A few months ago, what started as a roadside discussion grew into a vision that is slowly coming to fruition. What a great joy it is to see this evolution!
I had the great opportunity to visit Dagoretti Corner in Nairobi, Kenya; the community where I grew up, after years of being away. It was an amazing reunion with family, friends and other community members who were a vital part of my childhood. In the midst of the nostalgia surrounding my return to my old neighborhood, I became increasingly aware of the negative developments that had occurred in my community over the years. One of the most disturbing was the large number of children who were hanging around the neighborhood, often during school hours.
This disconcerting matter compelled me to dig deeper and find out the reason behind it, so I approached one of the boys in Dagoretti Santos soccer academy called Simon, and had a chat with him about the issue. Simon was in the 7th grade, more commonly referred to as Class 7, at a nearby school in the Dagoretti Community. When I asked him why he was not in school, he shared with me about his situation at home. Simon was the middle child living in a single-parent household with two other siblings. His mother tirelessly worked odd jobs in order to provide for the family, but in spite of this, the family’s financial situation continued to deteriorate further. Simon explained that at times his family would go without food for several days, and to add to their woes, he got kicked out of school because he didn’t have the proper school uniform and additionally, he owed money for the hot lunch food program provided by the school at a fee.
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| Here is the inspirational Simon Kiguru at school! |
I could tell that he wanted desperately to go back to school, but that it seemed to him that getting a good education was another wistful dream that was slipping away from him, just like it had from his peers in the community. His story greatly resonated with me because having been born in the Dagoretti community, I too witnessed my close friends drop out of school because their parents were financially unable to support their education. This is a problem that is both ubiquitous and chronic, and furthermore quite unfortunate. In an attempt to earn a living in order to support their families after dropping out of school, many children resort to a life of crime which results in either spending time behind bars or a premature death by the bullet.
Faced with the enormity of the situation and deciding that inaction was not an option, I first decided to gain a different perspective on the matter, and so I visited Simon’s school. While at Simon’s school, I visited with Mr. Videnson Maina who also happened to be someone I knew from my childhood. He gave me a tour of the school and I must say I was very impressed by the extent of their extra-curricular programs they provided, including tree planting and building gabions to prevent soil erosion. I visited the classrooms and the cafeteria that feeds over 600 children every day with only 2 cooks on hand. After the school tour, Mr. Maina invited me to his office and we had an insightful conversation about the school uniforms and the feeding program.
After that meeting, I felt inspired and determined to find avenues that would offer Simon, and other children in his situation, a chance to go back to school and get an education.
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| James Kamau with two students sponsored by YIC on the Hot Lunch program at Ngong Forest School |
I came back home and had a chat with Janine, the Director of Special Programs for Youth Initiative Canada. We came to the conclusion that we would set up a sponsorship program that would cater to the needs of these children, so that they would be able to go to school without having to worry about the financial obstacles. We set up a meeting with the directors of Dagoretti Amani Group, and they were excited to partner with Youth Initiative Canada to create the sponsorship program we had envisioned. Dagoretti Amani is a community-based organization that empowers the community through sports programs and income generating activities. These directors, Elvis and Marcos, helped to identify fifty children with the greatest need who would benefit greatly from the program.
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| James and Marcos in the Ngong Forest Primary School Kitchen,which feeds 600 students per day. |
http://youthinitiativecanada.com/our-programs/education
“I felt inspired and determined to find avenues that would offer Simon, and other children in his situation, a chance to go back to school and get an education.”
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James Kamau Founder of Youth Initiative Canada |
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