GRAPESYARD ORGANIZATION.. A leap into a Child’s world in Korogocho slums, Nairobi county,

Country Kenya

Advancing Children rights for community transformation in Korogocho slums and

other informal settlements in Kenya.

By Mr. Edmond Opondo OlooExecutive Director, Grapesyard OrganizationP. O. Box 2395 – 0010 GPO, Nairobi, Kenya.

Tel. +254 723 641887info@grapesyardkenya.org/Director@grapesyardkenya.org

programmes@grapesyardkenya.org/Email:grapesyard2002@yahoo.com

Formed in 1999, Grapesyard is a legal Kenyan NGO working to socially and economically transform communities through orphans and vulnerable children(OVC) care & education support and Women empowerment. It’s head office is in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city. Kenya is in Africa, on the eastern side. The organization is run by board of Directors. The Executive Director implements the activities helped by three full time program managers and an Accountant. The accounting system is fully computerized with annual independent audits and activity reports produced promptly. Grapesyard reach 1,000 children daily with its core activities: Community School, Child sponsorship, School based feeding, Children home, Women economic empowerment and home and Community based care(HCBC).

About Grapesyard Organization

An aerial view of Korogocho slums, Grapesyard runs 4 activities here: OVC education, food & nutrition,

child sponsorship and women empowerment.

WHERE WE ARE IN AFRICA AND KENYA

Grapesyard nursery schoolGrapesyard Primary school section

RATIONALE.... COMBATING INTER GENERATIONAL POVERTY

Life in Korogocho slums is that of run away poverty. A family unit of 8 to 10 people live on less than US$ 1 a day. The inhabitants live in un planned sharks made of recycled iron sheets and mud. There are no functioning sewerage system. Piped water is there but only managed by commercial water vendors for sale for at sh20 per 20lts jerrican. Korogocho has only one Government School to serve over 10,000 children. There is no Government health facility for the entire area.

Hunger at home drove these girls into the garbage cite for discarded food and metal and plastics to sell to

recyclers.

Majority of men are unemployed, but depend on casual work which is never consistent. Women engage in selling vegetables, discarded fish parts, second hand clothes etc by the road side.

Poverty drove men into substance abuse, abdicating their family responsibilities to women. Under pressure, women have resorted to illicit and casual sex in return for cash to supplement their income to provide for their children. This gave rise to HIV/AIDS complications with many HIV/AIDS related deaths.

A new survey by National Aids and STI Control Programme (NASCOP) reveals that commercial workers in Korogocho now ignore protection during sexual intercourse for men willing to pay higher fee and later seek HIV/AIDS prophylaxis treatment claiming they were raped. This will have far reaching effects on the fight against HIV/AIDS.

a) Many women and men are bed ridden with symptoms of HIV/AIDS related infections leading to deaths.

b)Children are left orphans to fend for themselves and their siblings(child headed families are common).

c)Children do not develop in to confident and independent adults able to take charge of their lives leading to inter generational poverty among the communities, a vicious poverty cycle.

d)Continued marginalization of the vulnerable groups.

The outcome:

Our intervention approaches.....

1. Grapesyard School, a Community education center for the poor: Every morning children drop in the centre for primary education and leave in the evening. There are 800 children enrolled.

Children take a break outside the hot iron sheet class rooms during the day.

Lack of play ground and play facilities force kids to use every little space available, and use any thing to fulfill what makes them children.

2. Child Sponsorship: Vulnerable Boys and girls are absorbed into primary & secondary education sponsorship programme for education and mentorship. The organization meets their school fees, uniforms and food to keep the children in school..

Primary education sponsorship cost US$225 per annum. It supports 200 children currently.

Secondary school education sponsorship cost US$800 per annum. It devefits 100 children.

Our Intervention approaches …..

Some of the children in sponsorship write letters to their sponsors in Grapesyard school office.

3.Food for education (Feeding program)): Children come to the education centre each morning having slept on empty stomach or missed breakfast. We serve hot lunch to children five days a week to keep them in school and make them concentrate and improve in their nutrition for proper growth.Feeding a child in primary school cost US$ 47 per year.

Our Intervention approaches .......

Lack of dinning hall in Grapesyard Education centre force children to be serve food in the open and eat in poor hygiene environment.

Our intervention approaches.....

4. Home and community based care and support:

Our social workers visit families to empower and equip families with knowledge about HIV/Aids, Children rights and sanitation. They also mentor child headed families. This goes a long way in keeping child in class.

Community members are engaged in empowerment talk in Grapesyard School. A mother tries new donated shoes on her sponsored child in

Grapesyard.

Our Intervention approaches .......

5. Children Home: Grapesyard Children’s Centre (Alice Village) accommodates 100 orphans. children came from the informal settlements.

The home provides parental mentorship. They also receive education and professional training, food, shelter and clothing. Children ages range between 3 and 17 years.

Our intervention approaches for Women.

Children issues are never addressed conclusively without working with their mothers for stable family unit. We are planning to empower families through:a. Equip women with tailoring and

dressmaking skills, business management and marketing skills for economic empowerment.

b. Mentor women to form women independent self help groups to guarantee each other business loans.

c. Provide skills to make them be able to detect and deal with gender based violence (GVB).

d. Engage community members to promote children and women rights and eliminate GVB.

ENQURIES

Enquiries can be directed to:Executive Director,Grapesyard OrganizationP.O. Box 2395 – 00100 GPO Nairobi, Kenya.Tel. +254 723 641 887Email: info@grapesyardkenya.org orgrapesyard2002@yahoo.comWebsite: www.grapesyardkenya.orgFacebook.com/...............Twitter.com/....................