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Maji Mazuri Children’s Centre Kasarani

On 7th October 2011, all the Children at Maji Mazuri Children's Centre Kasarani were at Rock City, an amusement park for children, where they had a day of fun and games.

The trip, which had been sponsored by Julia Fingleson, who recently volunteered at Maji Mazuri, made a huge difference in the lives of these children because they got to do things that they have not done before.

They got to have fun and the park, which is disability friendly, had activities ranging from swimming, slow rides, bumper cars and thrill rides. Thank you Julia for touching the lives of these children in a very special way!

Maji Mazuri in Kiserian

On  December 8th 2011, Maji Mazuri team was in Kiserian to receive the  Rotary International  President who was visiting the  Maji Mazuri Kiserian project having chosen the Farm and school as a model. Through song and dance, the students welcomed the Rotary President to the project as an important event where communities join together and cerebrate the model that the farm has become.

Maji Mazuri Kiserian school held a friendly football match with Maji Mazuri Headstart and Matasia schools.

The event whose main aim was interaction of students and recognition of talent went well with Maji Mazuri Kiserian emerging as the overall winners.

The Maji Mazuri Kiserian Clinic continues operations and is now serving members of the surrounding community in addition to the students and staff.

Maji Mazuri Matasia Schools Staff workshops on 3rd September 2011 Reverend Wangai Gachoka, the National Campaign against Drugs Abuse (NACADA) representative facilitated a workshop, which was held in Mathare Valley.

This workshop brought together staff from all Maji Mazuri projects, with the aim of discussing the damage that drugs has caused in our societies and what we can do to stop it. The negative impact that drug abuse and addiction has had on our society leaves no doubt that I, we, you, need to do something about it. It is with this in mind that Maji Mazuri planned this workshop.

Carlo Chege, Regional Director of East Africa Social Enterprise Network (EASEN), 

held a one day Social Entrepreneuship training for the Maji Mazuri Management  team. The training, which was mainly on how to use social entrepreneurship skills at our workplace was interactive and beneficial to all who attended.

On 29th October 2011 Men from Maji Mazuri hosted a men’s counseling workshop which was open to all staff and members of the community in a bid to empower men and form support groups for men.

A group of Maji Mazuri staff and youth members also got an opportunity to attend an East African counseling workshop where they gained skills that they will put to use in the workplace.

On Thursday 24th November 2011, all roads led to Kiserian

as the Maji Mazuri staff gathered at the Eureka restaurant time of bonding through games and other activities to mark the end of the year.

Fun Photos 

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On the 11th November 2011, Mathare Valley Slum woke up to another fire tragedy. Some members of Mavuno lost everything from their livelihood to homes and businesses.

There are others still who were indirectly affected. Maji Mazuri was on the forefront in taking relief support to those who were affected on the day by giving food clothes and blankets.

Thank you for your contributions towards the fire victims.

Mathare Maji Mazuri Youth Group Peace Project held a peace rally in Mathare valley on 20th October 2011.

The event, dubbed  ‘Amani Mtaani’ (peace in the neighborhood) was organized by Maji mazuri youth, Miss Koch and SPI [Simama Pamoja Initiative], all of whom are Mashujaa wa Amani [Warriors of peace]. They advocated for peace in Mathare in a bid to quell tribalism, gender violence and crime in the community.  

The event was very successful as the youth reached even the most volatile areas in Mathare, preaching the message of peace to all generations.

The youth also held many other outreach activities, the most recent one being a cleanup event which consisted of more than 20 groups in Mathare and its environs and partly supported by City Council of Nairobi who donated  masks and plastic bags to put the garbage in.

The over 110 participants converged at 8.30 am for registration and by 9 am the event kicked off and members of the community joined in to give a hand in making their environment safe for human habitation.

The clean up also doubled up as a forum to preach peace and give the youth an anti crime message. Through the clean up, music, drama and speeches the community leaders passed the message across. The youth have made a major impact in the valley.

Maji Mazuri’s partnership with Nairobits has continued to bear fruit as youth from Mathare and environs have had their lives turned around. For the last 9 months, a total of 93 students have been trained in Course 1.

25 students are already in Course 2.  Of special note is three young people, who as  young boys growing up in mathare slums dreamed of becoming owners of a design company. It has taken them two years of training and experimentation to reach their goal, as they worked their way from nothing to something.

Today, Xposs designs is a registered  company and a partnership of three  Maji Mazuri youth group members , who include Victor Kebane, Joseph Karani and Jackson Muyeki. Their design work range from websites, mobile apps to banners and tshirts and they have been designing tshirts for the events that have taken place in the youth group.

The Headstart school continues to celebrate academic excellence and its reach in the valley, this past closing day saw the school term end with a sizeable increase in number of students and an improvement in the school results with the best students being awarded badges.

Headstart school will have its first Grade 8 candidates next year, and we are very grateful to the Younger family for their donation which will enable the school to have additional classes and make this possible for the students who look forward to sitting for their Primary School final exams at the school that has molded and mentored them into the people they are today.

Most of the students are members of the Mathare Maji Mazuri Teens Group, whose membership has now grown to a strong 70. Incorporation of educational tours and other outdoor activities have strengthened the group and motivated members to be committed to each and every activity in the program.

This has improved and widened their scope since they can now see beyond Mathare. It has also acted as an opportunity for the teens to change the environment and share ideas with the outside world. The focus this year was on Drugs abuse and substance, Environmental awareness, capacity and team building, Adolescence and reproductive health, Debates on topical issues, RC and peer counseling, self esteem and confidence, HIV/AIDS and life’s skills.

Our lovely volunteer Michelle Gerrard-Marriott

created LovelyByMaji's Etsy page! This showcases beautiful handcrafted items that would be perfect holiday gifts! All proceeds go directly back to Maji Mazuri Kenya. Check out:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LovelybyMajiMazuri

ATLANTA FRIENDS!

MEET MOONTOWER The 3rd Annual Xmas Show is Friday, December 23 at 8:00pm
at Tin Roof Cantina

2011 has by far been the best year for Moontower! Thanks to everyone for all the support! We are excited to be playing The Tin Roof Cantina for the 1st time on Friday, December 23rd! Once again, the show will benefit The Maji Mazuri Center! Thanks to you, we have raised well over $3000 over the past 2 years for this organization! NO COVER at the door but we ask that you donate $5-$10 or whatever you canl for the cause! There will also be a raffle for some really cool stuff! This is gonna be a really fun night of music as Moontower will be joined by many friends throughout the evening! So come on out, see some old friends, make some new ones and get the holiday celebrations started off right!!

Click here to RSVP on Facebook

Run for their lives

Read fantastic blog by Alison

Saturday, January 7, 2012, at 5:30am, a team of six will be running in the Disney World Half Marathon for the children of Maji Mazuri. We are running for the children waiting for sponsorships. We are running for their education. We are running for their shelter and safety. We are running to end their hunger. We are running for their health and physical well-being. We are running for their empowerment. We are running for the innocent children born into the depths of deep poverty. We are running so these children may break the chains that bind them---to end the cycle of extreme poverty they were born into. We are running for their lives!