Developing Lifelong Skills to Break the Cycle of Poverty
Families living in poverty in Kariobangi, Nairobi face a difficult decision when it comes to daycare for their children. They typically have one of two options:
- Leave their kids home alone for up to 7 hours; or,
- Pay for them to attend a crowded, unlicensed preschool with untrained teachers/caregivers
Hands of Love Educational Centre offers a safe, healthy and supportive alternative.
Through early childhood education, nutrition and health services and interactive family support, we help kids to develop lifelong skills to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and build stronger communities.
Early Childhood Education
Hands of Love offers a child-centered, holistic approach to the care and education of our students. By making learning fun and interactive, we engage students to develop problem-solving and social-emotional skills in addition to mastering basic academic lessons. Our goal is to foster a lifelong love of learning and equip students to thrive in primary school and beyond.
Students progress through four levels:
- Pre-primary 1 (age 4 yrs)
- Pre-primary 2 (age 5 yrs)
- Grade 1 (age 6 yrs)
- Grade 2 (age 7 yrs)
All our teachers are fully accredited and committed to the education and care of our students. Our curriculum aligns with the Kenya Early Childhood Development Service Standard Guidelines and the Kenya Institute of Education Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) syllabus. You can review the core foundations of our curriculum here.
Nutrition and Health Program
Children need a well-nourished and healthy body to learn. Unfortunately, many of our students come from families where they do not get enough food and have limited access to health services.
We support the health and nutrition of our students by:
- Providing two meals a day (breakfast & lunch) six days a week. In 2021 we served over 68,000 nutritious breakfasts and lunches at a cost of US$0.18 per meal. Food costs are offset through our rooftop garden and chicken coops, which also serve as a unique and fun learning lab for the kids.
- Conducting regular health screenings (including dental and eye clinics), facilitating hospital visits to children who are sick, and overseeing the administration of medicines. (For a majority of children, the Centre is the only way they can access proper health services.)
- Responding to regular health outbreaks in Kariobangi, such as cholera and other water and sanitation related diseases. We work hard to ensure our children remain safe by teaching and reinforcing healthy preventative measures every day.
Interactive Family Support
Children cannot succeed without loving and supportive families. Unfortunately, many children at the Centre live in situations where they do not receive the love, care and support they need to grow and blossom.
We support families and encourage their participation by:
- Personally reaching out to parents to involve them in their kid’s schooling and bring their attention to important school activities. Our teachers also share various techniques parents can use to support their children’s education at home.
- Gently educating families about good parenting skills and attitudes. This is especially important since some of our parents have little exposure to proper parenting skills. We also work in collaboration with the Lea Toto Program to provide access to seminars and counselling sessions.
- Providing resources to families in need. For example, we have provided food, household items and funds to help families in difficult situations to get back on their feet. We have helped families move when there was flooding in Kariobangi, assisted women to escape from abusive partners and helped parents to find employment through the collaboration with other partners.
- Playing a valuable custodial role in the lives of kids, keeping them safe and well-nourished. Since parents can go to work knowing their children are safe, their family’s general welfare and outlook are improved.