SPONSORSHIP IMPACTS ON AIC KANZINWA CDC BENEFICIARIES AND CAREGIVERS.
SOCIO-EMOTIONAL CATEGORY
In order for each of our registered beneficiary to interact with people in a healthy and compassionate manner, strategic, timely and effective implementation is key to this outcome and its three related indicators.
At our Frontline Church Partner and in the last Financial Year 19 we have implemented trails of activities that are aligned to this area of development. We normally have termly peer mentorship program, that is our 60 well performing and behaved registered beneficiaries in high school, colleges and universities out of 104 normally mentor, encourage, guide and counsel their junior beneficiaries so that they can exercise self-management, self and social awareness in making responsible life choices and exhibiting effective interpersonal relationship skills. This has motivated majority of our beneficiaries that has led to creation of a culture of excellence, positive spirit of competition and self-management.
On 3rd-7th December 2018 45 Strathmore University students and 5 lecturers camped at out FCP offering a free career mentorship program, guiding, counseling and encouraging 180 beneficiaries and 29 non-registered from neighboring community this enhances community ownership thus promoting local resource mobilization.
Fortunately we managed to get a volunteer who is a Mass Communication graduate and former intern at Kenya Broadcasting Corporation at our FCP in January 2019 who passionately commenced a journalism club amongst our beneficiaries in primary school level who learns at our church based private primary school, this club comprises of 45 active members in grades 6-8 this has made beneficiaries to demonstrate interpersonal relationship skills which include effective verbal and non-verbal communication, building, relationships, negotiation, conflict management and refusing to participate in negative behaviors related activities. This has really ignited on languages; English and Kiswahili speaking in confidence. From the video clip are some of journalism club members who have gained courage and confidence to express themselves
We have an active scouts club of 35 registered beneficiaries who managed to get an invitation to State House in last year November 2018, they managed to go. This has brought a positive impact to respective beneficiaries for example exposure wise and career choosing.
We networked with KenGen power generating company which freely gave us 300 tree seedlings that our beneficiaries planted and each takes care of one tree every day. This makes them be responsible of their surrounding environment and themselves.
COGNITIVE CATEGORY
Our FCP has been zealously working with and for our registered beneficiaries to ensure that each of them exhibits the motivation and skills to be economically self-supporting.
To ensure that our beneficiaries completes at least primary school education we opened a church-based private primary school within the church in January 2015, our church-based private primary school is fully registered with the Ministry of Education. In the last two years our primary school who have been candidates in grade 8 sat for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2017 and 2018. We have been recording 100% transition to respective High schools unlike if they were in public private schools where transition was as low as 40%. In 2017 we had 41 candidates while in 2018 we had 38. This has created confidence in all primary school going learners to believe in themselves. Leading candidate in 2017 scored 84% in Mathematics and a total of 368 marks and now in Mang’u high school as a result of this, he got full school scholarship till form 4 by that esteemed National school so we do not pay his school fees. In 2018 the leading candidate scored 92% in mathematics and 375 marks in KCPE and currently admitted in Meru School which is a National school as well.
For our beneficiaries to cultivate unique vocational interests and intelligence we have been networking and mobilizing resources such as textbooks, food stuffs which is brought by the project caregivers to support feeding program in our church based private primary school and since from 2015 we have never run short of food, this made us scrap out the commonest account 40 which is facilitated by the Compassion International Inc. Monthly support funds and local resources from the project caregivers, Moran publishers, Area Member of Parliament, and Strathmore University. On 3rd-7th December 2018 45 Strathmore University students and 5 lecturers camped at our FCP offering a free career mentorship program, guiding, counseling and encouraging 180 beneficiaries and 29 non-registered beneficiaries. We later networked with Strathmore University who gave our registered beneficiary number 00097 four years full scholarship of 1,300,000/= in form of university fees to pursue Bachelors in Commerce at their esteemed university in March 2019 intake. In total in Financial Year 19 we mobilized resources worthy 5,190,000/= all geared towards holistic development especially cognitive development.
And to ensure that our beneficiaries utilizes at least one income generating skill, we have been intensively been training our registered youths in agribusiness especially in germinating trees planting seedlings such as for mango, pawpaw and Melia volkensii locally known as Mukao, currently we have 3,500 various tree seedlings at the FCP, we have been selling them and banking cash from their sales to boast our survival ratio and as a step towards sustainability of the project. We have 15 competent registered youths and 3 caregivers that have been intensively trained on ball making and they have excelled in that. We have been selling balls made by our registered beneficiaries and banking to increase our project survival ratio.
We opened a total of 175 minor bank accounts with Kenya Commercial Bank for our registered beneficiaries and over 45 for respective project caregivers and we commenced family income generating activities to respective beneficiaries using family gifts funds send to respective beneficiaries by their beloved supporters. For example beneficiaries numbers 0002 and 0124 owns motorcycles (bodaboda) that operates earns them 200/= or 2 US Dollars daily. Beneficiary number 0124 has over 200,000/= which is equivalent to 2,000 US Dollars in his minor bank account since we bought him the first motorcycle for this purpose in 2014. We normally encourage all our project caregivers and our supported beneficiaries.
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT CATEGORY
We have been passionately and zealously been working towards making sure that each of our supported beneficiary demonstrates commitment to the Lordship of Christ as an FCP.
To ensure that each of our beneficiaries knows and understands the Bible, our project patron has been committing himself to attend Pastoral Program of Instructions (PPI) and intensively teach our beneficiaries in upper primary at our church-based private primary school on every Friday morning which is the first lesson on that day. This makes our 214 primary school going beneficiaries in our church-based private primary school. We have been training our beneficiaries on playing musical instruments and holding open air crusades that supported youths led.
We have been working closely with Global Youth Ministries in training all clergy servants and respective Sunday school teachers from which our beneficiaries attends either Sunday school or church service. We have check registers in all those church that tracks church attendance of all children and youths whether supported in this FCP or not and the project staffs they keenly and frequently monitor. Global Youth Ministry has chosen us to be the Eastern Region learning and teaching materials center of distribution. We have a church that we are coaching on Children Ministry by the name Africa Inland Church Kathamba and we have distributed freely issued teaching and learning booklets to over 80 FCPs within the Country for the last one year. Global Youth Ministry personnel normally trains our beneficiaries on quarterly basis in various levels such as puppet ministry, momentum booklets levels 1 to 4 and Kuza App. This has made our beneficiaries know Gospel and has made a profession of faith appropriate of the universal Gospel of Christ.
Our registered beneficiaries are actively and passionately practicing spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study, worship and study. This is vividly portrayed by the way our 214 beneficiaries conducts themselves before they start their studies at our church-based private primary school, they voluntarily conduct morning devotions and prayers before any lesson commences. We do not have Saturday programs since we normally implement curriculum on Tuesdays and Thursdays, our youths spares two hours on Saturdays to do community service especially door to door evangelism.
One of our stationery suppliers freely donated Bibles to the 15 Survival mothers who have really benefited from them.
We commenced a Sunday school feeding program since as a church we are blessed to have most of resources such as a modern kitchen, piped water, utensils etc. and the church members contributes porridge flour. This made Sunday school enrollment from 84 to 156 children.
CAREGIVER ENGANGEMENT
For project ownership, sustainability and succession squarely lies on respective stakeholders at Child Development Centre. And for effective FCP management project caregivers are very important key players that cannot neither be undermined nor ignored. Empowered families expands to a community and empowered communities translates to an empowered society.
We have been intensively engaging our project caregivers with an aim of empowering their living standards to above World Bank poverty line bearing in mind that statistical poverty index data is alarming in this community. To promote high literacy levels of the project caregivers we have an active adult class of 40 caregivers, they usually learn twice per week. They are in three categories of basic education, primary and secondary school levels, we intend to have them graduate and get certified by the ministry of education. We employed one survival mother who holds C+ plus in KCSE to teach adult class in primary school level, this is made to appreciate her education and serve as a role model.
We have intensively trained a group of 60 project caregivers on agribusiness especially tree seedlings; mango, pawpaw and Melia volkensii for selling and planting at their home gardens with an aim of putting a juice processing industry or plant in 5-8 years’ time. Currently they have over 1,800 seedlings at the project and they also sell to earn them income.
We have 40 project caregivers who are rearing dairy goats Toggenburg and currently they have 102 goats that produces a lot of milk for both domestic and commercial use.
We encouraged the project caregivers to open their bank accounts with KCB bank and currently 45 of them did so and frequently save for their families’ future use.
In FY 19 alone we renovated 24 houses using local contribution of bricks, sand, water and concrete and manpower of project caregivers grouped according to sub-regions that they come from to help the 24 families that benefited. And 120,000/= for each from Compassion International Inc. Kenya. Kudos to Compassion International Inc. Kenya for timely and effectively honoring their partnership agreement with our church here in Children Ministry.
CHILD PROTECTION CATEGORY
Child protection is the kingpost of Child Ministry here because we cannot neither release our supported beneficiaries from poverty in Jesus Mighty Name nor attain holistic development without prioritizing child protection matters.
We have built an excellent network concerning child protection especially with different County and National governments wings. And as a result of that our FCP is an active member of Area Advisory Committee and Court Users Committee which addresses child protection related issues at County level. This has really helped not even the registered beneficiaries but also the non-registered beneficiaries since both the bodies above addresses child protection issues at large.
We have a good rapport with the area chief and he has been doing an intensive operation known as ‘’ Operation rudisha mtoto shuleni” and by doing so he has taken over 25 minors to respective primary and high schools, he intervened whereabouts about two beneficiaries that we had exited numbers 0018 and 0063 and we reinstated these beneficiaries and are now happily benefitting from sponsorship in our FCP.
We are working hand in hand with the local area Sub County Children officer who has been training our children on Child protection issues quarterly as well as their caregivers, our supported beneficiaries attends court proceedings related to child protection issues and has a result we have an active human rights movement at our project which comprises of 42 active members.
We really exercise freedom of speech to all our supported beneficiaries by working with and for them. We normally have a listening hear to their needs, feelings, ideas, comments and suggestions. We normally give our youths a room to lead, some are members of PGMC (Project Gift Management Committee) members, actively participate in budgeting process, they normally help in office work like conducting home visits and filing systems. And conducting community clean ups as a way of giving back to the community.
PHYSICAL CATEGORY
In order to attain physical outcome to each of our registered beneficiaries its three indicators below; choosing good health practices and is physically healthy, experiences reduced incidence of illness, nutritional deficiencies, and physical impediments. And taking responsibility for wise life choices about health and sexuality a numbers of initiatives are in place at our FCP.
We have an active, passionate and zealous group Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) champions for both 45 project registered youths and 25 caregivers that which inspects all homesteads levels of personal hygiene and sanitation and as a result over 80% of homesteads from which our registered beneficiaries has the following in place; a well aerated houses, pit latrines, utensils drying rack, cloth line, waste litter disposal pit well maintained home compounds. And as a result we have reduced personal hygiene and sanitation related illnesses prevalence from 25% to 5% amongst our supported beneficiaries, this is reflected in our monthly health reports. The 45 supported youths and 25 project caregivers conducts regular home visits in respective homesteads from which all our registered beneficiaries comes from to advice on what should be done and how and practically sets example by doing it. I mean they carry with them working tools such as rakes, slashes, brooms, mobs and mobbing buckets bought using support in account 45.
We as an FCP bought every supported beneficiary a 1,000 litres water tank, 2 gutters and 1 bag of cement for making water tank base to support the tank. This was a CIV funded initiative and it has recorded a positive impact especially in harvesting rain water which is safe for drinking.
We have been issuing grafted mango tree seedling to all project caregivers, 3 such seedlings annually for the last 4 years to plant in their respective homesteads and currently over 75% are bearing fruits that are consumed at family level to supplement their diet and sell the rest for income generation for respective homesteads from which our registered beneficiaries comes from.
IMPACTS OF QAVAH
Qavah program at Aic Kanzinwa cdc
African Inland Church Kanzinwa signed their first partnership agreement with Compassion International Kenya on 8th November 2008 and officially commenced its operations in January 2009.
-Capacity: 200 registered beneficiaries got supported via Child Development through Sponsorship Program( CDSP) at the start but currently we have 342 registered beneficiaries still under the same program.
-Facilities: the ICP had only the church and a small office in place during official and initial commencement of child sponsorship program.
-Literacy and poverty levels-
trainings e.g. agribusiness, basketry, leather work, knitting etc.
IMPACT OF QAVAH
Qavah was introduced here (A.I.C Kanzinwa) on 29th January 2014.
Through Qavah, we mobilized the local community and now we have a permanent water source within the ICP that provides clean and safe water for our daily usage and agribusiness activities.
In January 2015 we commenced a privately owned school.
We currently we have 10 permanent classrooms, a modern kitchen , 10 washrooms, 3 bathrooms, multi court play field, demonstration farm all constructed and put up by the project caregivers. (approximately amounts to 3,950,000/= Kenyan shillings or 46,470.59 USD.
-We have been networking with National and County governments, banks, government institutions, individual well-wishers and caregivers.
We no longer have program on Saturdays; we teach Compassion curriculum on Tuesdays & Thursdays after National curriculum. Project parents & caregivers provides for meals; no more a/c-40 so we have saved 750,000/= Kenya shillings equivalent to 8823.53 USD that was to be consumed annually. This has been maximized in other areas of needs of the supported beneficiaries.
COmmunity Saving and LOaning (COSALO): The total amount in respective sub-groups have more that 750,000/= Kenya shillings equivalent to 8823.53 USD In fact we have one COSALO group with 210,000/= Kenya shillings which is equivalent to 2,470.58 USD. We are thinking to commence a micro finance in the near future.
Capacity building and empowerment trainings to project parents & caregivers on several aspects e.g. saving culture, finance management, IGA start ups and as a result 115 reg. beneficiaries have bank accounts at Kenya Commercial Bank; Mwingi branch. The highest reg. beneficiary has 141,000/= Kenya shillings equivalent to 1658.82 USD he owns a motorbike bought through a family gift and we usually bank 1,200/= Kenya shillings which is equivalent to 14.12 USD weekly. All the above are linked to Qavah program approach.
Meaning of Qavah concept
What is Qavah? This is an Hebrew word which means binding together eagerly hoping for and expecting.
Psalms 27:13-14 I know that I will live to see. The Lord’s goodness in this resent life. Trust in the Lord. Have faith do not despair (GNV)
Isaiah 40:31 But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.
There are six manuals/ booklets used in facilitating Qavah:-
CORE MANUALS
Mobilizing the church
Facilitator’s skills
TECHNICAL GUIDES
Children as agents of change
Parents and caregivers
Household food security
Disaster readiness and response
Six steps followed when mobilizing the church:-
Envisioning the church-To strengthen livelihoods
Celebrating who we are and what we have
Describing our community
Analyzing and prioritizing
Dreaming dreams and taking actions
Measuring effectiveness-Questions to ask:-
Are we doing what we said we will do?
Are we making a difference?
If there are changes in the community, what are our contribution?
Are we using our skills?
‘’The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. Donald Kendall.
Project Sustainability Initiatives
The four implementing church partner outcomes have been our guiding principles towards supporting Children Ministry at our church and beyond. That has made us as church accountability team create good rapport and network with other same-minded institutions in support of holistic development to take place to every registered baby, child or youth in this church and not just relying on Compassion monthly support or project parents and caregivers contribution, that has been in our hearts as church management team especially after adapting Qavah concept and our major project sustainability strategy.
For instance Ministry Of Education via DEO’s office has greatly helped our church-based school attain brilliant performance of our pupils whose 88% are registered children and youths in FY 18 by issuing free Tusome program books for grade 1 and 2, offering technical advice during school termly inspection by quality assurance team, offering free termly refresher trainings to our teachers for the new approved curriculum by Ministry Of Education. And impact of this was experienced in KCPE results for 2017 where the leading pupil in our church based school scored 364 out of 500 marks and joined Mang’u High school; a National school in our republic and the rest; 37 candidates joined well performing County schools. And our school was ranked position 3 out 25 schools in the sub-county. In FY 18 Moran publishers trained our teachers on how to handle the new curriculum, examination setting tips and donated free textbooks quantified to amount 80,000/=.
In Financial Year 18 alone; 1st July 2017 up to 30th June 2018 project parents and caregivers supported feeding program with food stuffs; maize, shafted maize and beans worthy 1,300,000/= which is equivalent to 13,000 USD. This led us scrap out Account 40 from our annual budget and channeled those funds to other registered beneficiaries needs like increasing school fees for 81 registered youths in respective high schools.
Our registered youths as change agents generated over 3,000 mangoes seedlings for selling; instilling a culture of being responsible, for creating a training and learning centre for the entire community to learn and replicate the same at their home gardens, issue to project caregivers so that in 5-7 years’ time we can put a juice processing plant or industry here at church and this is intermarried by Qavah concept and our 6 years’ strategic plan for our church to solve our own shortcomings without necessarily relying on foreign aid.
In FY 18 we managed to outsource resources to aid holistic development via networking and Qavah concept worthy 4,443,500/= which is equivalent to 44,435 US Dollars. And this amounts to 55% of Compassion Support funds that we receive as an ICP annually. This translates to high survival ratio of the project.
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Resource Mobilization
We commenced a church based private primary school in January 2015 as per the Ministry of education and since then project parents and caregivers supports feeding program for all 260 pupils; 231 registered beneficiaries and 39 non-registered beneficiaries during National and Compassion curricula respectively. We normally teach Compassion curriculum on Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoon every week which adds up to one Saturday. In Financial Year 18 alone; 1st July 2017 up to 30th June 2018 project parents and caregivers supported feeding program with food stuffs; maize, shafted maize and beans worthy 1,300,000/= which is equivalent to 13,000 USD. This has lead us scrap out Account 40 from our annual budgets and channeled those funds to other registered beneficiaries needs like increasing school fees for 81 registered youths in respective high schools.
Mobilizing resources as a church partner outcome has been our pertinent focus so as to attract as many resources as we can to facilitate Child Ministry here. We intensively emphasize to project parents and caregivers to be responsible enough and contribute as much as they can towards holistic development of their children and youths. Fortunately 95% of them have adapted Qavah concept and in Financial Year 18; project parents and caregivers have managed to contribute 420,000/= , their man power/ labour force worthy 180,000/= and availed locally available materials e.g. sand, bricks, stones and ballast worthy 162,000/=.So in total project parents and caregivers have supported children ministry with 2,062,000/= in FY 18 alone!
Global Youth Ministry is a global organization that nurtures youths of ages 12 years and above spiritually. We have been networking with them to nurture our 197 registered youths, in FY 18 Global Youth Ministry taught on quarterly basis puppet ministry and made our project their free spiritual teaching booklets distribution centre in Eastern region and supplied us with 3,500 booklets. We managed to intensively teach and reach our registered youths and others from 12 different churches that are partners with Compassion and 8 non-compassion partners that has made us not only reach to our 197 registered youths but also to over 2,000 youths elsewhere. Global Youth Ministry trainings to our child development workers, part time teachers youths, Sunday school teachers and pastors from which our registered children and youths attends and booklets quantified together amounts to 500,000/=.
Kitui Electronics LTD freely donated 15 cellphones and 15 SIM cards to 15 survival mothers so that we can keep effective communication when need be especially during urgent or emergency to their survival babies and themselves and the project management team quantified together they amount to 24,000/=. Internet Bookshop & General Suppliers freely donated 15 Bibles, worthy 10,500/=, Kulunex uniform tailors donated 15 pairs of bed sheets worthy 7,500/=, Katse health centre donated 15 pcs of mosquitos nets and 15 pcs of blank clinical cards worthy 4,500/= all for survival mother benefit.
We wrote a proposal to Compassion International Kenya National office in FY 18 for underground water tank whose capacity is 100,000 litres worthy 1,500,000/= and it was funded and we effectively implemented, that is terrific of you Compassion international as an organization!
Supporter Beneficiary Communication
We as an ICP do have our communication strategy and one of the pertinent spheres in it is supporter beneficiary communication so as to achieve the three supporter/donor outcomes; demonstrating a commitment to child advocacy, engaging supporters and donors in their Compassion commitment and for them to have a positive Compassion experience. To achieve this, we have key areas that we keenly monitor and evaluate ourselves as church on quarterly basis as we do intensive Child advocacy and ministry:- Timely and quality letters written to supporters by the supported children and youths, emphasizing to our registered children and youths appreciate their respective supporters for the support and gifts they willingly send them, attach photos to letters of registered beneficiaries for example who receives large gifts and ensure that we adhere to all Compassion International Program Communication policies like updating all needed information in Compassion Connect which is the only single source of truth concerning any supported beneficiary, church information and any Children Ministry related activities that we partake. Now going by the above communication strategy, in Financial Year 18 impact felt was that we received registered children and youths gifts that collectively amounts to over 1,000,000/= and project gifts every month! Kudos to supporters of our beneficiaries!
We managed to open 60 minor bank accounts with the Kenya Commercial Bank for 60 respective registered children and youths in FY 18 which added to the previously opened bank accounts adds up to 175 minor bank accounts. This has created a culture of saving to project caregivers and registered beneficiaries, a thing that is well received by all here. We advocate for voluntary saving of money by the caregivers and when respective registered child or youth gifts income generation activities earns profit. For example a project parent for registered beneficiary 00130 voluntarily saved 18,000/= for his supported child over a period of time and in January 2018 he withdrew 15,000/= from the amount he had saved in his supported child minor bank account and paid form one/high school fees for his child, this is just one out of many similar testimonies that we have witnessed in this FY 18 alone. We try to utilize registered children and youths gifts to tackle immediate needs and empower respective families for their future for example we managed to construct a permanent house and bought an IGA motorbike for the same registered beneficiary 0002 and shared this story with her beloved supporter that attracted him and his family to visit her and they kept their promise still in the same FY 18. We usually bank 200/= Shillings per day for this beneficiary. We too bought another IGA generation motorbike for registered youth 0124 who received a family gift of 114,000/= in April 2018 from his beloved supporter.
