When does ‘free’ mean free? In Kenya, while primary education is notionally at no cost to the child or family, there have long been additional levies and other costs charged, which mean that for the very poorest and most vulnerable, school remains out of reach. This problem is getting worse. Kenya, like many other sub-Saharan African countries, is seeing unprecedented economic growth, giving rise to a burgeoning middle-class who are happy to spend a little extra to improve their children’s education. Continue reading → Add Comment VACANCY: Research, M&E Officer 11/24/2011
WVP Kenya is seeking a Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer to support with the on-going monitoring of WVP Kenya programmes as well as research activities. For more details, please visit The end of AIDS? we are so close... 11/21/2011
The results of a huge clinical trial prove that if people living with HIV receive anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, it prevents the spread of the virus to their partner. This ground-breaking evidence gives us a fantastic new tool to fight the epidemic. When coupled with a combination of other effective prevention, treatment and care efforts it gives us the chance to begin to bring an end to AIDS. ARVs have a huge impact on the lives of children living in households affected by HIV. The availability of HIV treatment allows a HIV positive parent to live a normal life, enabling them to be caring and supportive parents and minimise the risk of passing HIV on to the other parent - again to the benfit of children as they are less likely to become orphaned. World AIDS Day is coming up. Help us convince our leaders that we need to scale up and sustain current levels of HIV treatment funding. Go to stopaidscampaign.org/endofaids to make sure they do. The End of AIDS? from Stop AIDS Campaign on Vimeo. Out October Newsletter 10/03/2011
is out! Have a read and find out what we have been up to. Click http://eepurl.com/f9rHT This month we had a proposal to Wereldkinderen approved to expand our community capacity building programme. The programme will over a 5-year-period build the capacity of 16 communities from 4 districts in Kenya and benefit 1400 orphaned children and their households. The programme will strengthen the capacity of community groups to provide care and support for orphaned children. The programme will also mobilise and strengthen children protection services in the Bondo District. We look forward to report on the progress of this programme. Between May 20 and June 3, WVP Kenya, together with the International Network for Caregiving Children and the London School of Economics, exhibited a selection of pictures taken by some of the caregiving children participating in our programmes in Kenya. Through writing, the children explained what the pictures meant to them and the exhibition gave the children an opportunity to share with others what it means to be a caregiving child in Kenya. The exhibition coincided with a number of meetings held at the LSE where academics, practitioners and policy makers got together to discuss how best to bring caregiving children on the policy agenda. WVP Kenya is at the forefront guiding this agenda. WVP Kenya and the exhibition received press in news outlets such as the British Medical Journal and The Guardian Newspaper. The article featured in the Guardian can be accessed here and pictures from the exhibition can be viewed here. Building Scholarship Pride and Ownership 07/18/2011
Over the April school term break, the WVP Kenya Bondo office held five community forums with scholars and their parents and guardians. The aim of these community forums was to develop a united plan of action for scholars, parents/guardians and WVP Kenya to ensure that scholars will make the most of their education opportunities. At each community forum, the parents/guardians and scholars were engaged to openly discuss the challenges scholars face at school and at home. From these challenges identified, the participants were further encouraged to examine how they impact a scholar’s academic performance. Challenges noted included the lack of textbooks available at school; scholar illness or the scholar having to care for an ailing family member, resulting in school absenteeism; inadequate moral support from parents; lack of food at home; and low school standards on teaching quality, among others. All these factors contribute to underperformance at school by scholars. WVP Kenya then facilitated a brainstorming session on what actions scholars and parents/guardians could take to help resolve these challenges. Two key pledges made at the community forums were for the scholars to place greater effort and focus in school to improve their academic performance and for parents and guardians to become more involved in their child’s education (e.g. daily monitoring of homework, attending school events etc). In seeking community input and consensus on what measures to take, WVP Kenya hopes to foster a greater sense of scholar ownership and pride in the Scholarship Programme, strengthened by the care of their family and other community members. Regular community meetings with parents and guardians will be held by both the Bondo and Lugari offices to ensure continued strong communication and support for the scholars. 140 new scholars in 2010 10/12/2009
It has been confirmed that WVP Kenya, with support from the Chello Foundation, will be taking an additional 140 children and youths to school in 2010. We will then have over 400 scholars in school. In 2010, WVP Kenya will for the first time take five students to university and other specialised institutions. We have commenced the identification of scholars and look forward to welcome 140 enthusiastic students to our scholarship programme. 'Join us in our journey' campaign 09/10/2009
WVP Kenya has started a three month fundraising campaign in the UK. The aim of the campaign is to have 100 people sign up for payroll giving/give as you earn. Details of the campaign are listed below: *Become a WVP member for as little as £1 a month!* *Helping the neediest Kenyan children in the most effective way* *100% of donations will go directly to the children we support* *Fill out the form below to join our journey!* (post it to the Charities Aid Foundation, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4TA) The recession has had an impact on everyone. However, those hardest hit live in sub-Saharan Africa. The global recession has affected local businesses and opportunities in Kenya and the recent instability in the country has inflated food prices. As the recession takes its toll on the GDP of the G-8 states, so will the amounts of money allocated to foreign aid. These changes are now exacerbating the high levels of poverty and infectious diseases that Kenya continues to battle with. WVP Kenya is helping some of the most vulnerable households in western Kenya cope with poverty and disease. We also work to give children a fair start to life by providing them with scholarships so they can fulfill their potential and contribute to the prosperity of Kenya. We need your help to combat disease and poverty in western Kenya. As you too are also likely to be feeling the impact of recession, we would like to introduce a scheme that allows you to pledge more than you will end up donating. The scheme is called payroll giving (or give as you earn) and applies to UK residents with a salary and those on a PAYE pension. You can chose to donate as much as you like each month from your pre-tax salary, so money that would normally go to the tax-people will instead go to WVP Kenya. All donations that you make through your salary are totally tax free, which means it costs you less to give. An example: If you are in the 20% tax rate and pledge £10, it will in reality only cost you £8 If you are in the 40% tax rate, it will only cost you £6 to pledge £10 to WVP Kenya. We think that's a very good deal. You can join our journey by either asking your employer for information about payroll giving/give as you earn. They will provide you with a form to fill out. Alternatively, the link above has a form which you can post directly to the Charities Aid Foundation. The details you need are: Charity Name: World Voices Positive (WVP Kenya) Charity Commission number: 1119300 CAF Sponsorship number: 21000527660 Our address: 24 Sumner Street, SE1 9JA London Should you wish to sign up for this scheme you will automatically become a member of WVP Kenya. We have four types of memberships: Monthly pledges: £1-4 (BRONZE) £5-9 (SILVER) £10-39 (GOLD) £40+ (PLATINUM) All members will receive a gift and a membership certificate from WVP Kenya with their welcome and introduction pack and receive regular updates of how donations raised from this scheme are being put to use. Our aim is to raise £1000 every month from this scheme. All we need is 100 people to sign up to this scheme who pledge £10 each. This would enable us to help hundreds of children fulfill their potential, free from diseases. If you would like to join us in our journey and become a member and have submitted a payroll giving form with your employer, please e-mail us your name, postal address and size of pledge to join@wvpkenya.org.uk Should you not wish to commit to the payroll giving scheme, you can pledge a one-off donation or set up a standing order through our website We would greatly appreciate if you could spread the word of our campaign and invite others to join. If you have any questions, please email Morten on m.skovdal@wvpkenya.org.uk Anger and anxiety over "leaky" condoms 09/10/2009
NAIROBI, 10 September 2009 (PlusNews) - Kenyan AIDS authorities are struggling to restore public confidence in condoms after an alarming news report recently showed locally stocked brands to be defective. KTN, a local TV station, showed the condoms, purchased from vendors in the capital, Nairobi, being tested by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS). Subjected to an electronic “freedom from holes” test, which involves filling them with water, the condoms sprung leaks. "This will seriously affect the confidence of those who have always been consistent in using them - how do members of the public know what brand is safe and which is not?" asked Hilary Okoth, a 30-year-old Nairobi resident. "Imagine a woman who is supposed to negotiate condom use as they are always told," he added. "The man will simply tell her 'those things leak, it doesn’t make a difference'." Hot, one of the condom brands featured in the news report, was recently banned in Zambia after the Zambia Bureau of Standards found holes in them. Assurances According to Nicholas Muraguri, director of the National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Programme, NASCOP, most condoms imported into the country are of sound quality. "I want to assure Kenyans that those are isolated cases and the condoms that are distributed by the government - which account for 75 percent of what is used - are actually of high quality and pass WHO [UN World Health Organization] standards," he told IRIN/PlusNews. KEBS - responsible for quality control of products sold in Kenya - does not routinely test imported condoms. "We cannot deny there are cases of low quality condoms in the country because they have not been passing through the Kenya Bureau of Standards for quality assurance," Muraguri said. "The government is joking; how can a product that involves saving human life be allowed into the country without going through rigorous quality tests?" Okoth questioned. Muraguri said NASCOP had asked KEBS to test all brands of condoms sold in Kenya for safety, with a view to banning those found to be defective; the bureau is due to release a preliminary report on 11 September. "I think we need to do more in monitoring the condoms that enter the country," said James Gesami, assistant minister of public health. "We are endangering the lives of our people by letting condoms that cannot stand the quality test into the market." Condoms are a key component of Kenya's HIV prevention strategy, with at least 160 million distributed in the country annually by the government. | join our email list for updatesArchivesJanuary 2012 CategoriesAll |
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