Agnes the Cook

by Thomas Bwire

Agnes Adongo is the cook at the Uweza center, but as many of the kids in Uweza programme will tell you, Agnes is much more than a cook. She has taken the Uweza’s mission as her own.  Agnes, aged 32 years, lives in Olympic, one of the estates in Kibera, with her husband and four children, whom 3 are boys and one girl.

She joined the Uweza family in June of last year, 2011.  She says that working here brings joy and personal fulfillment as she is adored as a mother by the kids who come to the center, after their school day and served a  cup of hot porridge.

Her day at the center starts at 4pm and ends at 6.30 pm.  Upon her arrival, she heads to the kitchen located at one of the corners within the center premises and lights the jiko (Swahili for stove) using charcoal.

This takes less than five minutes and once the jiko is ready, she heads back to the kitchen and starts preparing the meal provided by the center to all the Uweza kids.  She took me through her preparation process of the porridge. “First put water into the sufuria (pot), give it some time to boil, say 15 minutes.

As you leave the water to boil, make a fine paste of flour using cold water with a clean bucket and stir it until it becomes thick and mixed well.

Then pour the paste into the boiling water and stir until it all starts releasing some bubbles. Add sugar that is enough for intake depending on the number of people you are cooking for. "Give it 10 more minutes and your porridge is ready," Agnes finishes with a smile and all this time under the watch of her little daughter.

By this time, one of the rooms hosting some of the students is almost full and students present are undertaking their school assignments silently. A hot steamy cup of porridge is served as each student gets a share and says “asante mathe” meaning thank you mum. Besides the students, staff members also get served a cup of porridge.

Upon completion, Agnes quickly washes the dishes and once she is done with all the kitchen chores, she bids me farewell and off she goes.

When asked about Agnes, Managing Director Jennifer Sapitro commented, "She is amazing. She consistently goes beyond the call of duty and demonstrates what participatory development and community service are about.”

Football Kenya Federation Nairobi League Launch

by Thomas Bwire

The city stadium was the place to be last Saturday and we at Uweza family were not left out either as we all joined other soccer teams from the Nairobi region during the official launch of the Football Kenya Federation league.

Teams adorned in their soccer jerseys took center stage at the City Stadium stands as they keenly followed the day’s programme. Not forgetting our soccer boys who also stood out of the crowd with blue jerseys written Uweza too had been sandwiched in between the spectators.

Uweza Senior Team players among the spectators
Upon arrival at around midday, two soccer teams were on the pitch show casing who was mighty than the other, the teams were Roto Moulders and Outering The two teams strived to emerge winners, but as we all know we cannot all be winners, Outering won the match by 2 goals.

The next match was the one that many will  remember, the old guards i.e. former international team players Harambee stars and local journalists representing different mediums.

In less than 10 minutes of the game, three scores had been scored against the journalist and this made the soccer commenter of the day, ask why the journalists were weak on the pitch yet they are strong in their headlines that create great impact for the country. By end of the game the scores were 4 nil, perhaps a learning lesson to carry home and go back to the drawing board how the news makers can win their next match against the old guards.

The day could not end without some forms of entertainment from several invited groups that also included young leaders of today.

Children perform poetry and drama
In his speech the chairman of the Football Kenya Federation, Sam Nyamweya, said that he was very impressed that the Nairobi branch had initiated a league for this region. They are looking forward to work with any sponsors who are willing to support the league.

Football Kenya Federation Chairman Sam Nyamweya
Nyamweya also added that they are committed to transparency in managing soccer affairs in the country, as he gave Kenyans assurance that the country will not go back into the dark years of soccer mis-management.

Our team was almost full house with the delegation led by the soccer program Team Manager Charles Kaindi, Assistant Team Manager David Alal, Coaches Said Mohammed and Joash Ngaira all present in the VIP section, not forgetting Managing Director Jennifer Sapitro.

Uweza coaches watching the matches
The league will host more than 20 teams in Nairobi where teams participating will compete and the Uweza team will play under the Nairobi County League. We do wish them well as they embark on the hard journey and try to show case what they can offer.

For more photos of the event, check out the photo gallery here: http://uweza.org/gallery/leaguelaunch.html

Cyrus Begins High School

Blog readers who have been following Uweza for the last few years now know Cyrus and his story. For those of you unfamiliar, Cyrus is a 20 year-old student who has been sponsored through Uweza since 2009. Cyrus became blind in 2008 as a result of methanol poisoning.   Due to the generosity of donors, Uweza helped Cyrus to receive emergency care at Nairobi Hospital and likely saved Cyrus' life. Unfortunately, the care provided could not save his sight.

 In 2009, sponsored by Mark and Brad from Australia, Cyrus restarted his education at a technical school for the blind. He learned how to read and write braille in preperation for starting Class 7 (7th grade) in 2010. He had been in Class 8, a month away from take the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam and graduating primary school when the accident occurred. Cyrus restarted his primary school education at Thika School for the Blind in 2010.  He had to return to Class 7 before moving on to Class 8.

Last year, three years after his accident, he was able to take the KCPE exam. He received 234 out of 500, which is very impressive considering that he had only recently learned to read and write in braille. He was invited to two high schools and chose to attend St. Lucy's Secondary School for the Visually Impaired. The school is located just outside of Meru town, about a four hour bus ride from downtown Nairobi.

 Yesterday, Mathew (Uweza's Sponsorship Coordinator) and I dropped Cyrus off at his new school, with a new school uniform and all of the supplies he needs for the first term. Cyrus is very excited to be starting high school and is extremely dedicated to his education. Despite what has happened to him in his life, he remains positive and determined and has a great sense of humor about his situation. We expect great things from him and wish him the best as he starts a new chapter of his life. Thanks so much to Uweza's donors for your support of Cyrus since 2008 and to Mark and Brad for continuing to support his education.

Interview with Tom Odumo, Chair of Kibera Agenda

In last week’s blog, we gave an insight into the meeting of the Kibera Agenda 4, a local microfinance group based in Kibera, and as promised we bring the chairman’s interview into their activities. Thomas Bwire undertook the interview with Mr. Tom Odumo.

Kindly start by telling us your name.
My name is Tom Odumo, and I am the current chair person of the Kibera Agenda 4 group.

How did the birth of this group come about?
A friend from abroad had come to visit Kibera during the post election of 2007-2008. In one of our meetings with him, the idea came about on how we could create source of income, considering that most of the people had lost hope after their hard earned sweat had gone into drain when some rowdy youths stole and burnt our business during the 2007 election skirmish.

And from that time how many members are on board and how do you recruit new members?
We work on trust, like you have a friend and you tell him about what Kibera Agenda 4 is all about, and he or she gets to share the same information with other people, that’s how we have managed to recruit present members. Most of the members are women and also we have men too participating. The group currently has 90 members and they all reside in Kibera. Our meetings are held twice a week, i.e. on Wednesday 10.00am and Thursday 2.00pm.

So what happens during the weekly meeting?
When we meet, members present bring forward their weekly savings, we also give loans to our members. But we start with a first loan of ksh.2.000 then we move to ksh.5.000 and then next level, we give ksh.10.000. We also just introduced the fourth loan which amounts to ksh.15.000 but beyond that we cannot manage as a microfinance group since it’s on a higher side. While also giving loans, we encourage openness and trust among us members, though at times we encounter a few defaulters, which is normal.

Just to ask, how are members also empowered?
Oh yes, we do have Kenya College of Accountancy (KCA) University and CIC insurance whom have trained our members on financial matters and how to manage their businesses. Like last year they gave us a talk during the month of June. That’s one way to help create proper awareness for our people.

Do you have any other message?
I request that people of good will can join hands with us, by giving loans to us so as we can achieve a better today and not tomorrow.

Girls Soccer Practice

by Thomas Bwire

The scorching afternoon sun did not deter the girls whom I found training at the Toi primary school soccer playground last Saturday. The under 16 girls’ soccer team were upbeat as they arrived at 4pm for the Saturday soccer routine practice.

Arriving on time is mandatory for the girl’s team or else one would find herself making several laps within the football pitch. Within no time, the girls change into the soccer jerseys and start warming up by doing simple exercises, like jogging to help them keep in shape. Warming up takes roughly like 10 minutes, there after they divide themselves into two teams, the Red team and the Blue team, according to the jerseys worn.

Prrrrrrr!!!!!!!! goes the whistle from one of the team leaders, an assistant coach Caroline Mzungu.Within no time, the game begins and all the teams are attentive as they keep on chasing the ball from one end of the field to the other end. I stood outside the soccer pitch and kept watch how the teams were faring on the pitch that has no grass at all, but dust.




Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!! Goes the first goal from the from the Red team. In less than 10 minutes the Red team was leading by 6 goals while the Blue team managed to score only 2.

At half time I grabbed Caroline Mzungu, the assistant coach, for an interview. She helps in training the girls when the coach is not around. She tells me the number of schools involved in the girls soccer program include, Toi primary, Olympic primary, Ayany primary, Raila Educational center and New Adventure primary school.

“Normally our trainings take place from 2pm to 5pm, so as we can let the young girls go home early to help their parents/guardians and also for them to complete their school assignments,” says Caroline. “Here we teach the girls how to dribble the and pass the ball so as they work as a team when they are playing with opponents during friendly matches or even when participating in local tournaments.”


“Why do you like to work with the girls?” I pose this question to her. “I want to help them overcome the adolescent stage, so that they can know how to take good care of themselves as girls. You know most of the girls at this age are very vulnerable to the community especially the boys who can impregnate them. So here besides just playing soccer, we also advise them to be careful by giving life skills lessons” adds Caroline.

Sharon Chadota, aged 13 years old is among the girls who play soccer at Uweza. She plays position number 5 and is happy to be part of the Uweza family. "Coming here helps me avoid bad company and I am also able to nurture my talent," she tells me. These sentiments are also echoed by Elizabeth Adhiambo aged 14 years old. Her ambitions are to play international soccer for one of the big teams in Europe.


With that, the assistant coach blew the whistle for the second half match and by end of the match, the scores stood at Red team 12 goals and the Blue team got 7 goals.

There you have it: Uweza under 16 girls soccer team had their moment! I believe it wasn’t luck smiling down on them, but hard work and dedication that led them to dedicate their time and come together as a team to help nurture their talent. Each Saturday, you can easily find the team as they practice and sweat it out at the Toi Primary School local field that acts as their training ground.

Empowering the Community

by Thomas Bwire

In a tiny blue room that serves as a classroom at the Uweza center, is a small gathering of both men and women sited in a circular shape as they deliberate on the day’s agenda.

Most of the people in today’s meeting are middle aged from a look across the room they are using. Names are read aloud by the youthful secretary to the members present.

“Christine Awour,” goes the secretary as she reads the name aloud. “Am present” the woman sitting in front of the secretary responds by handing over ksh.550 as her contribution. This is the first task undertaken by present members as they give their contributions to the secretary and she jots down against their names to certify that they have given their contribution.

Calling of names takes roughly less than 10 minutes as the entire meeting takes 30 minutes to be precise so as to ensure time is not lost. “Time is money here, we most of us have left their business un - attended and if we waste much time here, then our businesses will go down.” says Mr.Moi.

Meet the Kibera Agenda 4 group, one of the unique entrepreneurship groups that aims to empower women and men in the Kibera community through personal contributions from their savings to boost their small scale businesses.

The group members all engage in different businesses as source of income, to help empower them and earn a source of livelihood, ranging from selling vegetables, second hand clothes, to washing cars.

Colonia Awino is one of the active members, and noted that she is happy to be part of the group which can easily give loans to its members and won’t give her head ache when repaying. Being in the group also helps her to open up to new ideas.

Another lady is Josephine Achieng joined the group last year and was able to benefit from a loan to boost her business.  "Hard work and focus is all that is needed when you are working as a business person" says Achieng.

Although the majority of the members are women, a few men can easily be noticed sitting amidst them. One such person is William Abuto.  William is among thousands of the 2007-2008 post election violence victims after his only source of income went into flames, he used owned a small shop known as a kiosk within Kibera slums. His only savior in time of need was Kibera Agenda 4 Group whom gave him a loan to kick start his kiosk business, and now he sells electrical appliances.

In our next week's blog, we shall update you with an interview with the group's chairman Tom Odumo on what this group has achieved and also challenges that they encounter in the course of their engagement.

Welcome to the new interns

by Thomas Bwire

The Uweza family is gradually growing and we are happy to introduce to you two of our new interns who reported to the center located along Karanja road in Kibera this Wednesday morning.

Meet Mukami Kibaara and Vivian Njeri, both are law students at the Jomo Kenyatta University. Hardly had the day passed and it was all systems go, as two found a task to be undertaken in the administrative office by digitizing the office manual records into the system.

A brief chat with Mukami revealed that they had met with Jennifer Sapitro, Uweza's Managing Director the previous week at one of the girl’s forum and got to know about Uweza Foundation. While conversations took center stage, the two also inquired more how they could join the Uweza family, and that’s when Jennifer offered them the opportunity.

I did ask her the kind of new skills she would like to bring on board and. She smiles a little, then getting composed she answers back. “I want to mentor the girl child, walk with them, and make them understand who they are.” says Mukami. “That’s awesome,” I tell her back and wish her well.

Next is Vivian Njeri whom you could easily be mistaken that she is our office assistant if you were a first timer visitor. Sitting behind the office computer, she is digitizing some of the important documents that had been hand written for easier accessibility and also safe keeping of these records.

Her take is that she is happy to have gotten this opportunity to work in the Kibera community, get to know the target group involved and that by the end of the day, she looks forward to attaining some knowledgeable skills that can be ploughed back to the community.

And with that brief chat with the two new interns, we called it a day. Be on the lookout in our up-coming blogs where by more news on our new interns will be posted regarding their progress.

Welcome to the new Uweza tutor

by Thomas Bwire

Every parent’s dream is to give better education to their children as they grow up so as to be responsible people in the society. Education helps shape the society and people’s way of thinking as educated people are a valuable asset to the country. Thus as the New Year began, Uweza Foundation added a new tutor to help the youngsters of today gain valuable skills that will be beneficial in the future.

Uweza Foundation is thrilled to introduce Harriet Ruvaga as the new teacher for students in pre-school and classes 1 through 3. Harriet has a diploma in Early Childhood Development (ECD).She is passionate about her work as a teacher and is already down to work, this being her second week with the children.

I visited Gifted Hands Education Eenter situated in Gatwekera village, a distance of less than 10 minutes walk from the Uweza Community Center along Karanja Road, where I found Harriet down to business with her children. The center has given working space to Uweza to conduct remedial classes for lower primary and upper primary school children.

A little chat with Harriet gave me a little insight about her. “I am passionate about working with children from Kibera, as they are unique especially because of their background. Here I meet kids with poor backgrounds, slow learners, quick learners and by the end of the day my task is to ensure that they are at the same par regarding their school work” notes Harriet.

She also added that the few days she has been working with the kids from Kibera, she is amazed at how they manage their normal school routine programme and are still able join her in the evening for the Uweza programme. Currently kids in this programme are aged between ages 3 to 9years.  Some of the participating schools include Damside, Ayany and Olympic.

We wish her all the best as she joins the Uweza family and look forward to working with her.

Intern Blogging - Fourth Post

by William Ochieng

This week has been tremendously busy for me in my work schedule moving up and down. As the Kibera Agenda were closing their end of the year savings and loaning, I have been involved in preparation of their financial statement and presented it to each member during the closure. The group members scrutinized their savings and were satisfy with the figures I presented to them yesterday. Otherwise it was okay and splendid day and recommended for the effort of updating it.

Apart from that, Moi and I have designed a center membership card for children to enable them next year access the community center programs and they looked nice.

Lessons learned

• Transparency is essential in any group work and people can trust you while managing their funds/assets and confidence is built on someone.
• With each child having a membership card, the center will be able to notice a strange person hence improve efficiency in its operation with minimal hiccups.

As the center prepares to wind up its operations next week I wish you and the Uweza Foundation a Merry Chrismas and a splendid Happy New year 2012 .

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William is studying community development at The Kenya Polytechnic University College in Nairobi and has been interning with Uweza since October.  Read his first blog entry here, his second blog entry here, and his third blog entry here.

Getting Motivated

by Mary Ngoya

The day started well as the students turned up in good number. Thomas Bwire the journalism teacher arrived at the center with Victor Muturi who is one of the radio presenters at Pamoja FM, a local
community radio station based in Kibera.

After having done our weekly press review of getting a chance to read the day’s newspaper, it was an opportunity for Muturi to speak to us on how to become a good journalist. He did mention that working hard is the backbone of every success.  He encouraged us to take our studies seriously and work with lots of determination.

Part of his presentation touched on research in order to get to know your target audience well, and this can only be achieved by one’s interest in knowing current issues that your audience feels attached to. “One has to be courageous to tackle day to day issues that affect our people, sometimes you are forced to report from an accident scene of the occurrence” noted Muturi.

We were also informed of the importance of reading newspapers as they are also good source of information for both local and international news.  Another element tackled was the need to be creative, so as you can be ahead of the pack and be able to know how to approach situations as they come across.

Even though journalism is a good field that many people would like to envy, it also comes with some challenges. Criticism is big issues from some of the listeners who call so say their songs requests were not played not understanding that there was a time limit of all songs requested to be played. Power blackout sometimes leaves the audience in the dark when power goes off and the generator available runs out of fuel. One last challenge faced by some of presenters is insecurity especially for the ones who report to duty early morning or leave late in the evening as the sometimes fall prey to robbers.

At the end of the session, we got an opportunity to ask questions which were answered. A true inspiration from Muturi and hope everyone got inspired as we now remain knowledgeable of what the market out there has to offer.

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Mary Ngoya is 16 years old and is joining Form Four (the last year of high school) at Ahero Girls High School next year. She is a member of Uweza's Journalism Club.