Rain and floods: work of the PBF Foundation in Nairobi
The PBF supports various projects in Kenya:
- a microcredit program for rural women in Kitui and Mathare
- Sports opportunities for young people in Mwingi and Mathare slum, Nairobi
- Training in brick production in Bondo
- “Bees & Trees” – a bee and tree nursery project in Diani
- School meals in Mathare slum
- The distribution of reusable sanitary pads to girls in rural areas and Mathare slum.
The school:
The main school that PBF supports in Mathare, Page Vision, was completely inundated by the floods. This means over 250 children will not be able to go to school next week.
Heavy rains and floods are the latest crisis in this sprawling and densely populated informal settlement. Around 4 million people live in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, most of them in slum areas. One of the largest is the Mathare Valley, where around 600,000 people live in a small area. Lack of infrastructure, cramped conditions, poorly ventilated housing, shared toilets, poor hygienic conditions and lack of or irregular access to clean water make it difficult for communities to provide basic services. The recent rains have led to flooding, destroying homes and loss of life and owned property. Several families have fled and are seeking refuge in open school campuses where we can give them the basic necessities to survive, but the situation is dire due to a lack of shelter and sanitation.
Here, the Peter Bachmann Foundation supports the “Page Vision” school, an informal school for children and young people from the Mathare slum whose parents have no financial means to send their children to a state school. Page Vision was founded by two young men, George Orimba and Paul Onyanch. For this purpose, temporary rooms were built out of cardboard and sheet metal and converted into classrooms. PBF ensures that a total of 500 children and young people receive a meal every day at this and other schools. To ensure they can attend school, the girls are also provided with reusable sanitary pads.
This school, Page Vision, was completely inundated by the floods. This means over 250 children will not be able to go to school next week.
As PBF, Kenya, we would like to ask for immediate assistance for these children and their families who are living in the cold. We would be very grateful for food, blankets, mattresses, warm clothing and any financial support that we can use for disaster preparedness.
Dan Amolo, Project Manager Kenya