24 March 2015

Country On Track to Achieving Universal Primary Education, UN Says

Nairobi — Kenya is on the right track towards achieving universal primary education senior UN official has said.

Nardos Bekele-Thomas, the UN Kenya Resident Coordinator said at a media briefing in Nairobi that Kenya's progress towards achievement of the millennium Goal number two was inspiring.

"Since the introduction of the Free Primary Education programme in 2003, primary enrolment raised from 5.95 million children to 10.2 million children in 2013. The Net enrolment ratio in primary education has increased from 67.8 percent in 2000 to 95.9 percent in 2013 which indicates that Kenya is doing well compared to Uganda where net enrolment ratio has slowed and declined slightly to 83 percent in 2009/10 from 86 percent in 2002/03," Ms Bekele-Thomas told a press conference at a Nairobi hotel on Monday February 16.

She however noted that although Kenya is on track towards achieving the goal, disparities in access to education still exist in the Arid and Semi-Arid Areas as well as in the informal settlements.

Ms Bekele-Thomas said that overall Kenya had made steady progress on achievement of the millennium Development Goals since their declaration signed by 189 members of the United Nations in the year 2000.

The Declaration resolved to put in place actions that will lead to the reduction of extreme poverty by creating an environment conducive for human development to be achieved by 2015.


She however warned that the government needed to accelerate policy reforms and resource mobilization in order to fully achieve the MDG'S.

"Kenya is on course to achieve three MDGs on poverty, school enrolment and gender equality. However, the country must intensify action on high maternal, infant mortalities and poor sanitation," she said.

The UN agencies in Kenya last year launched a joint development assistance framework to address pressing challenges like diseases, hunger, climate change and illiteracy in the east African nation.

Bekele-Thomas said UN agencies have partnered with the national and county governments to streamline implementation of development programs at the grassroots level.

"Kenya must invest in food security, education, health and environmental conservation to achieve sustainable development," Bekele-Thomas said, noting that innovative partnerships were crucial to accelerate progress on MDGs.


Country On Track to Achieving Universal Primary Education, UN Says
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11 March 2015

St. Joseph House of Hope


 
The St. Joseph House of Hope is situated in the village of Majengo that is a suburb of Mombasa. From our hotel it was a travel of around 30 minutes by car to Majengo. Muslims mainly populate the village, which becomes obvious as you can already see the minarets of the large mosque upon arrival at the Main Street leading through the village.

 From the Main Street you basically have to go straight and you will pass many carpentry and small retail shops in the village’s “Shopping Street” which is not drivable by motoric vehicles. For sure, these shops are not shops like they are in Europe. These are more or less wooden sheds, which are often not only the business place of its owners, but also their private living space. The people in Majengo are very welcoming, friendly and curious towards strangers and always willing to show you the way.

 St. Joseph is basically situated in the centre of Majengo. The schoolyard is grassland. The students are aged between 3 and 16. If they are not in class they sing, dance or play football outside or just take a rest. On the schoolyard, goats, sheep and chicken are running around. Standing on the schoolyard you can see a lake, which is not too far away. The schoolchildren are told not to go to the lake as crocodiles live in. I am not sure if that is the truth or the teachers are just concerned that the children will drown while swimming in the lake.

 Carol is the owner of St. Joseph House of Hope. She is very enthusiastic about the school, the children and the various projects the school is involved in. Next to the elementary school lessons, there is also a sewing class, where laptop bags and several clothing items can be produced. Furthermore, there is also the opportunity to produce soap bars with a wonderful and unique African smell. Unfortunately, at the moment Carol has major problems keeping manufacturing these items. All financial resources are spent for the basic lessons, so there are no resources available to be spent for production of the items. Therefore production is standing still and some of the students cannot be taught. Furthermore, the current security issues in Kenya heavily affect the Coast of Mombasa. As mentioned before, Majengo is a Muslim village and therefore target of recruitment of the Al-Shabab militia (the Al-Kaida branch in Kenya’s neighbour country Somalia). Majengo has a high rate of youth unemployment and therefore young adults; especially men represent an easy target for terrorist recruiters.

For the Academic year 2014/2015 ConTribute Kenya has assembled a team that is working on solutions for the St. Joseph House of Hope. In order to make the production line work again, the St. Joseph team is looking for private and corporate donors who are willing to support a re-launch of the production facilities, giving young adults the chance to learn a profession, so they can provide their families with a regular income and showing alternatives to religious radicalism.

 Long-term goal will be to offer the produced items to European customers. We believe that the products produced at St. Joseph have a good quality and deserve a fair chance on the European market. The St. Joseph Team of ConTribute Kenya will therefore set the drive to import and market the products in Europe as soon as the production facilities at St. Joseph are ready to act.
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23 January 2015

Maran Academy and Orphanage Home Progresses Through Simple Forms of Cooperation

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The Maran Academy and Orphanage Home project team would like to say welcome to 2015! Looking back at the monumental development – from knee high walls to the beginning of a roof – that occurred over the course of 2014, we are reminded of the achievements that can be attained through even the simplest forms of cooperation.
 
One such cooperation was with the IBSU Charity Team, who, in October, generously offered to hold the annual Charity-Snow-Ball in the name of the Maran Academy and Orphanage Home. We welcomed the Charity Team with open arms and maintained realistic expectations, but were about to get more than we bargained for. When the clock stuck 12 the night of the ball and one of the project team members went on stage to say a few words of gratitude for participation in the event and contribution to the project, we were all surprised to see the IBSU representatives hand over a large cheque for €2500. It was a truly amazing post-Sinterklaas/pre-Christmas present. However, little did we know we were in for an even greater surprise when the IBSU Charity Team had calculated their final sums at the beginning of 2015 only to discover that 420 tickets were sold and the true sum raised was in fact €3000! We are so thankful that this achievement could be attained through such a simple form of cooperation.
 
Back in November 2014 we were able to send €800 from the ConTribute Kenya Foundation to the project, and at the same time received some additional support from a generous donor in Austria. Again, an achievement attained through a simple form of cooperation. These funds were used to purchase 20 bags of cement, 2000 limestone building blocks, 3 truckloads of sand, necessary transportation, and labor required to transform these materials into the top of the wall above the structural ring-beam. The labor to complete this step began on December 15th, was put on hold during the Christmas holidays in Kenya, and resumed in 2015. We just received confirmation from Jackson Mjape (Kenyan project initiator) that this step should be complete by January 15th, at which point he can proceed to the next step of erecting the roof. This is where the funds raised by the Charity-Snow-Ball will be put to use. The construction of the roof is estimated to require over 3,700m of wood (of various dimensions), 350 iron sheets, 120kg of nails, 80 ridge pieces, necessary transportation, and labor. The total budget for this step is a staggering €10,800. However, to protect donators from misappropriation of funds as well as to reduce the burden carried with being responsible for the appropriation of funds we will develop the step of erecting the roof in stages and closely monitor progress.
 
Once the roof is completed, which, understandably, will take quite some time and is heavily dependent on available funding, the next steps will be to install electrical wiring, install water tanks, install toilets, plaster the walls and floor, paint all surfaces, acquire necessary furnishings, and finally setup the compound and structures as a school and orphanage home.
 
In the mean time, the Maran Academy and Orphanage Home team comprised of IBS Honours students, will continue to maintain the project portfolio, acquire funding, and seek long-term partnerships necessary in the operational phase.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this project and want to emphasize that it can best be achieved through the simple forms of cooperation that have propagated thus far. If you are interested in becoming part of the project, would like some additional information, or have possible funding suggestions, we will welcome you with open arms just like we did with the IBSU Charity Team.
 
Last but not least we would like to leave you with the following quote that often guides our actions:
 
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value” Albert Einstein
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