The Kiwanis Club of Kisumu carries out a number of projects and on-going programmes to assist disadvantaged children and youth.
Kiwanis Junior Academy
Kiwanis Junior Academy (KJA) is a nursery school that the club opened in May 2007. In addition to regular-price students, the school sponsors orphans and vulnerable children who otherwise would not be able to attend nursery school. Since 2007, Kiwanis Junior Academy has graduated twenty children who have moved on to primary school, which, other than books, materials and uniform, is free in Kenya. Currently, KJA consists of 54 pupils.
In addition to giving an educational foundation to young children, Kiwanis Junior Academy also serves as an income-generating programme for the club. Proceeds from the school help to pay the high school fees of a needy boy or girl. This year, proceeds from Kiwanis Junior Academy provided a scholarship to Bob Matete, a total orphan attending Kisumu Boys’ High School.
Kiwanis Junior Academy is located in Kisumu town at Canada Hall, across from Bishop Abiero Shaurimoyo Secondary School.
Scholarship Programme
Since 2007, the Kiwanis Club of Kisumu has provided more than 40 scholarships to help disadvantaged students with their school fees. While a few college students with special circumstances have benefited, most of our scholarships go to bright, needy high school students. In Kenya, high school can cost anywhere from $150 to $700 per year, depending on the caliber of the school and whether or not the student is boarding. In a country where the average income is $40 per month, the cost of high school is a tremendous burden and challenge for most families.
Each year in January, the Kiwanis Education Committee sits to review scholarship applications. Priority is given to total orphans (both parents deceased), particularly those who are in Form 3 or Form 4. The Committee also gives weight to applicants who are half-orphans (one parent deceased) or whose families face particularly difficult challenges.
Pictured below are some of the 2010 scholarship beneficiaries, and a letter from one.
Shana Pads (reusable sanitary pads)
Shana Pads are non-disposable, cotton sanitary pads that can be washed and re-used. In Kenya, many girls miss up to one week a month of school because they cannot afford to purchase disposable sanitary pads. Kiwanis took up the idea of a reusable pad in 2007 with help from an international volunteer named Shana. 100 pads were produced and sold to the community at a price of 25 Kshs ($0.40); unfortunately, due to the chaos of the December 2007-January 2008 post-election violence, more urgent needs came first and the pad project was put on hold.
However, with a grant from the Kiwanis International Foundation, the Kisumu Kiwanis Club has been able to re-initiate the Shana Pad project. Partnering with local tailors, the club has begun producing enough pads to pilot the project at a primary school in a Kisumu slum. The club hopes to expand the project into more primary and high schools both within Kisumu and in the surrounding rural areas.
Malaria Prevention Project
Kisumu Kiwanis is currently running a number of projects to promote malaria detection, treatment and prevention in children ages 2- 5. Collaborating with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health, Kiwanis is training teachers from low-income nursery schools throughout Kisumu on how to fight malaria in their schools and communities. At the same time, the most vulnerable pupils from the schools (such as half-and total-orphans) will benefit from insecticide treated mosquito nets. A city-wide song competition for nursery school pupils to promote malaria prevention will take place in October 2010.
The Kisumu Kiwanis Club is able to carry out these activities due to the generosity of Col. Donald Heppner, winner of the 2009 Kiwanis World Service Medal, and the Kiwanis International Foundation.