Report from Mathare Community Outreach January to March 2016

Recent Events

Academics

The children receiving support attend school at Kariobangi Community Outreach School and MCO mixed secondary school.

Support towards the education of ten students at MCO secondary school and 50 pupils at the primary school is fully undertaken. In the secondary we have three girls and seven boys while in the primary we have 21 boys and 29 girls.

The new students recruited in the program in January were three in secondary school and seven in primary school.

Three students have sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. Those joining high school from primary were seven. 

Vitalis Matinde is the pastor / social worker for the children. 

Savings for Life (SFL)

We are glad to report that one year down the track, much progress has been experienced with the Savings for Life program gaining ground each day. So far 46 savings groups have been formed with a total membership of 705. 22 groups have successfully completed their first cycle and shared out their savings and are now self-managed. The first groups to be formed have now started their third cycle.

In February 2016, a group of 26 community agents (CAs) were trained on SFL methodology and signed a contract to work under the supervision of the Field Officers, recruiting and training members on SFL methodology. This is because they are more trusted by the community members.

Each CA will recruit two groups per month of at least 15 members per group. Every CA will be given a stipend of KES200 per member recruited and this is based on the performance. 

Personal Stories

Bill Clinton Otieno

Bill is 19 years old and a total orphan who has been living with his paternal uncle near Mathare slums. He previously lived at Kariobangi Outreach Children’s Home for five years and thereafter joined high school. He received support and was able to finish high school successfully scoring 56 points of B-.

After high school he reluctantly joined the Moriah School of Discipleship Program this year. He confessed in the first weeks that he had Muslim friends and was on the verge of converting to Islam. He was stubborn and a lazy boy and never had peace with his uncle. He loved to listen to hip hop music. He also suffered from self-low esteem and could not face a crowd. 

He is now being transformed and has given his life to Jesus. 

"I have no regrets now having joined Moriah and I think I have discovered myself. I can now freely talk and address a big crowd. I stopped listen to hip hop music. Now I take time for my CBR (continuous bible reading) which I enjoy most. At least I have some farming skills already and am ready to learn more. My advice to young people is 'living a full Christian life is possible and it’s better to start early.'  Discipleship class is the first step to a new begging for me."

Partnership's Influence within the Community

Over the years OCC/MCO has built a strong relationship within the community where we work. It has made our work easier by getting along with the community members. Implementing new programs is easy and any other interested party wishing to visit the slums normally will link up with us.

Many youth have received life transformation through our church ministry, some serve in our churches and others operate other churches now in the slum. This is an indication of good work done.

Close to 17,000 children have pursued their education through MCO schools. Currently we have been running a scholarship program that has benefitted tens of our students to pursue professional courses. Some are working now and bringing change in their families.

Ideas for the Future

Sustainability
One of the major areas the organisation is putting focus on is self-sustainability. The institution currently depends largely on donor support and raising funds internally by charging subsidized school fees and hiring out the church bus. However we still remain with substantial unmet expenses. 

We have been nursing various proposals geared towards self-sustainability, notably farming and transport. Some farming activities take place in Maseno where we keep dairy cattle, poultry and agriculture (KEN06b). We need to fully improve the 3 hectare farm to allow proper keeping of dairy farming. The land floods during the rainy season hence we need to build trenches for water control. 

We also propose to buy a tractor that we will use not only to plough our farms but for hire out at a fee. The demand for a tractor is huge in the region. Another proposal is to run a gas/petrol station particularly within the Nairobi region. The potential of generating income is high and we can use the proceeds to supplement our income. 

We have already embarked on empowering the community through a savings program so that they too are able to engage in businesses to reduce dependency syndrome and be able to pay school fees among other things. 

Church Planting and Discipleship

Outreach Community Church is planning to plant two prayer centres in Magway area, at Maseno and at Ragen. We will need to establish a discipleship centre in Ragen, we already have on in Maseno. There has been a need for young people to be grounded in the word of God and have a church that they will be able to use as they evangelise in the community. The Ragen site is about 5 acres, has enough space for farming, a church cum prayer centre and is easily accessible. Clean water is available after being drilled and can be used as a source of income and for farming. 

Our vision and mission still focuses on reaching communities in poor circumstances. Target areas are Mathare and Kariobangi. It is guided under four major domains; Spiritual, Cognitive, Physical and Social.

Current Issues and Challenges

One major challenge is paying our staff in Nairobi, in particular teachers and support staff. We rely on school fees paid by the parents and sponsored children which is never enough. Parents have huge outstanding balances hence we are faced with delays paying the staff and salary deficits every month. Due to a lack of adequate finances our obligation to pay government taxes and staff welfare is a big challenge. Failure to pay government taxes attracts a penalty which is normally tripled. We lack funds to pay staff provident funds and welfare through the staff sacco.

Our schools are built using corrugated iron sheets and are now dilapidated. We need new classrooms built with stone. 

The ever overwhelming number of poor children ready for education but lacking sponsorship.

Challenge in care and protection of orphaned and vulnerable children in the orphanage. The children's home is now facing challenges in the provision of basics like food and health care support.

Prayer and Praise Points

1) Pray for more support for the orphanage. We need support of food, personal effects, medical care and general maintenance.
2) Pray for more sponsorship for children, mainly in primary school. The need is overwhelming.
3) Pray for funds to support the feeding program for our preschool children. The kind of support we get now only covers classes 1-8 leaving out the babies, nursery and final class. They are the backbone of our schools in both Mathare and Kariobangi.
4) Pray that we get enough income to pay our staff salaries especially the teachers. Sometimes we pay after two months.
5) Praise God for the good results from our students who sat KCPE and KSCE examinations