Kariobangi North Where Hands of Love Educational Centre operates is a low-income residential estate in northeastern Nairobi, Kenya. It has four residential areas, Marura, Kanyama, Githembe and ‘Lightie’. Lightie is the short for Kariobangi Light Industries – a previously (late 80s & early 90s) sparsely populated area that was reserved for small scale enterprises aimed at building the entrepreneurial base for the area. Hands of Love Educational Centre is located in ‘Lightie’. Kariobangi North borders Huruma estate to the west, Ruaraka to north Korogocho to the East and Kariobangi South to the s come from these surrounding estates as shown in the map below.
Kariobangi North
Kariobangi as a whole has a population of about 60,000 people but the catchment area of the school which is shown in the map above has a population of about 20,000 people. About a third of this people live in extreme poverty in slum type dwellings constructed using recycled or found materials. For this segment of the population childcare and early childhood education costs more than they’d earn in a job. Lacking access to the same educational and developmental resources as their counterparts from higher-income families during the vital time when 90 percent of a child’s brain growth occurs they are saddled with an insurmountable disadvantage when they join primary school. this is the challenge that Hands of Love Educational Centre is working to address. We educate, feed and clothe these children; nurture their families; and building hope. Currently we have 141 children representing 114 households