Muhaka

OVERVIEW

Muhaka Village is located in Kwale District on the south coast of Kenya and records high incidences of poverty with an estimated 70% of the population living below the poverty line. This area of Kenya has been ranked among the poorest in education infrastructure and resource development, with less than half of all children having access to education. This has resulted in 70% of the adult population lacking basic literacy skills, thereby perpetuating poverty. Much of our work has focused around improving facilities at the primary school (approximately 800 children), although we have now expanded our projects into the wider community. Our volunteers have helped to improve the local school and provide housing for the elderly and infirm as well as increasing awareness of environmental issues in the village.

What ARE THE MAIN ISSUES?

Poverty
Limited access to proper educational facilities
Lack of employment opportunities
Lack of investment in community development and tourism
Deforestation
Illegal livestock grazing
Wildlife poaching
Increasing human-primate conflict

PROJECT TIMELINE

2007:

Renovating classrooms - Refurbished and renovated three blocks consisting of 5 classrooms
Muhaka educational resources – Constructed 50 desks and donated hundreds of school textbooks
Environmental Education – Created a community tree nursery, vegetable patch and established an Environmental Education programme within the school

2008:

New buildings - Started construction of two new classrooms
Environmental Education - Ongoing environmental club activities and planted over 500 trees (casuarinas) within school grounds
Healthcare programme – through community awareness, education and improving classroom flooring, we managed to eradicate jiggers from the area. Jiggers is a painful parasitic infection that if left untreated, can lead to expensive medical bills and a loss of study time for children.

2009:

Built 2 classrooms - Construction of 2-classroom block
New buildings - Started construction of ICT and library room
School resources – Constructed 33 desks
Sports facilities – Renovated football pitch and provided volleyball and netball facilities
Traditional house building – constructed 2 traditional houses for vulnerable families

2010:

ICT and library - Completion of buildings
School furniture - Completed tables, desks, shelves for library and ICT room
Fencing - Fenced entire school compound to prevent encroachment
Traditional House building programme – Constructed 6 traditional houses for impoverished elderly widows within community
Energy Efficient Stoves – Built approximately 2000 energy efficient stoves for individual households to reduce fuel wood consumption
Dispensary – Fenced of community dispensary to stop encroachment on land

2011:

Classroom refurbishment - Completion of two classes for nursery children and provision of water security
School furniture - Completed tables and desks for nursery school
School toilets - Constructed toilet block for students and teachers
Traditional House building programme – Constructed 5 traditional houses for impoverished elderly widows
Community toilets – Constructed the first public community toilets for the village
Trust House – Completed fencing and first building for the proposed community vocational training centre
IT Skills training and English language teaching – Ongoing IT skills training for the school and local residents and English language teaching support at schools and for local community groups

YOUR ROLE AS A VOLUNTEER

Project work will vary depending on the needs of the community at the time but may include:

Ongoing improvement of school infrastructure and facilities that may involve low-level construction, painting or plastering
Constructing traditional houses and providing sanitation facilities for elderly people that currently don’t have suitable accommodation
Providing teaching assistance (conversational English and basic computer skills) as well as playing sports with the children
Developing and running environmental education workshops with the local school to teach them the value of conserving wildlife and preserving the environment
Supporting the development of a community childcare centre (The Trust House)
Constructing new community vocation training centre to provide further education in carpentry, tailoring, ICT and agroforestry (The Trust House)

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Muhaka

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