An aid project in Kenya – an oasis of human dignity

How are children faring in other countries? What does their daily life look like? The questions children pose to their parents, grandparents, and teachers about the world, their discuss with each other in a classroom, explorations of a map, curiosity about photos or YouTube films from different global regions – all of this is an expression of the social nature of children. Children naturally want to know how their “peers” live in other parts of the world.
  Because of this inherent curiosity, projects in the family and at school that  encourage and nurture a child’s social nature ultimately enable him to develop an emotional connection with all people of the world. Thru this process an interest in what is happening in the world is awakened, along with a desire and will to take a decisive stand against injustice. In this way an emotional attitude based on interpersonal empathy is nurtured and developed in a child as he or she matures.
  Children raised and educated in this way come to understand and value the importance of peaceful coexistence, as formulated in the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”. Instilling this respect for fellow human beings in children must be one of the primary educational goals, especially today in our war-torn times.

Their names are Emmanuel,
Miriam, Brigit, Shamim or Favour

These are the names of children who, along with many others, attend the KidStar Academy, a school in Africa’s largest slum in Kibera, in the south-west of Nairobi (Kenya) – for more than ten years an oasis where these children can forget their everyday worries for a while and feel safe. Many of these children have had a difficult start in life. Where they live, corrugated iron huts are lined up close together and there is rubbish everywhere. For the children, it is all about getting through everyday life. The families cannot afford to send them to school and many of them are unable to read or write.
  The KidStar Academy – a long-standing partner of the schools on Toblerstrasse in Zurich – is attended by around 200 children.¹ To help ensure that their friends in Africa have access to a decent education and the ability to formulate a healthy perspective for their lives, children and young people in Zurich and their teachers are organising an “Advent café” for parents and friends of the school. They want to use the proceeds to make a contribution to their friends who live far away. This year, it was a happy coincidence that Alex Weigel, the founder and managing director of KidStar Academy, was in Switzerland at precisely this time – otherwise he is on the ground in Africa – and was able to present his school project as part of the Advent café.

It all began with the
‘Hungerfranken’ (Hunger-Franc)

We often ask ourselves how people like Alex Weigel give up what we consider to be a comfortable life and devote all their energy to helping others who would otherwise be forgotten. As a teenager, Weigel and two classmates at his cantonal school in Wattwil introduced the so-called “Hungerfranken”, which still exists today: They persuaded pupils and teachers to pay one Swiss franc a month into a fund to support various aid projects with the aim of raising awareness of the difficult conditions under which other people in the world live. The Hungerfranken project continues to this day. Who was it that had given him and his colleagues the desire to help ensure that other people could also thrive?

An idea takes shape

A few decades later, inspired by the project from his youth, Alex Weigel planned a trip to Kenya with his 18-year-old daughter and her friend. An acquaintance in Kenya was involved in an aid project there and he wanted his daughter to experience the different, precarious conditions in which many people in our world live.
  The three week holiday in August of 2008 – visiting Kibera, the large and infamous Nairobi slum – brought them into contact with new friends every day. After the trip, Weigel realised that something had to be done. He resigned from his previous job and began to plan the establishment of an aid organisation. Just a few months later, in December 2008, he again travelled to Nairobi to establish a local network.
  With over one million inhabitants, the Kibera slum is huge. It was therefore necessary to locate an area within the slum where the support of the local people seemed most urgent. In January 2009, Weigel rented a mud hut with no electricity or water and opened a school with one teacher and a volunteer assistant teacher. The financial basis was provided by a fundraising campaign organised by the Swiss volunteer support association Good Hearts, which was founded for this purpose in 2009.²
  A young boy named Manuel was one of the first children to be admitted to the school. He was two and a half years old at the time. Today, he is about to take his final exams at secondary school, Weigel told us with justifiable pride.

Continuing bravely despite difficulties

More than ten years have passed since then. Today, under Weigel’s leadership, around 30 employees look after almost 200 children from pre-school age until they start high school. The children’s performance in the final exam this year was above the national average and that of the capital Nairobi – a result which determines which secondary school they can attend. In many cases, the children also have families that need help. Roughly one dozen former KidStar children are being supported as they now attend high school or undergo further training.
  The project began with small steps and new problems had to be solved again and again. It soon became clear that many children came to school hungry because they had only one meal a day at home. To address this nutritional deficitm – and because it is hard to concentrate on learning when you are hungry – a free nutritious meal became part of each school day. The children were asked to bring a spoon from home for this meal, but this was not always possible because some families have only one spoon. Like many other problems, this too had to be solved.
  This year, thanks to a new holiday programme, around 300 families were provided with 10 kg food packages containing corn, rice, lentils, beans, sugar, salt and cooking oil. This ensured that these families were fed during the remaining holiday period.

A new school building
after many setbacks

Space soon became too tight. In response, a pile of rubbish was cleared and a corrugated iron building with four classrooms and a kitchen was erected. A water tank purchased from an Irish priest was place on top. The years of construction work were repeatedly burdened by setbacks and it took courage, flexibility, and confidence to keep going.
  If you visit the aid organisation’s website, you will find the milestones of the last twenty years. For example, the local government decided to build a motorway right where the school building was. Fortunately, the school was given a new plot of land, the ownership of which is now clear thanks to the necessary permits and paperwork. Since then, two storm water pipes have had to be built to secure the school grounds so that heavy rainfall cannot cause any major damage, and 200 trees were planted by the children to increase the stability of the slope and mark the boundary.
  Time and again, seemingly impossible things happened, such as when a tired lorry driver drove off the motorway onto the school grounds a year ago, destroying two classrooms – fortunately at night, so that no one was injured. Immediately after the accident, work began at the other end of the school grounds to build three spacious new classrooms, incorporating various structural measures to extend the life of the building as far as possible.

More than just a school

Today, KidStar Academy is much more than just a school. The family members of a KidStar child who live under the same roof can contact the Good Hearts organisation in the event of a medical emergency. The children and their families are thereby supported in purchasing medication if they are unable to buy it themselves. If necessary, transport is organised to nearby state hospitals or the nearby Coptic Hospital. This also solves the problem that children would otherwise be absent from school because they have to care for a sick parent or sibling.

Much has been achieved,
and there is still more to do

There is still a lot to do to maintain what already exists and to further expand the project. Fortunately, the Swiss embassy in Kenya supported the project early on. In 2011, ambassador Jacques Pitteloud said in an interview:

[S]mall projects that are really targeted and go to the people, and not somehow mainly organise expensive seminars, these are exactly the projects that can make this country better, because with the little money that is invested in such a project, literally dozens of children will get a better education, not just education, but medical help and also food.
  The last time I was at the school was when there was this terrible fire disaster in another slum in Nairobi. You really had the feeling that “thank God there is someone here who cares for these little ones”. It was a day like in Scotland in autumn, it was cold, it was raining, the children were freezing, they came, it was Monday morning, of course they hadn’t eaten all weekend, and suddenly they were there at school and I could see that they were happy!
  First of all, they’ve eaten something and then they have someone who looks after them and gives them a chance to succeed in life later on. That was extremely touching – extremely touching – so I was almost moved to tears, and when I came back home in the evening and saw my six-year-old daughter going to bed after a good meal and finally just falling asleep after the fantastic school where she is, I had to say “Thank God there are people who don’t forget the little ones outside”.3

One can only agree with this, because the project has grown since then and gives many children a perspective for the future.

Planting the seeds of humanity

The project in Kibera has met with a positive response from young people. This is shown not only by the commitment of the children and young people at the “Advent café” in the schools on Toblerstrasse, but also by the picture book originally designed by Julia Fleischmann and Tanisha Tinner with the title Take my hand and accompany me to Jamboland. The two young authors created it as part of their A-level project after getting to know the KidStar Academy personally during a three-week visit. Whether the book is a birthday present or read during a cosy story time in the evening, it’s a way to plant the seeds of humanity in children. This is an imperative of our time!⁴ •

1 www.goodhearts.ch. This website of the Swiss Support Association provides a great deal of information on the history, organisation and current issues affecting the school.
² op. cit.
³ www.goodhearts.ch/j/images/Medienspiegel/Tel_interview_JacquesPitteloud.pdf
⁴ Julia Fleischmann/Tanisha Tinner. Nimm meine Hand und begleite mich ins Jamboland. (Take my hand and accompany me to Jamboland). Available in the Goodhearts donation shop. All proceeds go entirely to the Good Hearts organisation, as the production was underwritten by a donor. goodhearts.ch/j/index.php/de/j2-store/spendenshop/kinderbuch-nimm-meine-hand-und-begleite-mich-ins-jamboland.

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