Les Amis de Rekebisho

In Kenya

In Nairobi, in Mukuru slum (more than 600 000 inhabitants)

Six young adults, former street children, wanted to take concrete action so that children today live something different than what they once lived. With the help of a French woman, they organized themselves to fight against extreme poverty, its consequences and its dangers which seriously threaten children and teenagers (over 100,000 street children in Nairobi!).

In 1999, they created REKEBISHO (in Swahili "to improve, to change") center in the heart of Mukuru.

It is a place where, they first welcomed teenagers to help them developping their talents in arts, sports, crafting, ... In 2003, Rekebisho was acknoledged as an NGO by the Kenyan government.

In 2009, observing the difficulties related to the age of the teenagers, they redirected their project towards younger children and hired a teacher. They opened a pre-school nursery in 2010 enrolling nearly forty pupils
This was achieved thanks to their daily commitment and to the support of French friends who had stayed several months in Nairobi.

REKEBISHO "helps and assists children of Mukuru by keeping them away from the street and its dangers, feeding them and developing their talents and bringing them closer to those who live on the other side of the fracture of the world ". Extract of Project Rekebisho.

In 2011, the Association "Friends of Rekebisho" was officially created in France. The association increased its help and this permitted the opening of a cafeteria in 2012, where children can get a "porridge" and a lunch.

The Rekebisho school now has 4 teachers and 1 cook and it hosts about 100 children in 4 classes:

Class 1 : pre-unit and nursery levels - shared
Class 2 : level 1 (primary)
Class 3 : level 2
Class 4 : levels 3 and 4 - shared

PROBLEM ANALYSIS: Living in a slum

Population close to 600 000 inhabitants live in Mukuru slum. It is located in South B area in Nairobi and 30 years ago, it was still a wasteland.
There are many problems:

Very high population density and strong promiscuity
Poor housing conditions (very cheap materials such as mud, cans, polyethylene)
Very high unemployment,very low salaries
Bad health due to the lack of hygiene (No toilet, water sometimes undrinkable),to adulterated alcohol and drugs, AIDS.
Crime, prostitution.

All these problems are compounded by the lack of public services in the slum.

Extreme poverty and diseases keep destroying the inhabitants of the slum because of these economic and social problems. In these particularly severe and harsh conditions, most children are victims, some are very young orphans. Most of these young people have no access to proper education and have no decent livelihoods.
The population of Mukuru can find some stalls there: fruit and vegetables, meat, small fish, clothing, barbers and hairdressers.Some make furniture while others collect waste for recycling. They mainly collect things from the river where the upstream factories dump their trash and young people put themselves in danger for the river where they collect serves as sewer.

THE AMBITIONS OF REKEBISHO

To fight against poverty and to improve life in their slum area by the re-socialization of vulnerable children affording them to acquire skills through education and cultural, artistic and social activities.
To bring the children closer to those who live on the other side of the fracture of the world.

MISSION AND GOALS

Rekebisho aims at improving the quality of life of disadvantaged children through the following goals:

To offer them a first training with an early childhood development program
To ensure them a feeding program
To give them access to a library
To sensitize them to plastic arts, crafts, performing arts and sports

FRIENDS OF REKEBISHO

French aid to Rekebisho was first informal. Having heard of the action of this group of young adults for street children in Mukuru, some friends then sent a financial donation every month for several years. To structure and strengthen this support, the Association "Friends of Rekebisho" was officially created in 2011. The association is established in several regions of France, and even abroad.

It is currently mainly financed by its members, who pay a monthly fee or a one-time donation.

Nowadays, the "Friends of Rekebisho" are the first financial support of Rekebisho. They fund the running of the school:

feeding children (1 porridge + 1 daily meal),
providing water and electricity,
Educational materials,
the salary of the 4 teachers and their training, the salary of the cook and the allowance of young adults of the committee.

They sometimes provide support in case of emergencies such as: hospitalization, fire, etc…

They also finance investments: the expansion of the school (creation of 2 new classrooms) and its reconstruction (replacement of the sheets by stone walls), the rehabilitation of the school compound, the repair of the roofs, the purchase of benches, tables, blackboards, …
An immediate need was the construction of new toilets with connection to the public sewerage network (the old ones had to be destroyed due to the health risks) as well as the installation of a drinking water supply.

To achieve those projects with Rekebisho we are in need for new financing.
Since 2010 , We travel each year to Nairobi, we discuss the achieved projects with the committee, the school life with the teachers and also the future projects. We exchange and share intensive and solitary moments.

The communication in English with Rekebisho is regular thanks to the Internet.
The monthly payments are sent by bank transfer.