The Jericho Project
Jericho is a slum area in the east of Nairobi. The estate was built by Nairobi City Council in the late 1950′s to accomodate 10,000 people, it is now the home to 50,000 residents. 5,000 households in Jericho have an average of eight people per household.
According to a 2009 report by the African Population and Research Centre
- 60% of youth are unemployed and lack the skills to compete in the jobs market
- 20% of young people work in factories as casual workers
- 10% of youth are in some form of business
- only 10% are in secondary school or college
The population growth has been driven by a high rate of teenage pregnancies, rural-to-urban migration, and the number of unemployed people who are not able to move from their parental homes because they have no money to pay rent elsewhere.
Inhabitants of the estate suffer from low levels of literacy, generally poor education, high rates of crime, corruption and health problems including HIV/AIDS.
Half of the funds raised from Climate Run 2011, almost £3,500 has been contributed towards this project in Kenya.
The Jericho Project was chosen for two reasons:
1) It is a country deeply affected by climate change where approximately three million pastoralists are losing a way of life that has sustained their people for thousands of years. The long droughts that have persisted since 2005 have dried up the grass and water sources and destroyed large herds of cattle. The same droughts have brought more and more rural people into Nairobi where they are short of decent housing, jobs and access to good educational facilities.
2) Many Norfolk High school students have already embarked on a project to support very poor young children in primary schools in a deprived area of Nairobi, having learned that most children there have only the maize and beans provided by the government at school lunchtimes.
What are our aims in supporting this project in Kenya?
- To give these deprived young children the chance of a decent education that will allow them choices in life that will help to lift them out of poverty
- To restore their buildings and provide them with decent resources to support them and their teachers. They are taught and tested in English but they have no books in English. Most have no exercise books or pens or pencils either.
- To help them grow as young citizens with integrity and moral purpose: as a starting point we can help them care for their environment and for each other and show them how to take responsibility. Already in a time of drought these young pupils have demonstrated that they can care for the saplings we planted together last summer.
- To show that we can lift our heads and look beyond the confines of our own lives. To show that we can share what we have, especially with others far less fortunate than us.
- To practise global citizenship and, together, stand up for what is right and beneficial for most people, not just ourselves.
A positive mind set
Action will create change
A good breakfast….
Will feed young minds
Progress so far:
In 2010 thanks to the generosity of students in Cliff Park and Acle High Schools, we have transformed the delapidated kitchen in the Martin Luther Primary School into a bright, clean kitchen with new windows, new tiles and new cookers.
With grateful thanks to all the young people who raised sponsorship from Climate Run 2011, we have been able to engage two young builders to carry out repairs and improvements to all three primary schools. It was agreed when Yvonne visited the project in June 2011 that we would engage a general builder/handyman to cover all three sites.
The £3,500 from Climate Run 2011 will pay for the services of the builders for a period of one year from October 2011 until September 2012. Yvonne has matched this sum which will enable the repair and maintenance to continue until 2013. In addition to this Cliff Park High, Flegg High and Robert Kett Junior schools raised £4,000 between them and this sum of money has provided porridge for approximatley 2,400 young people every day for a whole school year. A high proportion of these young people have no food at home so breakfast at school makes a huge difference to their lives, they now attend school regularly and are able to concentrate on their work during the day.
Building plans with Climate Run 2012 funds
- Rabai Road primary school will have a major improvement to their kitchen to enable their porridge and beans to be cooked in a clean safe building
- Dr Krapf primary school are benefitting from major improvements by having access to water so that the children can wash their hands and have fully functioning toilet facilites on their site.
- Martin Luther Primary will benefit from a dining room by knocking out a wall between two unused, dilapidated classrooms. Curently children have to eat their food outside – no chairs or tables and no shelter on bad weather days.
In addition to the above, each school has daily support with repairs of broken doors and windows.