About half of all 44 million Kenyans live under the official poverty line; millions are small-scale farmers or live in appalling conditions in big city slums. The average life expectancy is only 61 years. Poverty, drought, food shortages, unemployment, lack of clean drinking water, poor equipped medical facilities and HIV/AIDS are a daily reality. Quality of state education is often poor. Classrooms are overcrowded, understaffed and undersupplied. In addition, inequality of women and girls is sadly still common place and they are therefore often affected most.

ChildsLife’s programs in Kenya benefit local projects in the areas of health, care, education, food and clean drinking water. ChildsLife works directly with communities, schools, children’s homes and medical facilities to reach the target population. ChildsLife works in slums and various rural regions of the country. Needs assessments take place by ChildsLife local staff and in cooperation with partner NGOs. ChildsLife also collaborates with government and community-based groups to implement programs focusing on care, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Years of in-country experience, detailed knowledge of the country and its many tribes ensures ChildsLife is known, respected and trusted by beneficiaries and partners alike. ChildsLife has been working in Kenya since 1996, and was registered as a local NGO in 2005.

→ ChildsLife in the slums

ChildsLife works in Kibera and Mukuru Kwa Slums in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Well over 1.5 million people live here, packed together in small huts, without access to clean water, sewerage or electricity. Extreme poverty, diseases like HIV/AIDS and high unemployment rates make it a place from which it is hard to escape. ChildsLife has local field offices in the slums from where projects are run.

ChildsLife Live, Learn, Earn HIV+ mothers program

The goal of the ChildsLife Live, Learn, Earn program is to create a self-sustainable future for HIV+ mothers who thought they no longer had a future. This unique program has a duration of 15 months and provides women in 3 phases (Live, Learn, Earn) with social support, medical care, food supplements, counselling, training and business training. Upon successful completion of the program the women receive a micro credit, allowing them to start their own business. In 2015 ChildsLife supported 150 women in 5 groups, 2 of which in Kibera slum and 3 in Mukuru slum. The average family in Kenya has 5 children. This means that by helping 150 mothers, approximately 750 children were given a chance to a better future. This program has proven highly successful and has supported over 1200 women to regain their independence and rebuild a future for themselves and their children.

ChildsLife Live, Learn, Earn HIV-Mothers Program 1	Achieved in 2015	In Plan 2015?	Children reached	Program Components
Support to 2 groups in Kibera (60 mothers)	√	√	± 300
Dry food supply in Kibera (60 mothers)	√	√	± 300
Support to 3 groups in Mukuru (90 members)	√	√	± 750
Spirulina food supplement in Mukuru (90 members)	√	√	± 750
Dry food supply in Mukuru (90 members)	√	√	± 750

1: Less mothers supported in ChildsLife Live, Learn, Earn program due to limited funding available.

ChildsLife Vocational Centre
The ChildsLife Vocational Centre, built by ChildsLife and opened in 2011, gives youth from Kibera Slum between 14-25 years old the opportunity to learn a trade and empowers them to promote their own socio and economic development. A range of courses are on offer such as tailoring, health & beauty, electrical engineering, computer graphics, amongst others. In addition, all students partake in computer classes and Life Skills classes. In 2015, 200 students took courses at the centre, taking an important step towards being able to provide for themselves.

ChildsLife Vocational Centre	Achieved in 2015	In Plan 2015?	Children reached	Program Components
Education for 200 students	√	√	200
School furniture	√	√	200
Salaries	√	√	200
Student sponsorship to 13 students	√	√	13
Opening of Kibera Girls Club after school program 2	–	√

2: Kibera Girls Club has not been started yet due to insufficient funding.

KAG Olympic Primary School
The KAG Olympic primary school, located next to the ChildsLife Vocational Centre, provides primary education to children between 3 and 14 years of age. In 2015 ChildsLife supported KAG Olympic with the provision of school books, teaching materials and food for the school feeding program for pupils.

KAG Olympic School	Achieved in 2015	In Plan 2015?	Children reached	Program Components
School books and education	√	–	550
Vegetables	√	√	550

Chema Vision Primary School
Chema Vision primary school is located deep down in Kibera Slum and provides primary education to the children of Kibera’s poorest families. The school was founded in 2009 and has grown rapidly ever since. In 2015, 260 children were registered at the Chema Vision school. In 2015 ChildsLife continued its school feeding program, contributed to school renovations, classroom furniture, and teachers’ salaries. ChildsLife also provided the 8^th grade pupils with exams materials needed for their final exams with which they will be able to continue their education.

Chema Vision Primary School	Achieved in 2015	In Plan 2015?	Children reached	Program Components
Food and education	√	√	260
Salaries	√	√	260
Supplies for school desks	√	√	260
School repairs	√	–	260
Purchase and provision of grade 8 exams materials (Clip boards, Maths sets)	√	–	18

ChildsLife has been working with several Maasai communities for years to structurally improve their situation by designing practical solutions together with the Maasai which lead to self-sustainability.

Maasai school projects
For a traditional tribe like the Maasai, education has become vital. Because of changing climates and modern lifestyle which encroach on their traditions, a future is no longer only in keeping a herd, it is in sending children to school. Unfortunately, Kenya does not have enough schools to provide an education for everyone. In addition, in the poorest of Maasai communities the costs of an education are too high for parents. That is why ChildsLife has supported various communities and a range of schools, both primary and secondary, in these remote areas.

In 2015 ChildsLife continued its multi-year schools’ development program in the Maasai region of Olepolos which benefits close to 1000 children. After completing development of Leshuta, Oloserian and Oloropil primary schools, ChildsLife began development of Eiti Kisamis primary school. The school was fitted with new classrooms, old classrooms were renovated, school furniture was provided and a water tank including water catchment systems were installed. The Eiti Kisamis primary school is now able to provide an education to 200 boys and girls.

Give a school a herd
In 2012 ChildsLife started the project ‘Give a school a herd’ which aims to provide schools with a source of income and become self-sustainable. ChildsLife donates cows or goats to a school. Each school looks after and grows the herds in order to able to sell offspring after some time. The income this generates is used for the purchase of school materials, food for school lunches, furniture, teachers’ salaries or school repairs. Since 2012, 4 schools successfully partake in this project.

In 2015 Leshuta Primary School in Olepolos started its participation in the ‘Give a school a herd’ project. ChildsLife donated 20 goats to the school. The project has been a success so far and both the school and Leshuta community are actively involved. The herd started growing soon after purchase which resulted in the school being able to sell some of the goats and reinvest the profits into the school soon.

Maasai Primary Schools Olepolos	Achieved in 2015	In Plan 2015?	Children reached	Program Components
Construction 2 new classrooms (Eiti Kisamis)	√	√	200
Classrooms repair- Oloropil School	√	–	150
Provision of 40 desks (Eiti Kisamis)	√	√	200
School goat project (Leshuta)	√	√	230
Classrooms repairs- 4 classrooms (Eiti Kisamis)	√	√	200
Provision of gutters and water tank	√	–	200

Makueni is a remote, dry and barren region east of Nairobi. The region suffers with widespread poverty and illiteracy as many of its inhabitants never attended school. Parents do realize that it is important for their children to have an education to be able to provide them with means to escape this poverty. ChildsLife has been active in this region for many years.

In 2015 ChildsLife provided support to 1360 children at 6 primary schools in Makueni. At Kathamboni and Syatu primary schools ChildsLife run renovation programs and equipped the schools with school furniture. In addition, ChildsLife built a greenhouse at Kathamboni primary school. A total of 5 schools in the Makueni region benefitted from the ChildsLife food program; the Kiunduani, Kwamaluvya, Kavumbu, Kathamboni and Syatu primary schools. In this region ChildsLife also supported the Oasis Children Centre ‘Sultan Hamud’ with the provision of beds for their girls’ dormitory.

Makueni primary schools	Achieved in 2015	In Plan 2015?	Children reached	Program Components
Classroom Repairs (Kathamboni)	√	√	350
Classroom Repairs (Syatu)	√	–	300
Food (5 schools)	√	√	1060
Supply of School Desks (Kathamboni)	√	√	350
Supply of School Desks (Syatu)	√	√	300
Green House Project (Kathamboni)	√	√	350
Gifts in Kind (Beds) to Oasis Children Centre- Sultan Hamud	√	√	300

As a means to create self-sustainability, ChildsLife places greenhouses at schools and communities. After installation the greenhouse is placed under school or community management. The produce of the greenhouses is utilized for schools or community feeding programs. In addition, as greenhouses provide more crop than required for own consumption, the remaining crop is sold at local markets. The income generated by vegetable sales is re-invested in the school.

In 2015 ChildsLife constructed a greenhouse at Kathamboni primary school in the Makueni region. The greenhouse is now fully operational and provides food for the school feeding program and generates an income for the school.

Over the years ChildsLife has built an expertise in the installation of water systems, varying from water tanks with rain water catchment systems up to complete water systems with deep bore holes, water troughs, storage tanks and piping systems. ChildsLife strives to provide as many Kenyan schools as possible with access to clean drinking water and depending on local circumstances a suitable solution is found and implemented. In 2015 constructed a water system at Eiti Kisamis primary school. The system consists of water tanks of 10,000 litre capacity each, and are installed complete with rain water catchment systems, hand wash and drinking points. With this project ChildsLife gives 200 children access to clean drinking water and helps them through the day in better hygiene, health and without thirst.

Other beneficiaries in 2015

• Kisii Children’s Centre with donations of food and furniture
• Hope House Babies Home with donations of furniture and baby clothing
• Oloropil primary school with classroom repairs

Hope House Babies Home	Achieved in 2015	In Plan 2015?	Children reached	Program Components
Gifts in Kind (Beds and baby clothing)	√	–	40
In kind donations- 10 Wooden cabinets	√		40
Kisii Children’s Centre	Achieved in 2015	In Plan 2015?	Children reached	Program Components
Provision of food and education	√	–	100
In kind donations – 30 beds	√	–