Physical Health Kenya Project #45780

Emergency COVID-19 support for Kenyan children

by Raising Futures Kenya

Project Report | Nov 18, 2020
A glimmer of hope

By Kirsty Erridge | Director - Raising Futures Kenya

Carpentry and joinery students back at Seed ofHope

After 7 long months our Seed of Hope vocational training centres have re-opened!

We are DELIGHTED to announce that our Seed of Hope vocational training centres have re-opened! Our dedicated, committed teachers have spent the last 7 months ensuring all students can continue their education whilst at home. They provided printed workbooks every month, taught lessons using WhatsApp and gave every student counselling over the phone. Now they can focus on teaching the practical lessons.

At the moment we are doing a phased re-opening whilst some students are on work placements. We still need to make urgent changes at the centres to ensure we can have all students back safely, adhering to social distancing rules, so we need to build temporary classrooms and get extra furniture and equipment.

Over 770,000 young people in Kenya have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, on top of the 800,000 who were already unemployed. The next few months will continue to be incredibly tough but we are determined to support, and work alongside, the students as they create a rewarding, secure future for themselves, free from poverty.

Sadly whilst this a small step towards returning to 'normal' we are still providing monthly emergency support to 51 vulnerable families who have lost all of their income and we're providing a cooked lunch to our 252 Seed of Hope students, for many this is the only meal they will eat each day.

We couldn't do this without you - thank you for standing by us. We still have a long journey ahead but it's wonderful to have the students back learning in the classroom again.

I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe a well.

With best wishes,

Kirsty

Director - Raising Futures Kenya

kirsty@raisingfutureskenya.org.uk

Fashion design students back in their classroom!

Handwashing station

Former graduate mentoring a current student

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Jul 27, 2020
Supporting the most vulnerable, thanks to you

By Kirsty Erridge | Director

Judy and her baby, supported by our emergency fund

Hello,

Firstly, on behalf of myself, our team in Kenya and the children, young people and families we have been supporting during the pandemic - may we take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your support. We appreciate there are many worthy causes so we are incredibly grateful and humbled that you have chosen to support us and stand by us during this worrying time, thank you.

As some countries are beginning to ease out of lockdown, the impact of lockdown in Kenya is going to continue to have a long lasting effect. Schools are remaining closed until January where students will repeat a year, school fees are going to increase and many families will still be without a job meaning many children sadly will not return to school.

Our vocational training centres are allowed to open in September but the simple fact is, the buildings are not big enough to adhere to the social distancing requirements. We will have to stagger the return of the students meaning that the remote learning, which our fantastic teachers have been providing since March, will have to continue to an extent. We will be able to have half a class back at the centres for practical sessions whilst the other half remain at home and then they will switch. The teachers and Florence, our Seed of Hope vocational training manager, have drawn up a plan of the changes we need to make including; building temporary classrooms, buying extra desks, chairs, hand washing stations, additional equipment so students don’t share anything. It is going to cost $5,000/ £3,900 to make the necessary changes and adaptations to keep our students safe when they return.

Our teachers are determined to ensure that the students graduate as planned and don’t have to repeat a year. They have been continuing to teach lessons via a mixture of WhatsApp groups, text messages and printed learning packs to ensure no student is left behind. It’s more important than ever that students can learn their trade, graduate and start earning a living to support themselves and their families. Knowing the toll the pandemic and lockdown is taking on everyone’s mental health and wellbeing, our team has been providing weekly counselling sessions by phone to ensure no-one feels alone and that they’re supported through this.

Many families have lost their only source of income as travel restrictions in place to stop the spread of the virus have meant that casual labourers have lost their jobs, with no social welfare to support them they had nowhere to turn, no savings and no food.

Thanks to your generous support, we have been providing emergency food, rent and basic essentials for 358 children, young people and families since March along with counselling. We had anticipated needing to provide this level of support until September but the reality is that many will still have no means of earning an income to support their family so we have committed to stand by them and support them for as long as they need.

We are beginning income generation business training with 30 families in August and providing a small grant to help them set up their own small business, which will hopefully enable them to become financially independent and secure in the coming months.

There was already a huge demand for our free vocational training courses, the demand is only going to increase in the coming months as Kenya tries to recover from the economic impact of Covid-19, and for families who won’t be able to afford to send their children back to school in January. We know from working in Kenya for 19 years that girls, and the most vulnerable, will always be negatively impacted the most so we are preparing for ways we can increase our support to those who need us most.

It is costing £30/$37 to provide a month of food and essentials for a family of 5 plus an additional £40/$49 for those who need rent support. It is a worrying time for all of the children and families but they know that we will stand by them, thanks to the wonderful support of kind people like you - so we just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for enabling us to be there when we are needed the most.

We hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and well.

With best wishes,

Kirsty Erridge - Director
kirsty@raisingfutureskenya.org.uk

P.S. Please see some of the families your donation has supported in the photos.

Faith and her family with emergency supplies

Rose and her family with their month supplies

Hannah and her children

Josephine and her family with their supplies

Emma & her siblings with their emergency supplies

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Mar 30, 2020
We're already responding, thanks to you!

By Vic and Mary | UK and Kenya Directors

Left to right: Mercy, Calmax, Gabriel, Evans

Your donations to our Emergency COVID-19 Appeal have already been put to use supporting our most vulnerable young people - thank you so much for enabling us to respond so quickly.

We hope you, your friends and family are safe and well.

Your generosity and fast action at this critical time has meant that we've already been able to deliver emergency public health information and practical support to our most vulnerable children, young people and families in Kenya. Pictured, from left to right:

Mercy - Fashion Design and Dressmaking student at Seed of Hope- both her parents are casual labourers, right now most work places are closed down and it is a struggle for them to feed their children. Her food supply will last approximately one week as she will share it with her family.

Calmax  - Fashion Design and Dressmaking student at Seed of Hope -   has to work when he isn't at the training centre to pay for his rent and up keep. He was working in a hotel which has closed down due to COVID-19. The money he was earning would be saved for rent and his daily meal would be provided by Seed of Hope. His food supply will last approximately two weeks.

Gabriel - Motor Vehicle Mechanics student at Seed of Hope -  he depends on the lunch program to eat, his parents send him part of his rent and a small amount for one meal a day which is never enough. He shares a room with another student, Christopher, who has managed to travel to his rural home to see out the pandemic. His food supply will last approximately two weeks.

Evans - Motor Vehicle Mechanics student at Seed of Hope-  he has no one supporting him, he works when he is not at the training centre to pay for his rent and upkeep, he relied on Seed of Hope for food. The car wash he was working in has closed down so he has no way of making money. His parents are poor in the rural area they cannot support him, he fears going to his rural home because he may not be able to get bus fare to bring him back to Nairobi. His food supply will last approximately two weeks.

We've also been able to establish WhatsApp support groups for each of our classes to support the mental health of students whilst they are in isolation. Staff have been offered counselling themselves and have also been trained remotely in delivering trauma counselling for students. See photos below.

This morning we heard that the situation at our most rural centre in Kitui is worse than we thought with staff and students very fearful for their livelihoods and what COVID-19 is going to mean for their futures. We are reviewing our response at this centre and will increase our level of support wherever possible.

Thank you so much for making this work possible. We will keep you updated.

Stay safe,

Vic and Mary (UK Director and Kenya Operations Director)

Virtual counselling via WhatsApp

Virtual counselling

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