Kibera Foundation.

High school students back to their schools for 10th grade and 11th grade

The first term of the new year started last week. A two day strike of all matatus in Nairobi left the city virtually in a standstill last Monday and Tuesday when students started to return to school, but I found a way to get our high school students back to their schools for 10th grade and 11th grade.
The students are upbeat and could not wait to be back in school in time for the opening continuous assessment tests (CATs). They enjoyed their December holidays and learnt a lot from the two weeks of life-skills camp led by our current CoKF interns Jos and Jackie. A BIG thank you to all our friends around the world who are supporting and helping these students stay in school.

Passing of the Computer Lab Torch

On Saturday October 24th, Children of Kibera participated in the reception ceremony of Kibra Academy's new computer lab. The computer lab was established thanks to the generous donations of lap tops from Children of Kibera and desktops from Kensington Cares. The ceremony began around 11am and was attended by Children of Kibera's Project Coordinator Jeff Ochieng, former computer teacher, Tamara, and Joscelyn and myself (Jackie). Kensington Cares was represented by Andrew, his wife, Ruth, and three children, who coordinated the donations and set up of the lab. Additionally, Kibra students and parents, the teaching staff, and the school board members were present as well, and had prepared a generous ceremony thanking CoKF and Kensington Cares. The students worked all week to prepare entertainment for Saturday's guests, which included a short skit describing the importance of computer training the technological advancement of Kenyan society, a traditional Nubian dance, and traditional Luo dance. Jeff, Andrew, Ruth, and Kibra teaching staff all delivered short speeches emphasizing the importance of computer access and training for the students and the local community.

They also encouraged the students to take advantage of this opportunity to join the "information highway" to embellish their school work and education and to take good care of their new gift. The ceremony was followed by a student PowerPoint presentation on agricultural issues in third world countries in the computer lab, and a round of chai and mandaazi for the guests. Students were also involved in recording the event and demonstrated impressive camera skills in their video and photo documentation.

Kibra students and teachers were excited and grateful to receive this brand new lab, and even more excited to have the opportunity to improve their skills and knowledge of computers.
Computer skills are a valuable asset to any students' resume and to access to greater opportunities in the working world. Saturday's guests strongly encouraged the students to take full advantage of this unique access to computers, epecially since it will allow them so many more chances to advance and grow. As Andrew from Kensington Cares puts it: each student is a seed, and especially with the cultivation of knowledge and skills training will each students' seed be able to grow and flower. He kindly shared the story of his own start to success, which started with one small seed of an idea and surely inspired the students' own desire to follow their dreams.

Already, a volunteer named Ken has signed on to teach the students how to do digital and video editing! Now that the lab has officially been passed over to Kibra, the students and the teachers are left to take advantage of this amazing gift. They will continue their computer classes and take good care of their new equipment.

CoKF Interns Teach Life Skills at Kibra Academy

After spending just one month in Kibera, Jackie and I are ecstatic to have become CoKF's new interns. Upon visiting the organization when we arrived in late September, we were instantly impressed by CoKF's staff and connections to Red Rose and Kibra Academy. As recently graduated social work students from New York University, we felt we could utilize our skills working with the students at both schools. Fortunately, Kibra Academy and Red Rose Primary School immediately welcomed us as Life Skills teachers. We began teaching three weeks ago, using the standard syllabus but adding a flavor of our own. The students at Kibra Academy had already begun Life Skills courses, and we were excited to hear about the ideas that the students and teachers had already established for these classes. The staff at Kibra recognized that their students are experiencing the challenges of the average teenager, in addition to the challenges of living in Kibera. They also reconized the benefits for the students to have an outsider, not a teacher, with whom to facilitate the discussions and establish a form of trust. Jackie and I strongly believe in leading class with open discussions, confidentiality, respect, and honest questions, answers, and opinions. So far, we've covered self-awareness, self-esteem, and are approaching lessions on coping with emotions and stress.

The students completed their first project, which incorporated art with self-awareness. Each student was given a traced image of a human body and collage/art materials and instructed to fill in different parts of the body with cut outs, drawings, or words.

These images served to depict their dreams and motivations, people who are important figures in their lives, where they feel they come from, and their strengths and weaknesses. In covering self-esteem, we asked students to prepare a short skit informing us of ways in which self-esteem is raised or lowered. In between lessons, we have allowed free debates and discussions; so far, we've covered male and female gender roles and inequalities that still exist in an otherwise rapidly modernizing country.

We have been so impressed with the students thus far, as they have to much to articulate about the world they're experiencing. As most of you probably know, Kibera was the epicenter of political tension during the post election violence in the 2007, and our students witnessed the traumatic events first hand. Part of our purpose here is to provide them with a safe space to talk and debate about local and national issues, and to express their feelings about their community and ways to address these problems. Tribal tension, disease, lack of government support and services, hunger and poverty, and indecent education are are all the forefront of our students' minds, and we're excited to continue exploring their views.