Background
The village of Awasi is located in western Kenya, about 50 km east of Lake Victoria and 300 km northwest of the capital Nairobi. The long-standing spread of HIV/Aids has also torn apart countless families in western Kenya. Often at least one parent dies, so that a “normal” family life is no longer possible. In Awasi, we were able to observe that the duty of supervision is often neglected as people try to earn a living as day laborers – and therefore no longer look after the youngest members of society.
History of the Day Care and Community Center
The Mary Hill Selfhelp Group was founded in 2017 by Rose Omina and other residents of Awasi with the aim of sustainably improving life in the community. To this end, the members acquired a building plot in the same year and began to prepare the land for construction work. The Mary Hill Selfhelp Group is a registered association with an account at the National Bank of Kenya.
Ms. Rose Omina has been working for our health project in Nairobi, Kenya, for more than 20 years. She was trained as a social worker and now makes regular home visits to many residents of the Mathare slum in the capital. After many years of cooperation, we know Ms. Omina as a reliable partner.
Organizational profile and financing
The Mary Hill Selfhelp Group is a registered association in Kenya. As soon as the construction work has been completed, two caregivers will be employed to look after the young children from morning to afternoon. There will also be a cook – or, if there are not so many children at the beginning, one of the caregivers will take on this task.
Once the Daycare and Community Center has been completed, a strong network – with Kenyan and international partners – is planned. One example is Aktion Regen, with whom we have already worked successfully. Following this principle, many other organizations should come to Awasi, hold training courses and workshops – and leave their knowledge with the people in the community.
The planning and construction work is carried out by local experts (architect, construction company, etc.). This means that during the construction phase, a number of people in the village and companies from the surrounding area can earn money. In this case, we, the Austrian Doctors, are the international partner and also the donor.
As the guardians of the young children are very poor, it will be difficult to collect money from them for the care of the children. However, the residents of Awasi are also farmers, which is why everyone will contribute a small donation of food, which will be provided for the children at lunchtime.
Community Center: external project partners will also be invited for educational workshops on various topics (sexual and reproductive health, family planning, HIV/AIDS, but also economic issues, etc.). Any costs incurred will initially be borne by the Austrian Doctors. For events on economic topics in particular, participants should pay a certain amount to the Community Center if they are successful, so that further workshops can be financed. In this way, the Community Center should become self-supporting in the medium term.
