Maji Mazuri

It is in the toughest of times that ideals are formed or lost. There is a limit to which one can be pushed and for most young people living in slum areas that limit was long crossed.  It is in those defining moments that most of them get lost in the life of crime or get swallowed in the cycle of poverty.  Against all odds, Maji Mazuri youth group members have been striving to come out of the valley and make something of their lives.

Maji Mazuri Children’s Centre recently opened a Craft shop. This is a small, neatly laid wooden structure near the main gate, where the children’s work is on display. Two of the older students run the shop with assistance from teacher Carol. In a world where we are constantly reminded of what we cannot do, I share with you today a story about one person who has worked very hard to remind the Children of Maji Mazuri Centre of what they can do.

Teacher Caroline Oguta works at the Maji Mazuri Children’s Centre with a group of children who are either mentally or physically handicapped. Over the years she has worked tirelessly, with a lot of patience to teach these children some skills in beadwork, embroidery, knitting and sewing. She constantly reminds them that they are not disabled, they just have different abilities. Children who came to the centre having no skills at all are now making a difference in their lives.

43. That is the number of youth from Mathare valley  who showed up for the computer training intake at the Maji Mazuri Training Center in Mathare this April. Only 30 positions were available.  That is the number that the training centre is equipped to train per intake. The Maji Mazuri Training centre was started in September 2009 when Maji Mazuri partnered with an organization that has been offering computer training to disadvantaged youth for years.

I met John in 2008, a short while after he was brought to the Maji Mazuri Children’s Centre in Kasarani. He had been born in 1999 without any complications but things started going wrong at the age of 8 months, where his body started folding up. His parents were not in a position to seek the right medical advice until he was 2 years old, and by then his legs had folded up into a w-shape, he couldn’t talk or carry out any activity and his hands had lost coordination.  The family could only afford therapy for one year, due to financial constraints.