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Heshima in Kenya
Heshima started in Kenya in 2006, just outside Kisumu in a rural community called Usoma. Over two years Heshima built up an Arts and Activity Centre which was used by up to 1000 children every week and families from far and wide, over the weekend. Children from all backgrounds were able to play with a wide range of toys and equipment including lego, tricycles and soft building blocks. They could learn how to trampoline or play beach volley ball and they could borrow books to take home from our library. We organized puppet shows and storytelling sessions and we taught students the basics of music and drama. Children from a wide range of backgrounds had fun and were able to experience the joy of being children again.
In addition we set up a number of partnership projects between organizations in the West and local organizations around Usoma. These benefitted the young people from both groups. Examples of some of the work done included: making a film (British students brought out the cameras and took the film home to edit and local Usoma students wrote the script and performed in the film); another group of students used digital cameras to document local stories and make books with children from the local community. They made masks together and acted out the stories to produce the illustrations for the books; there have been cross cultural cookery workshops as well as recycling projects and we also set up a project with the guides from two countries to work with our local nursery for children who had been orphaned. Sadly this wonderful centre, which benefited so many children and which was used by children and young people across Kenya, was burnt down in the post election violence at the end of December 2007. Alison and Steve had hoped to be able to rebuild it, but the tension between tribal groups that remained after the violence, made it impossible to rebuild, at least for the time being. As a result, Heshima continues to work with the children in Kisumu in three different ways:
Provides Art and Craft and Reading Activities to Shinners We support a local organization who works with 50 disadvantaged 2-7 year olds who have lost at least one parent and who live in the slum. Shinners provides these children with a meal and their basic needs and we provide them with the opportunity to be creative and make things. We provide the tutor, the materials and the programme. This is the only opportunity these children have to paint and be creative. The nursery school they attend cannot afford the materials. We also provide a library of books for the children to borrow and read at this centre as we believe that being able to read at any early age is essential for children to be able to progress. These children are already disadvantaged and so we want to help them have a better start in life.
Provides Music Workshops to the Juvenile Centre There are over 150 children in the Juvenile centre in Kisumu. The ages range from 5 years – 18 years and they are all locked up together. There is one teacher to teach all of these children and no resources. For many of these young people, the only crime that they have committed is to be homeless and these children are locked up alongside young people who have committed serious crimes. There’s no space for games and so we decided to focus on music. The young people can escape, at least for a while, through music. We provide the tutor to teach three different age groups and the instruments to make music. The children here have formed three wonderful junk bands and make music out of ‘rubbish’, as well as learning how to drum. For a while, at least, once a week they can use some pent up energy to make the most beautiful songs.
Tackling Tribalism The terror of tribalism still haunts the country. Trust has been eroded and bitterness has taken hold in many people’s lives. People have tended to return to their own areas and there is less mixing. Stereotypes are often un-challenged. The hatred that became evident in the last election is still simmering under the surface of society. The next election is in 2012 and already people are talking about arming themselves for it properly. At Heshima we feel that the only way we can progress and move forward in Kenya is through having respect for each other and for our differences. We want to promote a unified Kenya. As a result we have created an educational programme for schools and youth clubs which challenges negative stereotypes and promotes forgiveness, understanding and respect. It encourages young people to talk about their pain and to deal with it and move forward. We know the young people are our leaders of tomorrow and so we recognize the importance of challenging stereotypes and discrimination. We hope this programme makes our young people question the things they see and hear around them and can play a positive part in changing deep rooted prejudice.
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