Provision of furniture and scholastic materials
Project Background and Problem Statement
Dagoretti South Sub County community is a typical urban community in Nairobi County of Kenya, with above 95% of households living below the UN poverty line. The community has a growing population of over 7000 inhabitants who are poor peasant farmers with very low income. Women and children constitute a greater majority of the population. The living conditions of Rawalo community is very deplorable as families have to manage a single room for survival. Those mostly affected are women and children who bear the brunt of poverty for their survival.
The community operates a lone primary school, which is being attended by very poor and needy children, aged 4-12 years, many of whom are orphans. Indeed, the establishment of the school 15 years ago has facilitated school attendance for school going age children who had no access before and/or who used to walk long distances to attend school, especially the less privileged children. A total of 578 children attend Rawalo community primary school, of which we have 304 girls and 274 boys based on the head teacher.
Presently the school is being managed by the poor peasant community (Parent Teachers Association), who are doing their best to ensure that poor, needy children in this community have access to education, by struggling to raise funds to pay seven (7) teachers employed to teach in the school. The management of the school (the poor peasant community) is unable to raise enough funds to increase the number of classroom furniture’s (benches, tables & chairs). The school enrollment has gone beyond the available number of benches, tables and chairs. The situation of inadequate classroom furniture (benches, tables & chairs) in the school has caused many children to stay away from classes, making learning ineffective as it discourages weaker and younger scholars from coming to school since there is always fighting and scrambling for seating positions among younger and older scholars. An average of 5 kids’ seats on a bench, with some seating on the floor or stones. .
Equally, 90% of children (mostly orphans attending Rawalo community primary school don’t have basic school items. It is common to see kids in class with just a single exercise book serving three different subjects with no pen, no text book, no pencil, sharpener or eraser. Some come to school without an exercise book or a pen to write with, due to poverty. This has made teaching and learning difficult to both pupils and teachers in Rawalo community primary school. Essential school supplies like textbooks, exercise books, pen, pencils, rulers, sharpeners, chalks etc, forthese children will provide vastly improved learning capabilities, hope and a lifeline to a future out of poverty.
The Aim and Objectives of the project:
The aim of the project is to enhance the quality of education in Dagoretti South Sub County community primary school through the provision of more classroom furniture’s (benches, tables and chairs) and essential school supplies (textbooks, exercise books, pen, pencils, rulers, sharpeners, eraser etc) to poor, needy and internally displaced children attending the school.
The specific objectives of the project include:
To provide 25 desks and 25 chairs in community primary school;
To reduce fighting and scrambling for seating position among poor, needy, children during lessons;
To increase school attendance among poor and needy children in the community;
To provide essential school supplies (textbooks, exercise books, pens, pencils, rulers, sharpeners, erasers, etc) to poor, needy and internally displaced children attending the school.
Expected outcome of the project:
The following outcomes are expected to be achieved at the end of the project:
Teaching learning process improve as kids’ seat comfortable on benches during lessons;
Fighting and scrambling for seating position among vulnerable children stop;
Poor and needy children attending Ndongo community primary school have excess essential textbooks and other school supplies.
The quality of education received by poor and needy children attending Rawalo community school improved by 60%.
Beneficiaries of the project:
The direct beneficiaries of the project are 25 poor and needy children attending a community primary school and their seven (07) teachers. Indirectly the project will benefit over 2000 people most of whom are parents/guardians of these poor and needy children attending Dagoretti community primary school. Equally, the
project will benefit the future generation of the school as the items/facilities provided will last for many years.
