Nairobi, Kenya
St. Vincent de Paul Community Development Organization (SVPCDO) is a registered non -governmental organization (NGO) based in Kibera, Kenya, working to improve the lives of orphaned and the underprivileged children in this poverty-stricken neighborhood.
The organization is run by a small group of volunteers affiliated with the St. Vincent de Paul congregation who came together informally over a decade ago sharing a common interest in helping people in their own community. In 2000, they established a day care and nursery school for the children of Kibera in addition to the children’s Rescue Centre, which provides housing, food, school fees and medical support to orphaned children. Their programs currently serve over 100 children, no matter their religious background.
The nursery school prepares children for entrance into primary school; an opportunity which is out of reach for most in Kibera. It provides early education, school uniforms, educational supplies, and two daily meals to 90 children between the ages of 3 and 7.
The Rescue Center, established in response to the growing number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in the community, provides a home for children and adolescents ages 3-17 that have been orphaned and have no guardians to care for them. Currently, the shelter houses 17 children.
St. Vincent’s addresses the root causes of children’s vulnerability in Kibera, Kenya by providing opportunities for education, housing, care, and economic opportunities for mothers. Situated on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kibera is one of Africa’s largest informal settlements, housing an estimated one million people. Life in Kibera is characterized by extreme poverty, high unemployment, lack of access to basic services, and elevated HIV prevalence rates.
With your help, St. Vincent's organization can provide better for essentials such as salaries for the teaching staff, uniforms for children, educational supplies for the nursery school, food, schooling and medical costs for the rescue center.
Champions: Christina Stellini, Diane Yongue & Carla Stellini Lundstrom.
Website: http://www.kiberachildren.org/
A Visit to St. Vincent's Nursery School and Rescue Center
by - Marc Maxson - GlobalGiving
Lucy Kawiya escorted Zipporah, Vicky, and myself to their rescue home inside Kibera slum. Along the way we passed the offices of Carolina for Kibera. Within two more blocks you can find Hot Sun Foundation and a few other NGOs.
I looked up at the iron roofs atop the makeshift housing on this dirt street. Some of these shacks had TV antennas, and one even had a satellite dish. “You see that?” I said, pointing them out to Lucy. “Of course.” “It kinda complicates the typical impression outsiders have of slums.” “That’s why we tell people, ‘Just come here and walk around. See for yourself where we work.’”
The Kibera slum is actually many villages connected by dirt paths, clusters of shacks that could blow over in a storm. but within these 13 communities of tens of thousands you’ll find some wealth, a lot of cell phones, and many attitudes. Many NGOs have visited to collect feedback, and the people don’t speak with one voice. In fact, we were the fourth group to visit a nearby girls’ centre in the last 3 months. Such a complex environment calls for some new approaches, and a way to share more of these stories.
That afternoon, we saw a dozen children in the rescue center. One boy (about age 12) was drawing a face. He was obviously a talented artist. “I just wish we could help him pursue arts more,” Lucy said. “What about posting your question to the Map Kibera site?” We were helping promote one recent effort to share community information locally, using cell phones and this website. People can ask a question, make an announcement, or just offer a general comment and it will be posted. Some who sign up for text-message updates can follow villages or topics that interest them. We'll also be posting the stories we collect in Kibera. Lucy handed her phone to Miriam, the head teacher at their nursery school. “You do this. I’m not one with technology yet.”
Miriam wrote: [something like] We have an artist at St. Vincent’s. Does anyone know about an art program where he can get more training in Kibera? [My computer got hit with viruses so I can't read the exact message off the site right now.] She’s signing up for SMS-updates, so that if anyone replies, she'll get it on her phone.
The St. Vincent’s nursery school was a colorful little house on the edge of Soweto village (Kibera) that serves 87 kids ages 3 to 7. Mini tables and chairs in blue, green, red, and bright yellow filled the three classrooms.
I was happy to see color, as I explained color’s importance to Lucy. “I’ve read that children learn better in a colorful environment. And yet so many schools are just gray cinderblocks. Mandela wrote in his biography about his prison. He said it wasn’t the walls but the absence of color that made him feel the most imprisoned. Gray walls, gray food, gray uniforms, and gray skies. Always the absence of color. Thankfully, this nursery school was vibrant, although empty for the Easter break.”
We met under the round shady bantaba in the back and shared stories as part of our training. Throughout the afternoon, several other people dropped by, including Havier and Cathryn – two Australian volunteers who are starting a sort of Montessouri school in the area with the guidance of St. Vincent’s.
Cathryn shared one story. I didn't transcribe it exactly, but from my memory, she said that a few years ago she was walking though a slum in Nairobi and she came to a rickety bridge over a rushing river. She turned to her husband. “Is this safe to cross?” “Probably not,” he said. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, she said. After crossing, she noticed a run down shack on the edge of the water built on a hill. It looked like it could collapse at any moment. He peeked through a hole in the wall and was shocked to see it was an informal school. Dozens of kids were inside learning. She opened the door into this dark place and the sunlight blinded them. “I couldn’t just leave it as is. We helped them move to a better place.” Recently, she passed by that same place where the shack-school used to stand. Heavy rains had come, and the building had collapsed and washed into the river. “I hate to think what would have happened to the children if we hadn’t given a little money to move the school,” she concluded.
