Summary Shammah Children’s
Centre Project

Introduction

The Shammah children's centre is a community based organization established in 2007, headed by Jemmimah Mweu. It started with two vulnerable children along the railway reserve as a day care. Since then it has grown year by year from day care to a full fully operating Centre offering Kenyan system of education of ECDE and primary education and with a fully equipped operating vocational training Centre which is offering computer lessons and tailoring.

Overall Aims of the Centre

  1. Provide educational equality to all the children aged zero to eighteen years
  2. Provide proper and adequate sanitation for the special children.
  3. Promote economic empowerment skills


Specific Objectives

  1. Eradicate illiteracy from the slum area
  2. Provide at least a meal per day
  3. Provide life skills leading to job creativity
  4. Provision of guidance and counseling to parents and children affected and infected by HIV AIDS

 
Achievements

The Centre has worked tirelessly to progress from one level to another. In closure of 2018 we had a total of 270 where by 5 children left Nairobi to upcountry after their parents lost their jobs and the children remained 265.  In the year 2019 we admitted 50 new children making it a total of 320 who are 180 girls and 140 boys and 15 volunteers who took care of the whole learning process.  We had also vocational training {training computer lessons, tailoring, basket making, fire briquettes making and soap making}

People who benefitted from vocational training apart from our own school-going children are as follows 15 women, 20 teenage boys, 20 young mothers, and five men who learn life skills of different activities which enable them to earn a living. These activities include soap making, bead work among others.

In 2019 the school had 28 candidates who participated in national exam 8 for grade 8 who did well in their exams and have all joined secondary schools. And 20 candidates who participated in grade 3 national exams in our own school and they all excelled and have been promoted to grade 4.

The school is now fully constructed and all the classes have their own room no class is sharing room with another class like before when we had less classes and one room could contain two issues which was strongly against the rules and regulations of education. Due to completing our building we were given school code from the ministry of education and as a trial we registered children of grade three who sat their national exam in our school. It was a trial because we had not before known how national exams are conducted and how the rooms are arranged and how many candidates a room can contain.

Shammah staff

Shammah has grown from year by year from the founder operating alone to having 15 staff in number 6 men and 9 women. Among the staff they are all volunteers who have offered to teach the children with a token as a motivation because all the children are needy and vulnerable and are not able to pay for the school fees. The little amount they pay and the sales from the school projects is what we share among ourselves after purchasing food for the children.

Learning in progress

Vocational training

Through FAPADAG, Shammah got 16 computers donated together with 16 tables and 16 chairs children are now able to learn more about computers and how to use technology as a means of communication. Since 16 computers were not enough for the learners the school went forth and purchased other 10 laptops to make it a total of 26 laptops and provided for internet for the learners to be able to explore the world and technology.

Farming

Shammah children are also known for their farming skills. They are practicing farming and their products are used to help in the feeding programme of the school

Tailoring

The Centre got a donation from FAPADAG of 9 sewing machines and 16 tables and 16 chairs for the machines. Shammah added 4 machines making a total of 13 sewing machines which are used to train some of the school learners who are poor in theoretical classes but good in tailoring.                                                                                                                                                                                       

Environmental club

Shammah has an environmental club that deals with making our environment clean and secure and advocates for taking care of trees. It is therefore in the front line of advising people to use alternative fuel for cooking and it has been making fire briquettes and sell to the entire community to safe more cutting of trees and also earn a living. Shammah has partnered with Kozon of solar cooking https://solarcookingkozon.nl/?lang=en and it is doing great work to safe the trees and earning through selling integrated solar cooking products such as energy saving stoves ,fireless cookers , fire briquettes among other products.

 

NEW Project

Shammah Emergency Plan: Together we will fight COVID-19

 

www.wildeganzen.nl

Project:2020.0235 Corona FAPADAG-Shammah

 The challenge for Shammah since the lockdown is that the children do not get
any longer their food and education in the school and their caregivers are
not going to work to sustain themselves because most of the organizations were
shut down and most of them are casual workers who work from hand to mouth.
People cannot go out to work which includes those who could wash cars,
do domestic work, gardening and sell fruit and vegetables. Economic activity
for most people in the slum has stopped totally and others were send on unpaid leave.

We strongly want to support the 400 households with whom we always have worked
and who are very needy and who have large families depending on them.

Shammah has 13 board members and 12 volunteers who oversee the smooth learning in
the institution as a whole and they are the same people who will protect and assist
the people in the community.

Read here the full project and the report !

 

New Building

The New Shammah Centre, in Kibera, build in collaboration with

Project 2017.0204

 

 Vocation skills

Computer Lesson

Farming

 

Sewing

Making Briquettes

Solar cooking