Kariobangi Outreach Children's Home Chicken Shed

Hello friends!

I have been helping a children's home in Mathare, a slum outside of Nairobi, since just before the pandemic started. It is called the Kariobangi Outreach Children's Home. I have been helping an arts program (singing, dancing, drawing and making colorful mats).

The director of the children’s home, Ade Rogers (also called Rogers Ade), has asked me to help them start a Chicken Shed Project.

Background: Some of the children/youth at the home have been orphaned, and some live at the children's home because their parents or extended family can not afford to raise them full-time. Many of these children come from rural communities outside of Nairobi and go home for short visits a few times a year.

The new Chicken Shed Project: The children and youth will learn how to build chicken sheds (see photo) and then build them for the rural communities from which they come. This new project will provide their rural communities with much-needed food support and give the youth carpentry and building skills to help them support themselves in the future.

The ask: I am inviting you to help me fund teaching the children how to build and install the first chicken shed. The total cost is $2,000. It can happen if 20 of us can contribute $100/each! It’s a small enterprise but will have long-lasting effects.

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Below is a link to a beautiful video about the children’s home's most recent completed project: creating a music video to accompany their song "Peace Kenya," which they wrote and performed with the recent Kenyan elections in mind. The video opens with three presentations (a student, the director, and a mentor), each describing the story behind this musical creation. The music video begins at 2 minutes 53 seconds (after a short false start). Many of the home's children and youth have been orphaned due to election-related violence. This song and video speak to the importance of embracing peace instead of violence, and it is stunningly beautiful and moving.

There is no mention of the Chicken Shed Project in the video, but it is a beautiful expression of the Kariobangi Children's Home's vision for the future: Peace, Love and Harmony. I hope you can take the time to listen!

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Please join me in helping the children/youth build and install their first chicken shed! It will be the start of an ongoing process.

Much love,

Deirdre

"Peace Kenya" written and performed by the Kariobangi Children's Home:

You can access the Kariobangi Children's Home YouTube channel here.