Projects by Grapesyard Organization - Kenya

Putting smiles in the faces of the desperate kids in the slums

Vocational Training

These training are meant to equip the parents or guardians of the kids under our care with the skills they need to sustain themselves.
The School Bus Project

The organization’s 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan outlines four pillars in her effort to remain afloat and the School Bus Project is one of them.
Youth & Children Protection Center

Grapesyard is setting up a drop-in day care centre for children in the age bracket 1-3 years to receive and provide day care services to babies whose mothers work in the dumpsite.
Feeding Program

We serve our children with two hot meals daily at school and also follow up to ensure that they have something to eat at home.
Basic Healthcare

Healthcare is a big challenge in the slums. With the little resources we have, we strive to provide basic healthcare to the children and parents in the slums.
Education Center

Our Education Center is not only for offering basic primary education to the slum children, but also equipping them with useful skills to make them responsible adulsts.
Alice Village

In Alice Village, we provide food, clothing, shelter and education to over 50 children. They live in the Alice Village where all their needs are catered for.

Grapesyard Organization – Kenya

It is yet another year of success at Grapesyard Education Centre. The centre realized achievement because of the good will emanating from Ministry of Education, City County Education department, Korogocho community and Grapesyard family. We also recognize the support that was extended to the centre by CFBT and TUSOME organizations. The two Institutions conducted several capacity building trainings for teachers and management staff in an effort to improve numeracy improve numeracy and literacy by the Children. They also donated text books in the two areas. The school means grade maintained B grade.

Strengths:

Early Child Development section has transformed into permanent from temporary state. Three new permanent classrooms and a hall have been put up. This goes a long way in improving safety and academic performance.
A new 3 door flush toilet block has been put up. This has helped improve sanitation in school. Girls who have reached menstruation have two toilets equipped and dedicated to them. This has gone a long way in improving confidence and class absentisms.
Teaching staff: The centre boasts of youthful and energetic results oriented team. The team has jelled well thus realizing academic stability.

Challenges:

Despite the notable achievements, our major challenge remains high turn-over because trained teachers serve for a period before joining Government’s Teachers Service Commission who in turn post them to Government schools. As a community education centre we cannot compete with the Government in terms of remunerations. Nonetheless, we realize that labour mobility is legal and ours is to replace those who depart with able replacements.

Another challenged has been widespread poverty among parents and caregivers. This has hampered child care and protection and hinders smooth learning by the children.

Lunch program serves too many children. The current food budget was meant for 500 children yet it serves 1,200. The organization has tried to sustain the program through donations from well wishers but which has not been consistent. This forced the School to go out its way to cut down on some of its key activities in order to feed about 700 children.

School play ground is overstretched; it is about half hectare hold physical facilities and up to 1,200 during school day. This leaves very little space for play during break and physical education (PE) lessons.

Past KCPE Examinations Performance

Grapesyard Education Centre has over the years posted good academic results in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations. A look at the children in school reveals radiant innocent smiles. But the smiles soon fade into sadness, upon enquiry into their social circumstances: lost hope, desperation and helplessness among the children. ‘I study hard and try not to miss class, but I don’t know if I will join secondary’, says “Leila”, one of the top three girls in 2015 class eight at the centre.

The un-certainty and desperation is all because of poverty in her family. She is from a single parent family – a mother who is jobless but goes around the Korogocho neighbourhood to wash clothes for a paltry sh200 pay a day. This is also not guaranteed owing to many women going round for the same work. They live in one room shark together with her other 4 siblings aged seven months, 2 yrs, 3yrs and 10 years respectively. And with quarrel some neighbors, catching up with home work and study is not possible. In short the only place for study for Leila and other children from Korogocho is Grapesyard Education Centre. Food is big problem to get at home. Lighting is by smoke emitting improvised lamps whose oil is also a problem to find.

This is a reflection of life in Korogocho households. Despite the struggle children consistently post credible good results. The results pushed the centre to be one of the top academic performers in Nairobi County. And with this children from poor families have made it to top Government Secondary schools in the country and eventually to University education to pursue careers such as Medicine, Business management among others. Some of the children have also acquired careers in teaching and ventured into businesses for self reliance thereby changing economic fortunes for themselves and their families for the better.

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