Smart Child Kenya

Our Vision

We envision a world where people in marginalized areas live healthy, safe and educated lives!

Our Mission

To raise awareness and encourage involvement while finding solutions that sustains us to improve the health and economic life, livelihood of women and youth in these marginalized areas.

Our Story

Smart Child Kenya was founded in 2008 and was registered on June 30, 2014, as a community-based organization in accordance with Kenyan law. Our organization empowers and advocates for Africa women and children, provides support and services, and develops programs for these causes. We rescue young girls and educate them to reach and achieve their full potential and dreams. We assist hard-to-reach disadvantaged women and girls and inspire, motivate and encourage them to overcome barriers to improve the quality of their lives. Our main ground working areas are in Narok Maasai land and in Limuru Kamandura. We are a holistic dedicated group of volunteers who want to stop FGM forced marriages and any kind of mistreatment towards the girl child life. We work with well wishers around the world, United Kingdom and U.S. who help support us in our community endeavors in Kenya.

Our organization aims to help vulnerable children develop and grow, especially girls. We work in 4 thematic areas:

• Education
• Child protection / feeding program
• Reproductive health
• FGM

Smart Child Kenya provides girls with washable menstrual pads and underwear that will last for years. By providing reusable cloth menstrual pads, we eliminate all environmental harm that thousands upon millions of disposable pads have on the planet.

Education

The case for girls’ education is well documented as one of the most important tools for mind development. Girls between the ages of 9 to 17 years old are in the stage of their lives where if they are not mentored, nurtured and empowered enough, they are very likely to lose their understanding of life as they continue to age.

Every girl has the right to decide their own future, but not every girl knows this! This is why we empower and motivate girls, which is crucial to ending child marriage. Empowered girls are able to reshape perspectives and challenge conventional norms of what it means to be a girl. There is usually a high level of poverty in communities where girls are not educated. High levels of poverty can affect the planet in many negative ways, and lack of access to menstrual products impacts millions of girls in Kenya. As many as 20% of girls fail to enroll in public or private education and because of this, there is an increasing drop out in school, early marriages, and early pregnancies, which limits the chance for these girls to chase their lifelong career dreams. Most African parents do not mind when their daughter is having her menstruation. However, the norm for girls around Kenya is that they use dirty rags, animal skins, old mattresses and leaves to menstruate. In some households, a parent will dig a hole in the corner of the kitchen that their daughter sits on for up to 3 - 4 days on end. As a result, it is tradition that the male parent is unable to enter the kitchen.

Sponsorship

We are in need of Sponsors for the Girls Primary and Secondary School Education.

Medical Assistance

We care for those who need medical support who have cancer, diabetes, HIV and Aids.

Feeding & Nutrition

Feeding is our second thematic area of SCK. The child protection and feeding program is our newest initiative that began in 2018. Here in Kenya, we have experienced long droughts and scarcity of food in the area, which has become a problem in recent years with the growing population. Many children leave their homes with very little food in their hands. As a result of this, SCK has created a program to fight hunger and food insecurity for young teenagers, adolescents, and toddlers. Our programs feed kids exclusively in the evening while they are heading home from school. The added energy from this food motivates the kids for the following day of school or work. We have extended our reach by asking for helping hands from churches, and through the generous support of kind-hearted people. We are proud to say that we have 60 children currently being fed each month, but with your help we can expand our child outreach program in our community. Our target is to reach 500 children a month. We also provide the children better health by deworming and treating skin infection diseases like ringworm. The cases of this disease have dropped significantly, however, it is our goal to fully eliminate this problem from Kenya.

Ruth's Rescue House

The house has basic furniture and we are in need of beds, mattresses, waterproof flooring and additional furniture. This rescue house is where we host the young girls who have chosen to run away from their homes where they would be sold into marriage and FGM.

New Programs

We have some children who are sick with cancer, and they need support for their medical needs. There are also some families who have diabetes. They need treatment and also education on how to properly live with diabetes and control it.

Our village is in need of proper sanitation and toilets. The toilets we have built so far are 3 double toilets in order to stop the cholera outbreak in our village. Having more toilets will make our lives easier and more healthy. No one should have to wait in line daily to use the toilet. Community toilets could be bigger because it is more cost effective to build larger ones to accommodate more people. We also need liquid washing detergent supplies.

The Sewing Circle will empower the women in our village as we have 10 ladies ready to go and start sewing. Sanitary towels will be sewn for the girls and additionally, we can sell them to local organizations such as Pads4Africa. They will be able to create blouses, clothes and pads and sell it in order to make some money and to be more self-sufficient. This sewing program will provide income, security and independence for many women. We would like to purchase 2 new sewing machines, an overlocker, fabric, and a clean, dry place to work.

Project Output

By the end of 2021 we will conduct the first evaluation, and our expected project output will be:

• More girls will be in schools, secondary and university.
• Parents will become more aware of the FGM dangers and abandon it all together.
• More people will be fully aware of the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic.
• Due to sponsorship for education the number of children below the poverty line will decrease.
• Communities where girls are forced to drop out of school for personal or family-related reasons usually have a high level of poverty. Education is the key to unlock a golden future for all the family.

Each girl in the program will receive a sanitary kit, which consists of 4 pairs of undergarments, 12 reusable menstruation pads, 3 face towels and 15 writing pens. One kit will take a girl through a full 12-month year. The cost per kit is $10.50.