A dream come true

Spending twelve years in secondary and primary school to make your dream come true is the primary goal of every student. Scoring good marks and getting your dream course in your dream college is a big deal.

Before I talk of my experience at the University, I would like to first thank Hatua Likoni for giving me this opportunity of getting education and reaching where I am. Thank you Hatua.

I knew I achieved my goal when I was admitted to the Technical University of Mombasa to pursue my dream course of Procurement and materials management.

When I fist saw Technical University of Mombasa, what attracted me most was the stately white building with massive pillars. Just imagining that I would be attending my classes in them made me happy and nervous in a good way.

Saturday story reading at the Likoni Empowerment Library

If you want to learn about the different talents of children, teach them something and you will be amazed at how fast they learn, adapt themselves and offer greater ideas of their own.

At the library, we have started a story reading time every Saturday morning starting at 10 am. The aim is to encourage reading culture, realize new talents and improve on public speaking skills among students in Likoni.

The library hosted 40 students the first week of story reading, all from Joy Land primary school in Likoni. The next Saturday, the number of students increased to 60.

The students shared ideas after the story reading, and asked questions from teachers and gap year students who were there to assist them. To participate in story reading, please email omondi@hatualikoni.org or join us at the Likoni Youth Empowerment Centre and Library on Saturday at 10 am.

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Mombasa County Deputy Governor, Hazel Katana visits Hatua Likoni

Deputy Governor Hazel Katana and Miss University Kenya visited Hatua Likoni Youth Empowerment Centre and Library on Sunday, June 16th, for International Day of the African Child.

Fittingly, Director Gabrielle Fondiller and Co-Director Peter Kwame used the opportunity to inform our visitors on Hatua Likoni’s mission and the substantial progress that Hatua has made in furthering that mission. She was so impressed with the program, particularly the children and the library. She registered herself as a member and borrowed books, promising to come back for more.

Hatua students were very happy with her visit. She also read story books to the young children, and advised Likoni Community Football League(LCFL) members to work hard, emphasizing that practice makes perfect. She told The Likoni Youth Agenda group to be strong and take any challenge as a stepping stone and persevere.

Coming up is The Global Party 2013 party at Florida 2000. Florida 2000 is hosting The Global Party 2013 to support Hatua Likoni give scholarships to top performing students in Likoni who can't afford education.

The invitation-only fundraising event will go from 6pm to midnight on Sat June 29th. At midnight the party is open to all. Come party with us--each drink you buy will help support Hatua Likoni!

If you'd like to join us for the fundraiser at 6pm, email gabi@hatualikoni.org to receive your invitation. If you like to come after midnight, just show up at Florida 2000. Can't wait to see you there!

Click here to view more photos on our Facebook page.
Click here to read more about the Global Party event in the Star Newspaper.

 

HIV Outreach to 10,000 Students in 40 Schools

Hatua’s gap year students finished high school in November and will enroll in college and university later this year. During their time out of school we help our students learn new skills through community service. This year our gap year students are teaching HIV education to secondary school students throughout Mombasa are part of TOWA (Total War Against AIDS), a behavior change communication project funded by the Kenya National AIDS Control Council.

Twelve Hatua students are participating in TOWA as peer educators. They began their work in December by being trained as HIV peer educators and by creating an original play depicting the consequences of unsafe sex.

Since January our students have presented their play and conducted follow up discuss at 40 schools, reaching a total of 10,000 students.

While the goal of TOWA is to encourage behavior change among participants at the schools we visit, our students have told us that being peer educators has helped them to change their own behavior. In particular they have become confident public speakers, able to act and talk in front of a crowd of hundreds of peers. “Before joining TOWA project, I was very shy and could not talk publicly, but after visiting several schools and being one of the peer educators, I had to talk publicly and now I’m glad that I can speak confidently in front of a crowd of people” says Cynthia Kwamboka, a Hatua student.

Next year we hope to conduct a school outreach program in partnership with Save the Children teaching financial literacy skills to high school students.

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Students Start Small Businesses

As Hatua's gap year students get ready for their first year of university, instead of relaxing they are keeping very busy. Their latest effort, called Hatua Enterprise, is a collect of small business projects through which our students are learning small business management skills.

So far they have made and sold beaded bracelets, liquid soap and bleach. They have also grown and sold vegetables. Next they will learn to make yogurt. Through these small business projects our students are learning how to produce profitable goods using low cost local materials. They are also learning marketing, customer service and record keeping skills. As they earn they are saving their income and reinvesting to purchase inputs for their next project.

Winnie Muthina, Hatua's Mentoring and career guidance coordinator, explained “We try to help our students know that education is a necessity for a successful business, and that with business skills they can be self reliant no matter what comes in the future.”

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Hatua Scholarship beneficiary (Peter Makau) joins University of Nairobi, School of Law

MY FIRST DAY EXPERIENCE IN CAMPUS

It is a nice experience joining the University of my Choice to pursue the course in which I have passion, Law. Though I was a little nervous, I was glad to undergo through the whole registration process on my own during the first day. Thanks to the academic staff members who treated us with uttermost respect and professionalism. I am now a comrade of this prestigious university. I remain optimistic that I will pursue the purpose for my admission to the best of my capability.

Cognizant of the tremendous effort Hatua Likoni has made on me up to this juncture, I take this opportunity to pass my sincere regards to the entire fraternity. I am indebted and grateful. I also recognize the opportunities I have volunteered in the organization. The skills I have acquired overtime will enable me to be a better person and also participate effectively in all spheres of my university life.

 

The best way to thank you is to pledge my continued success in my academic endeavors and other aspects of life. The gargantuan education investment you have undertaken within Likoni will never go unrecognized; because there will be a pool of able youths within Likoni, who shall competently fit in the global job market, come what may.

I am aware that success today does not guarantee success in the future but the option is to tread along the path of success with zeal, passion, hard work and determination. This is my pledge. Thank you.

Writen by Peter Makau,

A Hatua Scholarship Beneficiary.

Students have reported back to school

Finally, the schools have opened and students have gone back to school. For Hatua Scholarship students, they have not been left behind as they have also reported back.

The staff have given them advice to work hard and achieve all their dreams. Most of the students feel lucky to have earned a scholarship position in Hatua organization and have promised to work hard.

 

"Nothing makes me as happy as knowing that my dream of getting education has come true, this has encouraged me to work harder with the knowledge that opportunity comes once in a life time." said one of our scholarship beneficiaries, Melvin Nafula.

Hatua students have fun

Every holiday Hatua students attend mentoring classes. Every Friday during this April Holiday, Hatua staff held a series of fun games for students.

This gave them a chance to enjoy and further socialize with the staff and their mentors. On the first Friday, Hatua staff competed against the students in a football match. It was a great success, as the students and staff cheered each other on.

On the second Friday, the students competed in various athletic games against each other according to their class levels. They held running competitions, and competitions to carry sticks in their mouths, among others.

The students got a chance to enjoy as well as develop their career dreams further through socializing with the staff and asking them questions about their careers.

“These children are our family. Spending time with them makes them know they are loved and appreciated and are important to the whole Hatua team,” Said Winnie Muthina, Mentoring and career guidance Coordinator.

Click here to view more photos on our Facebook page.

Hatua Farming project

This year’s rainy session has been an opportunity for Hatua Likoni to cultivate 3acres of its 4.5 acre piece of land in Kwale County that was bought last year.

On the 3 acres of land that has been cultivated we have planted maize and once the harvest is done by the end of August, we plan to sell the produce to the neighboring schools and use the profit to develop the farm. With this sessions profit we intend to install piped water to make it possible for us to farm throughout the year and increase our yield. We intend to recoup whatever profit we make back to the farm so that the farm grows itself. 

This is the first time Hatua Likoni has ventured into agribusiness and done a farming project of this magnitude. ‘We are all anticipating a good harvest’ said the Program Director, he further expressed that it is an interesting project to do as the results are short term unlike the other set goals within the organization.

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Likoni Empowerment Library Shows Educational Documentaries to Children

Likoni Empowerment Library shows educational documentaries to children every other Friday. This is a new project started by Evans Omondi, our Resource Coordinator.

The aim of this project is to encourage a culture of reading for our students and the Likoni community at large. This documentaries are educational in nature, and always have a lesson to teach the students at the end. For the students that don’t like reading, they benefit through these documentaries by developing a love for coming to the library.

 

“We got many students when we put on this documentaries, it is amazing how kids love watching educational movies. I believe this will help our children to love coming to the library and see it as a good thing and not as a taboo or a stressful issue,” said Evans.

At the end of the documentaries, the children are given an opportunity to ask questions and at the same time exchange ideas about what each one of them has learned.

Thanks to Safaricom Foundation donation of curriculum books, library users have tripled from 3000 to 9000 during April holiday and doubled from 3000 to 6000 during school days.

At Hatua Likoni, we try to make sure that the children enjoy while they study and we do our best to instill a culture of reading in them.

Hatua Scholarship Fund Students visit Sea Submarine Communications Ltd (SEACOM) in Mombasa.

Last week Hatua students who are interested in Information Communications Technology(ICT) visited the SEACOM company in Mombasa. They got an opportunity to learn about how African Internet works and how hard work pays. An assistant at the site explained to them how long it took to put up the internet cables, and the different ways they can be put up. It was especially interesting to hear that they put the cables through water!

SEACOM is a privately owned and operated pan-African ICT enabler that is driving the development of the African internet. SEACOM's vision has been built on the backbone of open-access and equitable principles.

SEACOM financed and developed the first broadband submarine cable system along the eastern and southern African coastlines, bringing with it a vast supply of high quality and affordable internet. Live since July 2009, SEACOM has seen more than a 10 fold increase in bandwidth penetration in several of Africa's most underserved nations.

SEACOM leverages its bundled backhaul, open access points of presence and global partnerships to provide high quality, cost-effective, end-to-end connectivity around the world. SEACOM also provides these services to land-locked countries in southern and eastern Africa.

Students were told the background of SEACOM and what the company has achieved and still hopes to achieve in Africa and beyond.

That is not all that Hatua students learned on that day, as they got an opportunity to talk face to face with Mombasa Senator Mr.Hassan Omar, who was also visiting the SEACOM company. The Senator took photos with the students outside SEACOM. The students asked the Senator many questions and he took time to answer them all.

Professional Career Guidance

Hatua's high school students receive more than a scholarship. They are given opportunities to meet professionals from different careers and learn about the various career paths they can pursue.

During the April holiday, Hatua's mentoring and career guidance coordinator, Winnie Muthina, invited professionals to talk with students, including Mr.Benjamin Muli, a land surveyor, Mr.Leornard Msalame, an accountant, Mr.Barua Mshenga, an NGO program coordinator, Mr. Moris Kawinzi, a sociologist, and Md. Dora Denis, a school principal.

These professionals volunteered their time to share their experiences with our students. They each explained how they choose their career, the steps they took to get where they are today, the ups and downs of their day to day responsibilities, and the qualifications required for someone interested in entering the field.

These talks were particularly helpful for form two students (sophomores) who are choosing the courses they will specialize in during the second half of high school, and which will then determine which courses they are eligible for in university. The talks were also very helpful for form four students (seniors) as they prepare to select the courses they wish to pursue in university.

We thank all those who joined us to share their experience with our students and we welcome other professionals to visit us on Sunday afternoon or during a school holiday to do the same. To join us as a guest mentor please contact winnie@hatualikoni.org.

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A letter to Hatua Likoni & LCFL

 

“You all are SO wonderful…I’m grateful for the opportunity to come see the important and meaningful work happening here. Likoni is certainly lucky to have you.

My stay was short, but I’ve been able to learn valuable skills from hearing your ideas and watching you each in your fitting roles. I especially love the time you take to greet one another, the way you value humor in the workplace, the dedication each of you has to your work, and the humble way you give generously.

Seeing how much you all seem to mean to one another and watching interactions between you and the students & families has emphasized the importance of RELATIONSHIPS in the work we do. I hope we will stay in touch. I wish each of you all the best…may you be successful, satisfied, and safe.

I leave with you a bookmark I made using the paintings done by my 3-year old class in Vermont – they graciously shared their work with me, as did Hatua Likoni – thank you for welcoming me and taking care of me during my lovely stay in Kenya. Much love and respect.”

By Jill Kirschner (Hatua Likoni Volunteer)

Likoni Civic Education Network--Training of Trainers about Devolution Government.

On Saturday, Likoni Civic Education Network had a meeting with local elected leaders, except the Mombasa Member of Parliament and Women’s Representative who sent their apologies.

The meeting’s agenda was to create a calendar of activities that are to take place in Likoni, one of which being the “Training of Trainers.” This training took place on Monday 8th 04 2013. Students were trained on issues to do with devolution government and community participation in development. The trained students will go to community where they will hold five ward forums in Likoni, Mtogwe, Bofu, Shika Adabu and Tibwani.

The forums will consist of 200 leaders such as religious leaders, chiefs, youth leaders and women leaders. Apart from devolution issues, the people of the ward will be given an opportunity to present the most pressing development issues within their region. This will be also extended to village whereby they will have 36 village forums with 50 participants.

“I feel that the Community has not been involved in development patterns within the county but with devolution government and what we are doing, the people of Likoni Community will be able to communicate their needs directly,” Said Peter Kwame, Hatua Likoni Program Coordinator.

“Hatua Likoni will gather all this information, combine it into one document , and give it to ward representatives to present it at the County Assembly. By doing so, we hope that Likoni will grow just like other districts in Kenya.”

Hatua Likoni looks forward to achieving this if  they receive funding for the project.

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Likoni Community Participation in County Development Planning.

Hatua Likoni in partnership with the Likoni Civic Education Network seeks to gather public opinion in Likoni and create a development proposal that will guide the advocacy efforts of Likoni’s representatives in the county assembly.

“As we shift our focus to the new system of devolved government we anticipate new challenges. Likoni is isolated by the ferry and therefore easy to neglect. It also had low voter registration and voter turnout rates making it less politically significant than other parts of Mombasa. To ensure Likoni resident’s development agendas are given attention we believe we must work to gather public views and compile a proposal which our newly elected county assembly representatives can use to advocate on our community’s behalf.” Said Gabrielle Fondiller, Hatua Likoni’s Director.

The Likoni Civic Education Network hosts a stakeholders meeting on Thur. March 21st at 9am. They invited 120 community leaders and politicians from around Likoni and the following three issues were discussed;

The importance of putting politics behind the Community and coming together to focus on development, The need for public participation as the new government selects those who will be appointed as Likoni’s local representatives under the new constitution, including the sub county administrator and ward forum representatives and Initial planning for village forums to collect views on development needs throughout Likoni.

The Likoni Civic Education Network asked for support from the Community Leaders in their efforts to gather public opinion in Likoni and create the development proposal. The plan will include a prioritized list of infrastructure and services needed in Likoni Community which the people wish to see addressed by the county government.

The Likoni Civic Education Network seeks to compile this plan in close collaboration with Likoni’s 5 newly elected county assembly members and Likoni’s 72 Village Elders. With help from community stakeholders they aim to assist each Village Elder to host a public discussion forum, then record and analyze the development priorities expressed within each forum and compile a detailed and prioritized development plan to be submitted to the county government through our representatives. There after , they will conduct public education to inform Likoni residents of the plan’s contents and encourage the community to act as watch dogs to monitor its implementation.

Click here for more photos on our Facebook page.

Likoni Youth Agenda visits Roland House Noor Orphanage Centre

Likoni Youth Agenda and Smiling Face Foundation visited Roland House Noor Orphanage Centre on 23rd March 2013. Smiling Face Foundation is a group of Youth who came together with the goal of visiting orphanages’ in Likoni and putting a smile on the faces of orphans. When they visit orphanages they bring items to donate, such as biscuits, juice, sanitary pads, among others.

On Saturday, Smiling Face Foundation together with Likoni Youth Agenda visited Roland House Noor Orphanage Centre in Likoni. For the children, they brought juice, biscuits, cakes, sweets and sanitary pads for the girls.

                                            
The children of the orphanage expressed their joy and thankfulness by entertaining guests with songs, tongue twisters and dances. All the members of the organizations mingled and socialized with the children.

“Every time we manage to put a smile on children, we feel happy and know we have made them feel loved and appreciated in our society.” Said David Mutunga, Smiling Face Foundation speaker.

“Hopefully, this event will lead to many more visits to Orphanages in Likoni, as the smiles of the children were really encouraging,” said Likoni Youth Agenda chairman, Festus Saidi.

Writen By David Mutunga,
A Hatua Scholarship beneficiary.

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Curriculum Books Launched in Hatua's Library

Hatua Likoni, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs, was pleased to celebrate the Library’s newest collection with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 2:00pm at the Likoni Youth Empowerment Center. 

  

Thanks to a generous donation of KSH 500,000 from the Safaricom Foundation, Hatua has equipped Likoni’s first community library with over 800 curriculum books for all primary and secondary school classes. The collection also includes two sets of KCPE and KCSE revision books and college text books for secretarial courses, accounting, computer science, entrepreneurship, statistics, management and administration, marketing and economics.

In the past, Likoni students had access to these essential school materials only if their parents could afford to purchase them. Now students can access these books free of charge seven days a week at the Likoni Youth Empowerment Center & Library. In addition to text books, our library also provides a conducive study environment and computer access to Likoni learners, both young and old. Over 40,000 people have visited the Library since we opened one year ago.

The ribbon was cut by Hatua Likoni Director, Gabrielle Fondiller, together with the Library's Development Steering Committee, who were happy to see the library continues to grow. In attendance was Mr. Colin Forbes from Base Titanium, Mr. David Ogal, Likoni's District Youth Officer, Head Teachers from Likoni Primary and Secondary Schools, and Rebecca Okwany from Daily Nation media in Mombasa, were in attendance.

Students in attendance presented poems expressing their appreciation to Safaricom and Hatua Likoni and presented a plaque to the Safaricom Foundation from Likoni Community Library.

Mr. Colin Forbes spoke last. To further encourage Likoni youth to work hard in their studies, he pledged that Base Titanium would donate an additional shelf-full of curriculum books. He ended by saying “if you put effort in, people will notice."                        

Along with all other books in Likoni's Library, our curriculum books are available to users free of charge seven days per week.

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A wonderful Volunteer experience!

I have thought about becoming a volunteer in Africa for many years.
Unfortunately, all the offers that I was stumbling upon on the web
required registering a few months in advance and a complex application
process. Not to mention that the majority lasted for more than several
months – which I couldn’t do because of my work responsibilities.
Finally I found Hatua Likoni which gave me the opportunity to follow my dream almost straight away. And ever more importantly, they cooperate with Likoni Community Football League (LCFL), the football league for U-12, U-14 and U-16 teams, of which I decided to be a volunteer.

Three weeks that I spent In Likoni were truly magical. In my everyday
life I am a journalist, I studied journalism and all my professional
experience is closely related with it. But I have another passion –
sport – which until very recently has only been my hobby. I spent
entire weekends watching league games and in the week I play with my
friends. Sport has always been a very important part of my life. As a
LCFL guest member I could finally share this passion with others. I
was able to show kids that sport can be a way of life, teach them
about sport rivalry and prove that thanks to systematic and hard work
we can fulfill our biggest dreams and goals.

I’m not a professional coach, I haven’t taught kids before. When I
went for my first training in Likoni, I was a bit confused. Dozens of
barefoot children, two balls and a pitch, which was nothing more than
a square between houses. But my anxiety disappeared immediately
after meeting kids who were training with so much joy and commitment.
After a second, I felt comfortable. It’s a cliché to write that both kids and coaches were incredible. But that’s the truth. They fascinated me from the very beginning. They did all the exercises with amazing curiosity, discipline and diligence.

With no experience whatsoever in running such type of trainings, I was
doing it alone after only one week. 40 kids, three different age
categories. How did I know what to teach them? During my first week I
was closely observing trainings conducted by Ben, who is the founder
of the LCFL and trying to remember the exercises proposed by him and
local coaches. I also watched hours of online content prepared by the
best sport channel in Poland, Canal+ (hello there!). Based on this, I
started to conduct everyday trainings in the team of my choice. I must
agree that I spent quite some time on preparing myself to the
trainings but I didn’t want let anyone down. Effects? On the first day
we started with simple ball passing and on the last one we were doing
Arsenal’s and Barcelona’s advanced tactics.

It might sound like a computer game but that was reality. I felt like
a real coach. And I was a real coach.

But trainings were only a key to learn about other, more important
things. I could observe the life of people living in completely
different conditions; something you won’t experience by going on trips
organised by travel agencies. Thanks to Hatua’s program, which
requires a lot of independence when it comes to arriving at the
trainings or eating out, I was able to come into contact with everyday
life of Kenyans. Was I scared at the very beginning? Sure! But with
time the daily travelling to the trainings, amongst ordinary people
living their regular lives, became my favourite parts of the day. I
can’t think of a better way to really know a foreign country.

If you have dreams, stop talking about them and start following them.
Just like I did thanks to LCFL and Hatua Likoni.

Writen by Kuba Jonczyk,
Hatua Likoni volunteer

Peaceful Elections in Likoni

“For the most part elections in Mombasa were peaceful, particularly in Likoni, which was the most peaceful part of Mombasa. That matters more than who won. We are grateful to everyone who prioritized Kenya and promoted peace. Kenyans voted for peace and progress. Thanks to peace we are now poised for progress.

Lets now turn our attention towards implementing our new constitution. We pray that those granted the responsibility to govern us act in good faith, follow an honest path and use wise judgement.” said Gabrielle Fondiller, Hatua Likoni's Director.

Leading up to the elections Hatua Likoni and the Likoni Civic Education Network created a DVD called "Know Your Candidates", aimed at addressing voters lack of information about the candidates vying in Likoni. Hatua and the Likoni Civic Education Network interviewed all willing candidates for County Rep and MP and asked the following questions:

County reps were asked:

·         To explain the main issues facing your ward and the solutions you propose.

·         Under the new constitution what are the roles and responsibilities of a County Rep?

·         What makes you different and better than your competitors?

MPs were asked:

• What are the main issues facing Likoni and how will you address them?
• What makes you different and better than your competitors?
• If elected what new law will you propose or existing law will you seek to amend in parliament?
• The biggest challenge facing Constituency Development Fund across the country is accountability, if elected what will you do to ensure accountability and transparency within CDF? 

The video gave Likoni residents a chance to know their candidates and what these individuals are planning to do for the community. To spread this information Hatua created 2,000 copies of the DVD and distributed it free of charge around Likoni. We also hired 30 video cafes to play the DVD for two nights free of charge to the public and gave the DVD to bars and restaurants throughout Likoni to be played on their TVs. Finally, we hosted eight open air shows all around Likoni.

Before this video, Hatua Likoni had created a series of peace video advert. These videos consist of well known people in the Likoni Community, including religious leaders, our local chief, business people, community organizers, school children, and a popular musician. Each shared their message of peace to the community, messages that were then aired during the month leading up to elections on a jumbo screen at Likoni's busiest transport hub. To further spread the message we included our peace adverts in our "Know Your Candidates" DVD. Click here to view our peace videos on YouTube.

Hatua Likoni donates books!

Blessed is the hand that gives. We feel blessed today after donating 944 English Fiction books to four secondary schools in Likoni.

The books were distributed equally to Likoni secondary school, Mrima  secondary school, Shika Adabu and Moi forces academy.

“We cant give scholarships to all Likoni students, but there are other ways we can try to reach all students in Likoni. One way to help schools create their own libraries." said Peter Kwame, Hatua Likoni Co-founder and Programs Director.

The books were received by teachers and student representatives from each schools. As we recieve more book donations we will continue to donate books to our public schools.

Hatua Likoni encourages donors all over the world to contribute in any way to benefit education. If you are interested in donating books please contact omondi@hatualikoni.org.

To view more photos cick on our Facebook page.