New Partner on Board

Ndhiwa Maarifa Centre is glad to introduce you to our new partner named CARD, an organization that basically focuses on the lives of youths and involves them in learning and realization of the importance of behavior change.
We are are working towards officiating the working partnership officially next week and we assure you of more updates...the photo was taken during CARD's Community Facilitator request to meet some of our youths for a brief meeting.

Bridging the Gap

For those who managed to watch our short video 'Youth and Farming', you will realize that as much as we are out to encourage such practices in our youths, it has to begin from a certain point. The point is here and more is on the way.

ALIN Awarded 2011 Access to Learning Award by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation yesterday presented its 2011 Access to Learning Award of $1 million to the Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), which provides knowledge and information through a variety of innovative channels in remote communities throughout Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Members of these communities use the technology and other tools at ALIN’s Knowledge Centers to gain information to improve their health, increase their incomes, and better their lives. Microsoft, a partner of the foundation in its efforts to help public libraries connect people with relevant technology and skills, will provide ALIN with a donation of over US$270,000 worth of software and technology training curriculum to help the organization serve the local community.
For more on the award click http://www.gatesfoundation.org/atla/Pages/2011-atla-winner-alin-eastern-africa.aspx.
Watch video here: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/atla/Pages/2011-atla-award-alin-slideshow.aspx

Sports for a Purpose Video

Sports for a Purpose

In July 2011, Ndhiwa Maarifa Centre saw the need of exploring 'sports for a purpose' since this centre of late holds up to more than 200 pupils from than six schools from the surrounding.
These pupils visit this center's free library on a daily basis and since most of our programmes are adults targeted, we felt the need of coming up with something that could finally accommodate their desires and also set them a platform for learning and sharing, sports came out so strongly.
I remember at one moment, the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan said, "Sport is a universal language that can bring people to together, no matter what their origin, background, religious beliefs or economic status," and today, i approve of this for the platform has enabled us, as a centre, with the most minimal resources to unlearn our children of the unrealistic beliefs and the acquired poor perceptions where girl child was perceived of lesser value as boy child and also on their universal rights as children. 
Looking at how the two sexes correlate today at the centre after a lot of talks and counseling by guest partners who have a lot of knowledge on children, its quite amazing of their degree of accommodation.
As we celebrate this achievements, i would like to acknowledge the great support received from Team Kenya, Ndhiwa Ministry of Youth and the three community volunteers Romanus Omuto, Paul Obeto and Modestus Owuor and any other person of whom could have seen into the home coming of this.


Note: Please, you too can make a difference in the lives of these children by donating any sporting equipment that can support us support them, it can either be  new or used. It all begins with you and me. Search for all the unused playing kits today in your home and you could change the life of another upcoming Kenyan who haven't had a similar opportunity. Contact us today and we shall be so glad to deliver it on your behalf.

Padi Bora

It is evident that Team Kenya, a partner of Ndhiwa Maarifa Centre (ALIN), is doing this entire community more than just good. When i visited their offices in Ndhiwa, i was surprised! Have the privileged to read this for yourself and you will begin looking at things from a completely different window...

Padi is a Swahili word which means pad while bora means better. 

The project is about reusable cotton sanitary towels. The main objective of this project is to provide an alternative to the expensive disposable sanitary towels that a majority of the girls cannot afford due to the high poverty levels in the region.

The long term goal of the project is keeping the adolescent girls in school throughout the school going days. This is because a majority of girls tend to stay at home when they are having their periods because they lack an effective material to protect themselves during menstruation.

During the month of September, focus was put on creating awareness about the cotton reusable sanitary towels (Padi Bora). The awareness raising was carried out alongside puberty and reproductive health education. Free samples were given to a few girls. 

In addition, other samples were given to the teacher in charge of the girls in the schools to be kept for emergency in case a girl unexpectedly experiences her periods while at school, then she will not have to ask for permission to go home and lose out on education. The puberty and reproductive health education sessions indicated that a majority of the girls don’t have factual information regarding their sexuality. 

Interview with the Beneficiaries 

Arina as one of the partner school was chosen due to concerns over the number of girls who drop out of school before sitting for their first national exams. In fact, this is the only year that Arina Primary School has registered 3 girls for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams. A big number of girls drop out of school before reaching standard eight. Some of the girls are already mothers at tender ages, others have been forced to move in with new families after losing both parents, and some have been tormented by separation of parents and family conflicts. A majority of girls in this school come from poverty stricken families and thus have either resolved to survival sex or work for other people to earn income. These girls find it difficult to survive in school and hence resort to early marriages. In summary, these girls face the following problems:

• Lack of motivation as no girl in that school has ever reached standard eight. Poverty, killing the morale of studying due to predictable lack of secondary school fees
  Mockery by villagers who feel that girls are better off married than educated.
• Forced marriages, considering that many families depend on bridal wealth through dowry.
• Quite a number of girls stay at home during their monthly periods and hence miss out on school. Eventually, they drop out of school because they are embarrassed. 

We are going to have this project captured in video by 17th August 2011 and you will be able to hear from the beneficiaries. 

For details click http://www.teamkenya.org.uk/projects

Reviewing the Team Kenya and Ndhiwa Maarifa Centre (ALIN) partnership

In the NGO world, we work for different organizations at a time, but when it comes to the strategic approach of impacting the lives of the targeted communities, we are called upon swallow our pride and explore the spirit of team work by putting together our resources towards the common goal.
Having worked together for a period of more than two years now, both Team Kenya and Ndhiwa Maarifa saw the need of working as one and involving each other fully into the activities of each organization. After four hours working partnership review, we resolved that we are going to involve the Team Kenya Sponsored students in our forthcoming Adobe Youth Voices training as from mid this month, we are also going to assist them document and publicize 'Padi Bora' a locally made sanitary towel that can be reused for more than six months by washing and how much it has helped keep most girls in schools unlike before of when they had their days they had to remain home, together we are also going to conduct civic education on the demerits of the post election violence for the forth coming elections through sourcing for the violence videos and showing them to the community through projections, our vision kids shall also be privileged to access various learning and sharing platforms at Karibuni ECO cottages and come December 2011, we shall have a unique beauty pageant with various categories.
Not all that we deliberated can be mentioned here, but i would like to encourage each one of us that working with the community is not a competition as other organizations look at it, i remember one person once said that, "what brought you here won't take you there"'.