Jitegemee 2018 Annual Report

2018

annual report jitegemee

empowering street children through education

PREPARED BY Jitegemee Inc., www.jitegemee.org 411 A Highland Ave., #171 Somerville, MA. 02144

CONTENTS The Year in Review Executive Summary Dreams of a Brighter Future A Year of Graduates The Impact of Jitegemee 2018 Financial Summary Thank You Donors

the year in review

A year of success!

100% of our exam candidates passed their exams, including 1 university graduate, 5 high school students, and 14 primary school students 94% Vocational Students passed the Government Trade Exam 48 Parents graduated from our first ever Street Business School class Hired Peter Muasya, our first Jitegemee graduate to become a fulltime employee Served approximately 49,000 meals to our 202 children

75

Children Supported in Primary School

16

Children Supported in High School

Raised $218,650 from 300+ donations from grants, family foundations, individuals, and in-kind donations Provided physical check-ups to 146 Children and 92 Parents at our Annual Health Day 22 high school and university students attended Caeer Day where they received counseling and training from professors and trainers from local colleges. They learned about career opportunities available and had fun with games organized by our social worker Joshua

24

Youth Supported in College or University

87

Youth Receiving Vocational Training

Verity Norman-Tichawangana Executive Director

A Letter from the Executive Director Dear Friends of Jitegemee, 2018 was a year of continued growth and achievement for Jitegemee, and I’m so proud of everything our students, team, and community have accomplished! Allow me to share some of the highlights with you: OUTSTANDING STUDENTS KEEP BEATING THE ODDS

STRONG TEAM KEEPS GROWING

We are delighted with the achievements of our 2018 graduates, and this year had our highest number of primary and high school graduates ever. Our primary and high school and university graduates once again achieved a 100% pass rate and excellent grades. Our Vocational students also achieved excellent results with a 94% pass rate on their final exams.

One of our greatest blessings in 2018 has been an impressive first year by Jennifer Katiwa, our new Country Director. Jennifer, a veteran development worker who spent years working for Windle Trust in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, has taken on the dayto-day running of Jitegemee in Machakos with great wisdom and experience. She has focused on building strong relationships between our staff members, and also with local entities that interface with vulnerable children, such as the probation office, the police, and the local Ministry of Education.

A RECOGNIZED COMMUNITY RESOURCE Jitegemee continues to be a leader in providing support to vulnerable children in the Machakos community. This year, the Machakos Probation Department recommended a student to our Rehabilitation and Vocational Training Program as an alternative to serving time in a juvenile correctional facility. The young man has been thriving in our program and will soon be working in and contributing to our community.

EXPANDED SUPPORT FOR OUR PARENTS This year we significantly expanded our parent support program and partnered with Ugandan organization Street Business School to provide our parents and families with additional economic empowerment training and opportunity. After 8-months of training, our first Street Business School cohort of 48 parents graduated and started their own businesses, including a poultry project, basket-weaving and catering. Our parents received the equivalent of $3,000 in start-up funds from the Kenyan Women’s Enterprise Fund to contribute to their businesses.

Our team in Kenya continues to grow in strength and professionalism. Our founding Vocational teacher, Alex Mutiso, joined us following his retirement from the Ministry of Education. Faith Kiliku, a graduate of Makerere University in Uganda, is our new Program Officer following the departure of our dear friend and former Program Manager, Elizabeth Nzivo. Our team now includes twelve members in Kenya, two in the USA, seven Kenyan board members and twelve USA board members. We were also thrilled to welcome a Master’s degree student from Brandeis University, Ryan Schwartz, who served as our communications intern in Machakos for six months.

THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDS In a time of global uncertainty and turmoil, Nelson Mandela’s statement continues to ring loudly in my mind, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Thank you, asante sana, for fighting and working with us to ensure a quality education and hope for a better future for the vulnerable children of Mahcakos.

Dreams of a brighter tomorrow Faith Mueni, high school graduate “The memories of my first day in Jitegemee are still fresh in my mind.

How I got to interact with many children from around Machakos county – children who also came from very humble backgrounds like mine; others who were orphans and others who lived on the streets. I found myself loving learning more about other people’s lives, and this helped me become stronger and not to pity myself.”

It’s always astonishing how our students overcome such adversity to achieve good grades and continue their education against the odds.

Faith Mueni is one of our 2018 high school graduates and has proved what is possible with a positive attitude, lots of hard work, and some support from friends. Faith graduated from Mulango Girls High School and will be joining university in 2019 to study journalism. Neither of Faith’s parents went to high school, so she is breaking down barriers!

Faith was born in a small village outside Machakos town. Her father passed away when she was only seven years old, leaving her mother alone and struggling to support three children. Her family soon moved to Machakos town where Faith’s mother would wash clothes for people to try to earn enough to feed her family.

Faith is a bubbly, outgoing young lady, and it’s been wonderful to see her grow in confidence since she started receiving support from Jitegemee in 2012.

She tells us how being part of Jitegemee has made her a “woman of substance.”

“What makes me happy is that I have never been chased away from school for not paying school fees.

This is because Jitegemee pays all my school fees on time. My happiness is greatest when I am with my friends and when I see success in whatever I am working on.”

Faith is passionate about telling the truth and exposing injustice. She is eager to become a journalist so she can tell the stories that need to be told in Kenya. She will take the first step towards realizing that dream later this year when she starts her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.

Congratulations to Faith and all our 2018 graduates.

And a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributes to our work and their achievements!

Faith

Our 2018 Graduates UNIVERSITY Harrison Mutulu earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology HIGH SCHOOL 5 High School graduated, including Ken Karani, Faith Mueni, Maingi David, Mercy Muindi, and Shadrack Mutinda PRIMARY SCHOOL 14 Primary School students graduated from St. Mary’s Boys, Machakos Primary, Township Primary, Baptist Primary, Kivandini Primary, Katoloni Primary, and Muthini Primary VOCATIONAL 30 Vocational students passed the Government Trade Exam in plumbing, electrical, dressmaking, carpentry, welding, hair dressing, motor mechanics, catering and knitting

, s n o i t a l u t a r g n o C ! n o s i r r Ha

expanding our impact

2018 was a busy year STREET BUSINESS SCHOOL GRADUATION CELEBRATION This year we launched our first Street Business School class, as we expanded our parent empowerment program, and 48 Jitegemee parents became Street Business School graduates!

What is Street Business School? It’s a program in Uganda that provides people living in poverty with the skills needed to run a successful micro business.

Street Business School – or SBS as we know them – are partners with Segal Family Foundation, which also provides Jitegemee with generous support.

Following SBS training in Kampala, our new Country Director, Jennifer Katiwa, and our team recruited and launched our first Jitegemee SBS class. Soon our parents were learning entrepreneurship, bookkeeping, customer service, and a whole host of other skills to run their own businesses in Machakos. They also received training on baking, basket-weaving and poultry-raising. Agnes Mutua, mother of Machakos County Governor Alfred Mutua, even donated some baby chicks to our new project!

At the end of their eight months of training, we celebrated the success of our 48 parent graduates with a parade through Machakos, complete with a

marching band! Our parents were even awarded business start-up loans of $3,000 from Kenya’s Women’s Enterprise Fund. We are delighted with the hard work and success of our parents and look forward to seeing how their businesses will contribute to their families and the community.

FULBRIGHT SPECIALIST PARTNERS WITH JITEGEMEE We were thrilled to host Dr. Beverley Bell, a Fulbright Specialist and full-time faculty from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (previously from Mt. Holyoke College) in the USA, at Jitegemee in January and May 2018. Dr. Bell worked closely with our team to formalize our Vocational Program Rehabilitation Curriculum and align it with the standards set by the Ministry of Education in Kenya.

Dr. Bell continues to work with our team as they pilot and continue to make adjustments to our Rehabilitation Curriculum. We hope to finalize the curriculum by the end of 2019 and make it available to other organizations like ours.

Dr. Bell and a panel of scholar-practitioners will present this work at the 2019 Comparative and International Education Society Conference in San Francisco, USA.

Growing our own food Solidaridad East Africa, one of our partners, helped us develop our own “shamba” (farm) on Jitegemee’s campus. They donated a fence around our agricultural area, as well as irrigation for our crops. We now have chickens, onions, spinach, tomatoes and sukumawiki (similar to kale), which our parents and students help grow. We are even starting to include our own vegetables in the healthy hot lunch we feed our students each day.

Ministry of Education touring the site of Jitegemee’s future innovation hub at the Stakeholders Meeting

A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS JITEGEMEE HOSTS STAKEHOLDERS KENYA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION REPRESENTATIVES A first for Jitegemee was hosting dignitaries from the Ministry of Education for a one-day Stakeholders’ Forum to review our Rehabilitation Curriculum. In partnership with Fulbright Specialist, Dr. Beverley Bell, we were delighted to welcome contributions from the following education experts: Irreneous Kinara, Director, National Directorate of Adult and Continuing Education; Elizabeth Kitau, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development; Kennedy Wakia, the Cultural and Educational Affairs Specialist from the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi; Janet Kawewa and Charles King’ori of the Machakos County Adult and Continuing Directorate; and Terry Mutuku, Chair, Jitegemee Kenya Board. The group provided constructive feedback on the work Dr. Bell and our team had done, and made suggestions regarding alignment of our curriculum with new standards in the Kenya National curriculum.

INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS STRENGTHEN JITEGEMEE We love hosting guests, and this year had a record number of international volunteers, consultants,

interns and researchers contribute to our work.

In addition to Dr. Beverley Bell, we also hosted her husband, Dr. David Bell, a faculty member at Clark University in Massachusetts, USA. Dave also volunteered his time and skills working with our team on our Monitoring and Evaluation system.

Brandeis University Master’s student, Ryan Schwartz, joined us for six months as our Communications and Monitoring and Evaluation intern. He did a wonderful job documenting our work, updating our social media, and taking many of the beautiful photos featured in this report.

UMass, Amherst Education Doctoral candidate, Nyaradzai Changamire, conducted her doctoral research on Jitegemee’s sexual and reproductive health education program, and worked with some of our university students, who served as research assistants.

Last but certainly not least, two of our new US Board members, Jacqi Mosselson and Paul Frisoli, visited Jitegemee while they were in Kenya for a working group for Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies.

Field trips show students a world beyond Machakos Without Jitegemee, many of our students would never have the opportunity to see life beyond the town of Machakos. This year, our staff accompanied an excited group of 71 primary school students to the Giraffe Center and Kazuri Beads Cooperative in Nairobi. A little later in the year, 67 Vocational students drove through the Great Rift Valley to beautiful Lake Nakuru, where they got to see flamingos, wildebeest, zebras, and rhinos.

2018 financial summary

2018 Total Operations Expenditure $221,118 USD (22,891,178 KSH) 3%

BREAKDOWN BY CATEGORY: School Sponsorship & Support $47,560 USD (4,819,730 KSH) Feeding Program $11,412 USD (1,156,492 KSH) Vocational Program $11,058 USD (1,603,701 KSH) Family Assistance and Healthcare $16,204 USD (1,642,113 KSH) Computer Program & Youth Hub $5,953 USD (603,277 KSH) Kenya Admin $61,751 USD (6,257,846 KSH) US Admin & Support $39,773 USD (4,030,595 KSH) Fundraising & Image $9,874 USD (1,000,631 KSH) Monitoring and Evaluation $5,661 USD (573,685 KSH) Building & Facility Expenses $11,872 USD (1,203,108 KSH)

4%

5% 5% 7% 28% 3%

4%

13%

BREAKDOWN BY CATEGORY:

General $12,927 USD (1,351,200 KSH) Mailings $19,925 USD (2,026,800 KSH) Online $9,899 USD (1,126,000 KSH) Fundraiser Events $27,901 USD (2,927,600 KSH) In-Kind Donations $8,749 USD (900,800 KSH)

22%

18%

2018 Fundraising Total $218,650 USD (22,520,000 KSH) Family Foundations $139,250 USD (14,187,600 KSH)

5%

5%

9%

6%

63%

thank you donors It would be impossible to support our children and their families without your generous support. Thanks to all our friends who contributed to Jitegemee’s work in 2018. We raised $218,650, and received in-kind contributions of an additional $8,749.

Stronger together.

A special thank you goes to Segal Family Foundation for their ongoing support. We continue to learn so much from your team, and are grateful for the generous support you give us, which includes access to inspiring like-minded organizations to partner with.

Heartfelt thanks also goes to Carolyn Workman and Kurt Wacker of the Workman Wacker Foundation for doubling their level of support in 2018. We are so grateful! Thank you also to Charlotte and David Ackert, whose increased support enabled us to strengthen Jitegemee’s team and leadership in 2018. We are also deeply grateful for the loyal and generous support we received in 2018 from the Mosselson Charitable Trust, the Topol Family Foundation, the Kaplan Family Foundation, Michelle and Jake Brooks, Shu Kahn and Kevin Lang, Paul Cabana, and the Sunflower Foundation.

So many friends have given generously of their time, their homes, or in-kind donations that contribute to our work. Thank you to Shefali Frampton, Rebecca Abou-Chedid, and Michelle and Jake Brooks for hosting fundraising parties in their homes. Thank you to David Bove of Vineyard Brands for donating wine for an end-of-year wine-tasting fundraiser party. And thank you to Asya Ollis, Beverley Bell, and Festus Wanjohi for hosting “birthday” or other Facebook fundraisers for Jitegemee.

Our friends in Kenya have also been extremely generous. In 2018 we received donations of electronics, stationary, toys, clothing, food, sanitary wear, and even chickens from a host of friends, including Agnes Mutua. We thank Solidaridad East Africa for their support and donation of equipment and farming materials for our agricultural project; Light of Hope for their regular donations of sanitary wear for our girls; Gelian Hotel for a donation of soil; the Dorcas Foundation, Deliverance Church, and Green Life Africa for their contributions of food to our feeding program; and books from Above the Sea Kenya and Light of Hope. We are grateful for our ongoing partnership with the Machakos County Adult and Continuing Education Directorate who continue to bolster our work by providing teachers to support our Vocational Program.

Thank you to our generous donors of $5,000 or more: Segal Family Foundation Carolyn Workman & Kurt Wacker / Workman Wacker Family Foundation David and Charlotte Ackert Mosselson Family Charitable Trust Shu Kahn and Kevin Lang Annette Hollander & Myron Kaplan / Kaplan Family Foundation Michelle and Jake Brooks Topol Family Foundation $1000 OR MORE

$500 OR MORE

Sandra Waite / Ayco Charitable Foundation Rebecca Abou-Chedid John Abowd Frank Duehay & Jane Lewis Jessamyn Berniker Raymond Bonner Paul Cabana Paul Frisoli Arnold Hiatt Ariella Kahn-Lang Jenya Kahn-Lang Abby Kral Andrea Kramer Carolyn Magill Laura Ewan & Mark Palmer Shefali Rajpal Joy Soodik Liz Spayd Ida & George Stockman Farah Stockman Sunflower Foundation David & Eleanor Woods Global Giving matching funds

Charles Brown George Fosque Helena Halperin Keanne Henry Jody Forchheimer & Louis Kaplow Anne & David Kendall Kurt Lang Dan Leist William Pearce Carol Posey & Gayle Privette Ernestine Rathborne Network for Good/ Facebook

$100 OR MORE Arlene Ash Donna Barry Carol Bellamy Sandy & Ann Benett Morri Markowitz & Polly Bijur Ethan Bloomberg Heidi Brooks Virginia & Stephen Brooks Caroline & Naveed Butler-Rahman Gregory McCampbell & Tovah Calderon

Peter Canellos Phyllis Gelman & Sam Cherniak Maria Cramer Yves & Christine Cruvellier Jennifer Doleac Alexandra Drane Rachel Erbach Rachel Erlich Ronnyka Fitzpatrick Njeri Gichohi Aaron Goldberg Kiri Haggans Hope Hare Marilyn Jones Jeff Katz Jane Kim Mark Kramer Larry Langdon Miriam Leigh Nathan Bress & Miriam Leigh Jay & Patricia Lorsch Kathleen McCaffrey Joseph & Marina McCarthy Scott McCue Ernst Hogendoorn & Mercedeh Momeni Cathy Mosca Kyalo Musau

Ethan Nasr Greg Nelson Verity NormanTichawangana Amber Oberc Asya Ollis Abby Phillip Mary Poor James Rebitzer Linda Santanello Marietta Sbraccia Lisa Lynch & Fabio Schiantarelli Louis Schwartz Maralee Schwartz Gerald Seegars Susan Seligson Samuel & Megan MacGarvie Thompson Meriel & Sozi Tulante Rosaline Valcimond Joan Vennochi David & Miriam Weil

UP TO $100 Kerstin Ahlgren Breidenthal Ellen Birnbaum & Donald Altschiller Amazon Smile Rose Arruda Sarah Axelrod

Sarah Bates Alexandra Bell Beverley & David Bell David Bove Erica Brooks Elizabeth Cho Deepa Chungi Kathleen Coleman Ginger Collier Martha Condry Gene Corbin Darcy Courteau Hilary Dionne Courtney Donovan Nicole Dungca Denizhan Duran Carrie Endries Benjamin Ervin Mike Mayo & Tina Feingold Rhonda Black & Gene Foley Lorie Friedman John Gill Christine Githinji Tiffany Graham Cara Haberman Shaquilla Harrigan Sandra Hausaman Ebony Hearn Peter Cahn & Donald Hess Sharon & David Hessney Bette Hoffman Melzenia Horton-Todd Barr & Joyce Jozwicki Sangeeta Kamat Rutendo Kashambwa Ulrike Kaunzner Mariane Kotubetey Edward Lazear Daniel Lenerz Marshall Lombard Carla Lundstrom Faraaz Mahomed Bernard Maitai

Olive Malcolm Maria Manning Susan Margolin Meg McCarty Liz McEachern Hall Margie McKinnon Shreyas Mehta Doug Miller Jason Mitchell Ernst Hogendoorn & Mercedeh Momeni Eric Moskowitz Jacqi Mosselson Subarna Mukherjee Elaine Murray Junko Narimatsu Daria Neal Claire Neely Elias Okach Martin & Ria Orans Judy Meyers & Mark Pasternack Margaret Plimpton Enid Pope Johnson Carol Posey & Gayle Privette Shehzad and Veena Rajpal Sharon Rallis Sandhya Rao Clarence Wardell & Anita Ravishankar Jessica Ray Katherine Robb Rachelle Rosenfeld Rachel Rubin Eve Runyon Green Sandina Sarah Schooler Phillip Sharff Salma Shitia Dane & Judith Smith Jessi Smolow Gretchen Stoddard Matthew Tambiah Shira & Eli ToeplitzCenter

Alexandra Tuffuor Noam Weinstein Elizabeth West Dennis Whittle Christine Williams Joshua Winter Rob & Shoshana Woods Whitney Young

A Special Thank You For their generous in-kind donations of gifts raffled off at our fundraisers; donations of software, clothing, sporting equipment, or sanitary pads for our children; providing much-needed documentation services, and so much more!

KENYA Machakos County Adult and Continuing Education Directorate / Non-formal teacher Light of Hope / Books, sanitary pads Solidaridad East Africa / Irrigation drip kit & farming fertilizer Dorcas Foundation / Food Green Life Africa / Food Deliverance Church / Food Gelian Hotel / Soil Above the Sea, Kenya / Books Agnes Mutua / Chickens Pamela Gedion & Sylvia / Clothes Elizabeth Nzivo / Clothes Irene Makena / Clothes Dr. Bannister Kilonzo / Clothes Nancy Ndolo / Clothes and Food Elizabeth Nzivo / Food Maingi Kyalo (“Machakos Kyalo�) / Food Jennifer Katiwa / Toys and Stationary

USA Sasha Kinney / Reading tablets David Bove of Vineyard Brands / Wine for fundraiser Dr. Beverley Bell / Stationary

the gift of hope “Mere words will never be enough to say thank you for what you have given us. We can only try to play our part and do you proud in every way possible.”

– Valentine, University Student

Donate Jitegemee’s mission is supported in large part by the generosity of friends and family around the world who share our goal of improving lives through education.

You can join us in these efforts by donating today, or anytime throughout the year, using any of the following options. Your contributions will help ensure Jitegmee continues to provide children and their caregivers in Machakos access to education, healthcare, and financial empowerment.

ONLINE BY CREDIT CARD: www.jitegemee.org www.globalgiving.org (Project #25545)

BY MPESA IN KENYA: MPesa #593249 ONLINE BY CREDIT CARD: N THE U.S.A. BY CHECK: Jitegemee, Inc. 411A Highland Ave, #171 Somerville, MA 02144

a shared purpose

the jitegemee FAMILY Last but certainly not least, we thank our Board and team members in Kenya and the USA for so generously contributing their time, expertise and care to our program during the past year.

STAFF:

U.S.A. BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Verity Norman-Tichawangana (Executive Director), Jennifer Katiwa (Country Director) Elizabeth Nzivo (Programs Manager – left in July 2018) Alex Mutiso (Founding Teacher), Hiram Kioko (Accountant), Peter Muasya (Operations and Finance Officer), Joshua Muema (Social Worker), Faith Kiliku (Program Officer), Stephen Muendo Mwilu (Cook), Cecilia Mutisya (Receptionist/Programs Assistant), Veronicah Kioko (Receptionist/Operations Assistant), Wambua Mbivye (retired) and Daniel Mutinda (Watchmen)

Farah Stockman (Founder), Shulamit Kahn (Chair), Abby Kral (Treasurer), Catherine Mosca (Secretary), Allyson Black-Foley, Christina Stellini, Clarence Wardell, III, Devin Powell, Jacqueline Mosselson, Mark Palmer, Paul Frisoli, Regina Schwartz, Tulaine Montgomery, and Wairimu Mwaura

KENYA BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Terry Wavinya Mutuku (Chair), Benedicter Musau (Treasurer), Martina Amoth, Peggy Ochola, Peter Nduulu, Rasto Omolo, Joseph Mwongela, Verity Norman-Tichawangana (Secretary)

ANNUAL REPORT PREPARED BY: Verity Norman-Tichawangana (Narrative) Fungai Tichawangana & Ryan Schwartz (Photography) Laura Ewan & Mark Palmer (Design) Farah Stockman & Fungai Tichawangana (Editing)

JITEGEMEE, INC. www.jitegemee.org 411 A Highland Avenue, #171 Somerville, MA. 02144 - and PO Box 1100 Machakos, Kenya

All images in this document are the property of Jitegmee, Inc. and may not be used without permission.