May 25, 2005—Each day up to 60 girls can be found scavenging among the large amounts of garbage at the Kenya's Hawkers Market, searching for food. Wamuyu Mahinda, of the Hawkers Market Girls Centre, says the girls, who live in one of Nairobi's biggest slums, adjacent to the market, are often the sole breadwinners for their families. "They come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Either the parents have passed on due to HIV/AIDS, or they are unable to find jobs," Mahinda says. For the past ten years, the Hawkers Market Girls Centre has been helping some of the girls find a safe alternative to scavenging. "These are girls who have no skills. So they are learning and earning. They are learning life skills as well as vocational skills, so they're able to earn a living for themselves and their families," Mahinda says. The Hawkers Market Girls Centre, in partnership with the Kenya Girl Guides Association, has just been given almost US$85,000 in a grant from the World Bank's Development Marketplace to expand their existing program so more girls can find a way out of the slums. Mahinda says her organization has so far only been able to train 18 girls a year. "But the need is so large. So we were looking for funds to expand the project so we're able to take in 48 girls the first year and then up to 96 girls in the third year," she says. A key element of this project is its plan to use education of the girls as a tool for conservation.  |  |  | | Development Marketplace 2005: Kenya Hawker Market Girls Centre |
| |
The Hawkers Market is overflowing with large amounts of waste and has no waste management plan. Much of the garbage is non-biodegradable, containing a high percentage of plastics and polyethylene. The girls will be instructed in activities such as recycling polyethylene materials into saleable items. They'll also learn other vocational skills, such as cooking using alternative sources of energy, harvesting rain water, and dressmaking. Composting will also be taught. "Compost is in demand. However, we have not been able to package it well, so that more people are able to take it from us, earning the girls more money," she says. Some of the grant funds will be used to explore better packaging of their compost for sale. Mahinda says the concept of "learn and earn" has worked well so far. "We find the program empowers the girls and gives them self esteem. The girls actually hold their heads up high and want to be different from the other girls in the slums." However she admits, not all the girls who've been through the centre have been keen to embark on the "learn and earn" program at first. "Initially they come in and they are not quite comfortable. But when they learn about the rights of girls, and they realize they can actually become like any other girl, who comes from a normal family, they want to learn." Mahinda says with the Girl Guides as a partner in the project, the girls from the slums have the opportunity to mix with girls from other schools and different backgrounds. "They realize those children are exactly like they are. The only difference is that their exposure is different. "In this program, the girls have a platform to become who they want to become. They don't have to be like their sisters, who are maybe working on the streets of Nairobi, doing all sorts of things, such as prostitution and drug trafficking," she says. |
RSS