Education

Isiolo County, Kenya – Kambi ya Juu Integrated School needs assessment visit by Global New Generation Kenya and Rejoice Africa Initiative

Chrisphine — Sun, 18 Jul 2021 18:45:17 +0000

Children with visual impairments at Kambi ya Juu Integrated School using adapting materials for pre-braille pupils

After driving a short distance from the main road, we entered the gates of Kambi ya Juu Integrated School in Isiolo South Constituency, Isiolo County. We were greeted with a warm welcome from the school’s administration followed by a spurt of hand sanitizer to our palms.

The grins on the faces of the school’s administration and the chuckles from the children at the school mask the institution’s long standing needs.

Upon arrival, Rejoice Africa Initiative (RAI) and Global New Generation Kenya teams handed over foodstuffs, soaps and masks to the school’s administration – items that were central to the immediate needs of the school.

We were briefed before the visit that there is a shortage of food supply to the 359 children at Kambi ya Juu, 32 of whom are visually impaired and fully under the care of the school. But this is only half the story as far as the needs of the school are concerned.

Kambi ya Juu Primary School was started in 1982 by the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), and later became an integrated school in 1985 in order to serve both non-disabled and visually impaired learners. The integration was initiated by a visually impaired philanthropist – Reuben Oyani – who mobilized funds to construct a shelter in the school for visually impaired children.

The school mainly hosts children who are visually impaired, but also serves children with various forms physical disabilities. It also acts as a child rescue center providing refuge for girls at risk of early marriages, orphaned and neglected children and children living with HIV/AIDS.

According to Jennifer – the head teacher at the school – even though the school is under the national government, and therefore a recipient of monetary support from the Ministry of Education, the support only covers the costs of school stationery, such as chalks and books despite the need for food as well.

“The Ministry of Education also supports the school with food, however, it is not enough and doesn’t come every term like it is supposed to.” Says Jennifer.

Because of the food shortage, Jennifer has had to supplement government food supply to the school with occasional food support from well-wishers, who include the office of the District Education Officer (DEO), NGO’s as well as international and local philanthropists.

Sometimes when there is no help forthcoming, Jennifer and her members of staff are compelled to contribute money amongst themselves to buy food items for the children.

The school has a stalled kitchen building that requires support to complete. It is part of a planned lasting solution to prepare food and sustainably feed children at the school.

“Most of these children only have one meal a day, and that is why we are hoping to complete the kitchen, have sufficient water to grow our own food and be able to cook meals in the school that are enough for everyone”. Jennifer says.

Amina, one of the longest serving teachers at the school, joined Kambi ya Juu in 1995 making her one of the teachers who deeply understand the challenges the institution faces. Visually impaired herself, Amina shares first-hand experience of the challenges children have been forced to endure at the school for decades. She points out that amenities at the school are not disability friendly.

“Apart from food shortage and strained access to clean and safe water, amenities such as toilets are located fairly far from the classrooms and dormitories making them inaccessible to visually impaired and physically disabled children, especially at night. The school requires special needs classrooms for children with visual and physical challenges”. Amina says.

Classrooms and dormitories with toilets within them are critical needs to children who are visually impaired and those with physical disabilities in order to reduce the risk of injuries or harm when trying to access pit latrines located away from classrooms and dormitories. According to Amina, toilets within the classroom and dormitories or nearer to them ensure children are safely assisted by teachers whenever they need to use a toilet.

Amina adds that, because visually impaired children reside at the school, they need clean and safe water for daily use. This is important because the school – which does not have a perimeter wall – is located around hostile communities, exposing children walking to fetch water a distance away from the classrooms or dormitories to human attacks.

According to Jennifer, the borehole within the school compound has been a source of conflict between the school and the local community, making it difficult to guarantee safety for children who have to struggle with members of the community to use the borehole. She adds that there needs to be a dedicated borehole for the children located near school classrooms or dormitories.

Despite the challenges, the significance of Kambi ya Juu Integrated School to Isiolo County cannot be stressed enough. It is one of the 3 schools in Isiolo County that address human disabilities, and the only one that caters for visually impaired children in the county.

The school has made great impact in the lives of children who would otherwise be abandoned and hopeless. One such beneficiary is Mahat, a 17 year old boy who went through primary education at Kambi ya Juu, where he learnt how to read and write, and is now pursuing secondary education at Thika High School For The Blind.

According to Mahat’s parents, Mahat lost his vision at infancy. Because of this, he stayed home while his siblings went to school. It was through community outreach that Kambi ya Juu identified Mahat at the age of 6 years and enrolled him for special education.

Agnes Lekunye from Samburu is another example of the progressive impact the school has continued to make through saving girls from early marriage. Agnes had low vision – a condition that significantly affected her ability to read printed information. It was at Kambi ya Juu that Agnes learnt to read and write, did her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams and secured sponsorship to train on hair dressing, tailoring and pastry chef. She currently runs her own salon in Meru town.

The school takes learners through the standard Kenyan curriculum, but visually impaired learners’ work is braille embossed, alongside using other special learning materials and equipment. Embossing is done by specialized printers whose outputs are braille characters on a paper for tactile reading by a visually impaired learner. The school, however, is in need of more of these machines and their accessories.

L’apprentissage global à Berlin, c’est génial !

Sonja Prinz — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 08:18:00 +0000

Flyer design Anja Okwuazu

Africa Youth Days

Sonja Prinz — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 05:29:06 +0000

Opening Festival

Le 11 août 2019, nous avons ouvert les Journées de la jeunesse africaine sur la Leopoldplatz avec un festival public, qui se déroule dans le style de la Journée de la jeunesse africaine. Toutes les initiatives, associations, groupes et bien sûr les habitants étaient invités.

Il s’agissait d’un engagement clair en faveur de la tolérance et de la coexistence pacifique, mais aussi d’un engagement clair contre la discrimination, le racisme et toutes les formes d’exclusion.
e festival d’ouverture a été soutenu par :

Aktion Mensch, Aktionsgruppenprogramm- Engagement Global, Quartiersmanagement Pankstr., Stadtteilkasse Berlin Wedding

Africa Youth Weeks

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AVEC LA PAROLE CONTRE LE RACISME

“Mit spoken Word gegen Rassismus” est un atelier de l’Innitiative Perspektivenwechsel. Plus d’informations

Les intervenants* de l’initiative Perspektivenwechsel proposent un atelier d’histoire interactif pour les jeunes de 12 à 21 ans. Ensemble, nous voyagerons dans le temps jusqu’au Cameroun. Le pays d’Afrique centrale a été une colonie allemande pendant 35 ans, les participants apprennent à travers des bandes dessinées, des images et du matériel audio et vidéo, les différentes stratégies de résistance anticoloniale du Cameroun. Il est urgent de parler de la discrimination raciste avec les enfants le plus tôt possible. De cette manière, les modèles d’exclusion raciste sont exposés et examinés de manière critique. Les élèves plus âgés* réfléchissent à leur propre position et à leur propre responsabilité.

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Aimeriez-vous penser comme une entreprise d’un milliard de dollars ?

Vous êtes-vous déjà demandé comment des entreprises d’un milliard de dollars comme Snapchat, Instagram et Google ont pu développer et mettre sur le marché leurs nouvelles idées ?
Ou imaginez un avenir :

Dans lequel vous imprimez vos vêtements à la maison 3d ?
Où les drones ont-ils remplacé liefarando ?
Où il n’y a plus de rues et où les guerres ne sont qu’un mauvais rêve ?
Bienvenue au concept de Design Thinking.
QUE NOUS DÉTRUISONS AUJOURD’HUI ET RÉVOLUTIONNONS L’AVENIR.
Avec Design Thinking, vous pouvez changer le monde.

Conférencier Thomas Gitonga Kalunge M. Sc.

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BUILD A BOTTLE WALL

3.10.19- 5.10.19 Dans le Permakulturgarten Peace of Land

Inspirés par les bâtiments Earthship merveilleusement créatifs dans lesquels les gens vivent en autosuffisance avec les ressources de la nature, nous construisons ensemble un mur de bouteilles et de paille d’argile. Nous traiterons des choses fascinantes qui peuvent être créées à partir de matériaux recyclés et de la façon dont on peut s’en procurer. En même temps, nous apprenons une technique très ancienne, à savoir la construction écologique avec de l’argile et de la paille, qui était traditionnellement utilisée dans de nombreuses régions du monde et qui connaît actuellement une renaissance en Allemagne. Nous tamponnons l’argile avec nos pieds et construisons un mur avec nos mains. Couper des bouteilles avec le coupe-bouteilles peut vous inspirer à faire tout ce que vous pouvez avec des bouteilles vides.

Au cours de l’atelier pratique, nous recevons encore et encore des contributions d’autres utilisateurs du jardin, par exemple une courte excursion dans la construction écologique avec de la paille, de la pierre, du chanvre, de l’argile et du bois. Nous explorerons les risques des microplastiques et nous chercherons ensemble des alternatives au plastique et aux autres matériaux. Quels sont les avantages de réutiliser les matériaux usagés au lieu d’en acheter de nouveaux, et quel serait l’impact global d’un changement de comportement des consommateurs ? Les principes de base de la permaculture seront également un apport important, car l’atelier aura lieu dans le jardin de permaculture.

Africa Youth Day Gala

Nous sommes très heureux d’annoncer notre événement de clôture des Journées Africaines de la Jeunesse. Le 1.11.19, la Journée de la jeunesse africaine (Africa Youth Day) proclamée par l’Union africaine. Plus d’informations suivront bientôt.

www.africa-youth-day.com

Permaculture Course in Ghana

ON Team — Sun, 02 Jun 2019 20:18:21 +0000

Permaculture Course

by Global New Generation Berlin and Ghana Permaculture Institute

Is your passion to bring lasting changes? Do you want to solve environmental and social problems in your community and around the world? Do you want to learn permaculture knowledge and deepen practical skills to apply it directly to your life? Do you want to meet people who think the same way as you? Then read on …

Take part in our all-day permaculture design training. The training takes place on an area of 24 ha in Techiman/Ghana. The 2-week Accredited Permaculture Design Education program provides you with the knowledge and skills you need to sustain sustainable systems in your personal life, in a community or worldwide. Permaculture as a design practice has its roots in a deep understanding of the relationships between living creatures to their animate and inanimate environment. It is our aim to understand these ecological relationships to secure a lasting basis for life for nature and people: ecologically, economically and socially. At the end of the course you will have acquired in-depth knowledge and practical skills for sustainable living and design. You are sure to be able to create your own Create permaculture designs. You can create and be an inspiring example of change. Be part of it.

3 home-cooked meals per day during the course (vegetarian/vegan available)
14 nights accomodation
Expert tuition from Paul Yeboah and guest teachers
Practical permaculture learning
Time to connect with like-minded people
Immersion in an inspiring, regenerative space
flight from Berlin to Accra and back
Transportation from the airport to the institute
Visa taxes Childcare possible (on request)

INVESTMENT
1500,00 Euro
course time: 2020 January 10th to January 24th
Please contact for more information and to secure your place.

CONTACT
Global New Generation e.V.
Upsalaer Str. 6, 13189 Berlin
info@global-new-generation.com
Tel.: +49 (0) 30 – 61 63 66 27, +49 (0) 176 23 47 04 17

#PromotingPublicKnowledgeOnSDGsInKenya

ON Team — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 17:42:31 +0000

We conducted the final piloting workshop on developing SDGs awareness tools with a team of selected young basketball players from Divine Word Parish in Kayole, Nairobi. It was a great learning experience for everyone involved. #PromotingPublicKnowledgeOnSDGsInKenya

Visit a l’ecole de Kounoune

Sonja Prinz — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 21:13:54 +0000

Audjourdhui nous avons remis les dons des parents d’élèves de Berlin et nous avons parler sur les conditions d’enseignement a l’école primaire de rufisque, Kounoune. L’école a 800 éleves 11 professeurs de français, deux professeurs d’arabe ce qui fait que les enseignants se retrouvent souvent avec 70 élèves dans une classe.

L’eau est un problème a l’école, ils ont une pump électrique qui fonctionne avec énergie solaire. Sde ravitaille s l’eau a kounoune mais pas partout, ca fait que il y a beacoup des maisons sans eau. Il y a des gens qui ont commence à voler l’eau à l’école, la pompe a était cassé a plusieurs reprise et la pompe ne fonctionne plus bien. L’école a ferme pompe à clés, mais ça a éte cassée. Comme l’état ne paie pas les factures d’eau pour L’école, ça fait que la pompe est la seule source d’eau pour 800 éleves. Souvent il y’a l’eau que a partir de midi. Le gardien decole ne peut pas cultiver a cause du manque d’eau. Et il y a des enfants qui viennent a l’école sans avoir manger. La salle des enseignants est occupé par le gardien, comme l’état ne donner pas de salaire pour le gardien, les parents ont essayes de cotiser un peu alors il dort aussi dans la salle des enseignants. Il y a une salle IT qui ne marche pas non plus. En gros les enseignants sont engagés mais ils ont des mains attaché face aux conditions qui devront être résoudre par le gouvernement sénégalais.