In Their Own Words
Our Vocational Students’ Poem of Thanks
REFORMED They laughed at us When we roamed the streets They scorned us When we over turned the dustbins They spat at us When we passed near them with tattered clothes And stinking bodies They sneered at us When we lay on the streets In the cold nights And heavy rains They starred at us When we sniffed glue They never took notice When we begged for food But today We design their clothes We build their mansions We dress their hair We drive and repair their cars We... [Read more]
Trip Gave Us Hope for New Education Center
I will first begin by introducing myself. I am a student who just graduated from Jomo Kenyatta University with a Diploma in information technology, sponsored by Jitegemee. I have been a child in Jitegemee from 1996. I hope to continue my education if that chance opens up for me. It was during our school vacation, in August 2009, when the Director informed me about some visitors who were to come that year. The visitors were none other than architects Mark Palmer... [Read more]
‘Street Children Need Support to Succeed in Life’
Over the past year, the staff and children at Jitegemee have faced many challenges emanating from difficult economic times. In 2009, Kenya experienced one of the worst droughts in our history, which killed animals and crops across the country and created wide-spread hunger. Today, thankfully, rain has returned and our economy has begun to recover. But the price of food and basic goods has remained too high for many poor families. Many children dropped from... [Read more]
‘Green’ Education Center Overview & Photos
Jitegemee has outgrown our current facility, a rented house in Machakos, Kenya. We are raising $200,000 to build a new “green” education center using a $90,000 matching grant. Overview Three classrooms to be separated by removable walls, which can be taken out to create a large hall for big assemblies. Solar shading and strategic building orientation (positioning the building to take advantage of the sun path) to keep our new facilities cool naturally. A... [Read more]
Q&A with ‘Green’ Education Center Architect
Q: What is Architecture for Humanity? A: Architecture for Humanity (AfH) is an organization that provides design services to people and groups that might not typically have access to architects, engineers, or designers. There are local Architecture for Humanity chapters all over the world. Q: What kind of projects have you worked on with Architecture for Humanity? A: I’ve been fortunate enough to work on some small projects locally here in Washington,... [Read more]
Jitegemee Places Second in GlobalGiving Challenge
Thanks to Jitegemee’s generous supporters, we won second place in GlobalGiving’s July 2010 Green Open Challenge— for both total donations and most unique donors. Combined with our matching grant, our $23,250 raised and $7,000 in bonuses totals $60,500 for our new “green” education center! This is huge for an organization with an annual budget of $70,000 a year. Watch the YouTube video below to find out more about what coming in second... [Read more]
A Life Changed from ‘Worse to Good’
From when I was born up to when I joined Jitegemee, my life experience was very bad. Before I joined Jitegemee, I was in the streets just sniffing glue and also drinking alcohol. I could be arrested and taken to a police station at any time. There was no one who came to see me in the police station, so I sometimes stayed there for months. When I was about seven years old, I went to the city of Nairobi. I used to take other people’s property and run away.... [Read more]
Architect’s General Plan Unveiled at Board Meeting
The architect’s general plan for our new “green” education center was unveiled and finalized April 24, 2010, at a fundraiser and board meeting in Boston. The project will cost about $200,000. The final design and plan reflects the recommendations the Jitegemee Board of Directors and the volunteer architects from the Washington, D.C., chapter of Architects for Humanity made in December 2009 to the planning committee in Machakos, Kenya,... [Read more]
‘Nyama! Nyama! Nyama!’ Shouted the Boy
“Nyama! Nyama! Nyama!” shouted the boy in the center of the circle as he cupped his hands around his mouth and leaned back, his voice cracking at the effort. “NYAMA!” everybody else responded. Looking around the yard of Jitegemee’s rented house, I was shocked to realize that every single student had contributed to the thunderous echo. Nyama means “meat” in Swahili and is the refrain in a Kenyan children’s game, signaling that the leader was... [Read more]
New Building Project Workshop Video
Jitegemee has partnered with the Washington, D.C., chapter of Architecture for Humanity (AfH) to design our new center. AfH is a group of volunteer designers that promotes design solutions to global, social and humanitarian problems. In August 2009, Rayya Newman and Mark Palmer, two volunteer architects, visited Kenya with Jitegemee board members to begin the design process. They conducted a five-day workshop introducing our teachers, parents and students to... [Read more]
Continued Success in Hard Economic Times
Hard economic times have hit Machakos this year, but Jitegemee has remained firm in its commitment to help vulnerable street children and youth grow in mind, body and spirit. Our region in Kenya has experienced a serious drought, combined with a financial crisis that hit Kenya like so many countries. As a result, the price of food has increased considerably. A bag of maize that used to cost about $17 (1,300 Ksh) now costs about $40, making it even more difficult... [Read more]
Plans to Build New Center Moving Forward
Jitegemee is pushing forward with plans to build a new center, where we can build classrooms big enough for our expanding program, dorms for homeless youth, a permanent kitchen for our feeding program and a library. Jitegemee has entered into a contract to buy a one-acre plot of land in Machakos on which our new center will be built. We plan to complete the sale in 2009 and begin construction in 2010. To make the dream of a new center a reality, Jitegemee will... [Read more]
Positive Effect on Almost Every Indicator
In early 2009, four students from Columbia University’s International Affairs program visited Jitegemee to conduct an independent professional assessment of our vocational program. The complete report, including all data and recommendations, is available by clicking here. This January I travelled with Emma San Segundo Riesco from New York City to Machakos, Kenya. Emma and I had been working on our Masters in International Affairs and fervently studying everything... [Read more]
When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade
Our new building project is a perfect example of the old adage, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” We were in for a shock when we went to Kenya in 2008 to purchase the sprawling one-story building and grassy compound we are currently renting in Machakos. We learned the landlord had changed his mind about selling it, and that we only have about three more years there before we have to leave. Initially, it was a big disappointment, but... [Read more]
Tremendous Growth Among Our Students
Many of you have followed the news of the post-election violence in Kenya with worry for our program. We are grateful to report that our students in Machakos were safe and sound during the chaos that took place elsewhere in the country, and that Kenya is now back on the road to peace and prosperity. We are pleased to report tremendous progress among our students. Over the past year, we have had no drop-outs from elementary school, as we have worked to ensure... [Read more]
Bringing the Internet to Jitegemee’s Youth
I had the opportunity to visit Jitegemee with Farah, a friend since childhood. It was my first trip to Africa, let alone Kenya or Machakos, and I had very little idea what to expect. Farah promised me the people would be friendly and that as long as I avoided drinking water from taps I’d remain healthy. She was right on both counts. S ince I work primarily on the Web, Farah tapped me to help connect Jitegemee’s classroom to the Internet—something I was... [Read more]
Microfinance Pilot Project a Success
Nothing has made me prouder of our work with Jitegemee than seeing the success of the microfinance pilot project. This year, after much planning and research, Jitegemee finally ushered in the final phase of its vocational program: loaning small amounts of money to young people who have mastered their vocational trades. During my trip to Kenya, nearly every Jitegemee graduate who took a loan reported significant increases in their monthly earnings. John Maingi... [Read more]
Student Always in Top 20 of His Class
Years ago, primary education in Kenya was not free and mandatory. Many children from poor backgrounds were unable to receive an education. Many problems forced these children out of school—broken families, hunger, poverty, and lack of money to pay school fees. One of our sponsored children frequently hung out with a very jovial boy in tattered clothes. This boy, a smiling kid named Kivua Kiilu, appeared very comfortable in the streets. He did not have anywhere... [Read more]
Grooming Young Kids to Succeed in School
The Jitegemee scholarship program is a very unique program. Under the program, we identify needy children at a very young age and reach out to them with nurturing and assistance. We ensure that they remain focused and motivated in pursuit of academic excellence. We believe it grooms a child at very early age to succeed at school and shapes both their present and their future. In order to motivate these children to work hard in school, Jitegemee has committed... [Read more]
‘Street Children? These Were Normal Kids’
Having known Jitegemee’s founder, Farah Stockman, for over ten years, I have watched Jitegemee grow from an idea into an institution. This summer, when the opportunity to visit Kenya presented itself, I jumped at the chance to learn more about Kenya and Jitegemee. When Farah first told me that Jitegemee served street children in Kenya, I didn’t know what to expect. My first thoughts were of the destitute children that you often see on television commercials. ... [Read more]
No Longer Sniffing Glue & Abusing Drugs
Life has been hard right away from my childhood. I used to live with both of my parents. When I attained the age of six years, they took me to a nearby primary school, where I was enrolled in class one (1st grade). By then my father was a drunkard with no source of income and he was not able to pay my school fees. My mother worked as a casual laborer and with the little she earned, she bought us food and paid my fees. Sometimes when dad came home drunk, he... [Read more]
Seeing Ancestral Africa with Own Eyes
As a child growing up in rural Mississippi, I always dreamed of traveling to Africa. My mother and father used to tell my siblings and me about how our ancestors came from there long ago. I wanted to visit that distant place from which our ancestors were stolen. Books and films did not satisfy me. I wanted to see Africa with my own eyes. This May, I got the chance. My niece Farah Stockman founded Jitegemee, and for the program’s 10th anniversary, she invited... [Read more]
‘Pioneer’ Class of Vocational Students Graduate
This year, we are celebrating many accomplishments. We marked 10 years of a steadily growing program. We moved to a new building, where we have classrooms, a minilibrary and offices. We built a kitchen and began a lunch program for our students. We have an active advisory board of local professionals who have been instrumental in the planning and implementation of our programs. But perhaps the most exciting development has been the graduation of our “pioneer”... [Read more]
Struggle with Poverty, Prostitution & Drugs Over
Last year, our new vocational class was a collection of shy youth struggling with poverty, prostitution and drug use. This year, these same 25 young people are confident, reliable workers immersed in their second phase of training. Each morning, they go to work as apprentices to carpenters, welders, tailors and hairdressers. Every lunch hour, they eat together as a class and share experiences. Once a week, they meet Jitegemee staff for counseling, learning... [Read more]
Camping with the Jitegemee Kids
After hearing about Jitegemee for several years and seeing only glossies of the kids and staff, I finally got the opportunity to make the visit and see it all for myself, in August of 2004. I wasn’t disappointed. We arrived in Machakos to find the program’s small classroom of energetic students on the first floor, nestled amongst other quieter businesses. A class of 25 vocational students were convened in the classroom, where they were learning about things... [Read more]
A Child with Sticks & Weeds in Her Hair
Years ago, when I was teaching street children in Kenya, a little girl came into my class who had a particularly troubled look about her. She had sticks and weeds in her hair, as if she had just come from sleeping on the ground. She had torn clothes on, an unruly smile, and an undoubtedly empty stomach. Something about her was wild and different from the other children in the class, who were also destitute, but well accustomed to the daily exercise of our informal... [Read more]
‘May God Bless the Jitegemee Program’
I remember some years back when I was not in the Jitegemee program. My life was very strange because I was not going to school and I was very bad behaved. Now when the Jitegemee program was started I joined St. Mary’s Girls Primary School. But when at first I joined the school my mother told me that I had no right to go to school and I deserve to stay at home. I was very angry and noted into my heart that I would not step in the school not even a single day.... [Read more]
Trip Highlight: Meeting the Kids
This August, I flew to Africa to meet the children. When I joined the board of Jitegemee last year, I knew only what founder Farah Stockman had told me about Africa and the street children she had taught there. I spent a lot of time before the trip looking at maps of Kenya and reading about Machakos, the semi-rural town southeast of Nairobi, where Jitegemee runs a scholarship program for homeless and destitute kids. Of course, nothing could have prepared me... [Read more]
Thank You for a Promise Kept
Five years ago, I made a promise. I was a volunteer teacher at an informal school for street children in Kenya. My students were orphans, homeless kids, former prostitutes, very poor kids, and children just released from juvenile jails. Yet every young face had one thing in common: the indomitable desire to learn. I told them: “If you work hard to change your lives, I will work hard to support you.” This letter is a message of thanks to all of you... [Read more]
