StreetKids Garage top Slab Under Construction

Construction of the first floor

Street Kids Center General View

Fundis at Work in Street Kids Training Center

CIVS Volunteer in Street Kids Contsruction Site

Street Kids Centre Construction Work

Street Kids Center Administration

Center Coordinator with relevant skills has been identified by BIG LTD and she is currently working on various training curricula, admission procedures and tools and identifying various resource persons for the center. 3 Trainers in Automobile Mechanic-Practicals (Wiring,mechanic,body works/spraying)are already identified. Other departments like tailoring, water hyacinth ornamentals and carpentry has been included in the center activities to ensure that the girlchild and teenage mothers also get a training option in the center.

Street Kids Construction progress- 15TH SEP 2009

Street Kids Construction is on going and the first phase will be done by next week since curing for the current stage and molding of ventilations is still on.

TRAINING CENTER CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS BY END OF AUGUST

The foundation of the Building is done
The garage floor (slab) is done
Water source for construction established- Bore hole dug on site
Sanitation facility done on site
The garage wall is almost done, currently the continuous ventilations are manufactured by order and they will be supplied on site by 2nd Sep
Preparation for completing the garage roof is at an advance stage and most of the materials for the stage is ready.We hope to do it any time from 5th Sep 2009.The part will take 1 week and a
celebration will be hosted immediately its done as an appreciation for the good job done by fundis and our supporting agencies

Street Kids Centre Construction Work In Kisumu-Kenya

The Foundation is done and curing is almost through

Site store in place for keeping construction materials

Kisumu Mater and Serage company has inspected the site and recomended water conection in the site for the construction,All plans have been approved for water connection and payment done.

External sanitation facility is a health requirement immediately and the construction of a temporary one almost complete.The main sanitation facility devlopment was pushed to phase two

Street kids center development on process and more materials are supplied on site drainage system is in the process due to high rainfall.

AHERO EMPIS project is on going

Total number of solidarity groups registered in the BIG by 15th July 2009- 37
Total number of fully registered members by 15th July 2009 - 157 members
Total savings for enterprise promotion by 15th July 2009 -72,800
5Acre Horticultural Farm land preparation is done

Next activities for empis next week include

Fencing of project site
Harrowing of 5 Acre plot
Nursery preparation
Site planning

STREET KIDS CENTER STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT
The Center Sanitation Facility is in the proceess as specified by the Kisumu City Council EngineersThis will be completed and ready for inspection on Friday 17th July 2009 according to constructors on siteThe materials for the main foundation is being delivered to the site from today 13th July .Site store has been built and security officers put to ensure safety of the materials delivered.The team from KIWASCO is inspecting the water lines passing on site tomorrow to avoid busting pipes running to the city center.

STREET KIDS CENTER STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT

The Center Sanitation Facility is in the proceess as specified by the Kisumu City Council Engineers

This will be completed and ready for inspection on Friday 17th July 2009 according to constructors on site

The materials for the main foundation is being delivered to the site from today 13th July .Site store has been built and security officers put to ensure safety of the materials delivered.

The team from KIWASCO is inspecting the water lines passing on site tomorrow to avoid busting pipes running to the city center.

CHIGA EMPIS CENTRE

The business plan for the center is ready for sharing

The center has 5 distinct components namely:

• Community bank for savings mobilization and enterprise promotion to the poor
• Farmers Field School (school without walls) for training farmers on good agricultural practices and food security
• Community information center for the youth
• Community based collection and marketing center (for value addition and collective marketing)
• Orphans support center (for education,nutrition and health support)

All these is done courtesy of VCAA and partners.

Street Kisds Engineering Project Progress June-July 2008

The first phase of the CENTRE has been funded by VCAA and partners, on 26th June.

Structural designs done and approval by the Kisumu City Council in progress after site visit by the city council planners and surveyors

Ground leveling in progress and foundation of the training center starts this week.

Container carrying engineering tools from Amsterdam arrived in Kisumu on 3rd July2008 carrying mechanical engineering equipment,tools and computers.

Street kids mechanical training curriculum development for both intermediate and certificate in progress

New sponsor: Turing Foundation

We are very happy and grateful to announce that Turing Foundation is one of the new sponsors of Streetkids Engineering. Due to their support we are able to build the class rooms at the first floor.

The Turing Foundation is a private charity based in the Netherlands.
They strive to offer children and young people the kind of education that can help them structurally, encourage their independence and autonomy, and enable them to contribute to their communities.
The Turing Foundation regards education as a means to offer people new opportunities in their lives in a constructive, structural and respectful way. Moreover, education benefits not only the individual, but also his environment and society as a whole. It can be seen as a sustainable method of poverty reduction.

STREET KIDS ENGINEERING MEN AT WORK

STREET KIDS MEN AT WORK

NEW HOPE FOR STREET KIDS AND VULNERABLE ORPHANS

EXCECUTIVE SUMMARY

Street Kids Project (Kisumu Ecovillage Initiative) is a collaborative project implemented by BIG Inc in collaboration with VCAA. This project focuses on technical skills upgrading on automobile engineering, motor vehicle repairs and maintenance, car wash, panel beating and spraying, and automobile wiring. The main goal of this project is to empower youth and other vulnerable children to acquire technical skills that can make them create jobs, improve their income, save ,invest, become financially self reliant and support more vulnerable youth in future .

Series of research findings commissioned by BIG Microfinance and Enterprise Development program has revealed that youth and street kids lack basic education and parental care due to poverty and poor mentorship. The household income and food security is insufficient to warrant them quality basic needs and education. Some involve in child labor and commercial sex as income alternatives for their poor and hopeless families, the resultant effects have been drug abuse, thurgery, spread of HIV/AIDs and influx of street families. The vulnerable youth and street kids are energetic and can drive the country’s economy if imparted with the right skills and financial support through community banks.

Recent attempts by government to promote technical trainings through village polytechnics have left out many vulnerable youth, orphans and vulnerable children due to stringent entry requirement, discrimination and inability of the poor to pay exorbitant training fees. This project has been designed to support the poor of the poorest in both technical skills up-grading and enterprise development through community banking. Reserves created from the center revenues will used to encourage the center graduands to save and invest in their own garages so as to absorb more trainees.

This center will be promoted as Street Kids Project (Kisumu Ecovillage Initiative). It will be registered as a Community Based Training Center (CBO) with ministry of Culture and social services. Its operations will initially be coordinated under BIG Inc for the pilot phase. As the enterprise expands, there will be need for capacity building and strengthening its autonomous structures. This will be aimed at positioning the center in the industrial market place for better performance and returns.

Street Kids Project (Kisumu Ecovillage Initiative) will be known for quality training, wide range of attractive car repair and maintenance services. These services will range from automobile spares sales, automobile repair and maintainance, automobile wiring, panel beating and spraying,carwas ,welding and metals work.. The enterprise motto will be to listen to customers and provide value.The management will adopt combination of multiple pricing, competative position pricing and material cost pricing strategies in car repair, maintainance and associated services.

The primary customers will be corporate and individual car owners. Vulnerable and needy youth/Street kids market will form secondary target clientele according to their need and reliability. Each market category will be segmented/stratified into three categorories (Heavy commercial vehycles, Omni buses and Light commecial vehycles) to capture diversified and wider market niche.

The center services will be promoted through mass media and Internet both locally and internationally. In the local market, radios televisions and print media will be used, well done brochures and website will also be instrumental. The training and car maintenance services will be done in a center workshop located in Kisumu – Kondele offices for walk in customers looking for quality automobile repair services. As the enterprise expands, sales agents will be engaged on commission basis to penetrate new markets.

The center will be managed by a Center Manager supervising both technical and administrative staff Automobile service division will be division will be divided into six units i.e. automobile mechanics, automobile wiring, panel beating and spraying, welding and metal work, car wash unit and automobile spares shop. Each department will be headed by production assistant engaged on full time basis but remunerated based on output.

The required start-up capital to ensure cost-effective and consistent quality service provision in the center in a threshold scale for initial 1 year pilot project phase is Kshs 5 Million. This Kshs 1million for land and transfers, Kshs 1.5Million for garage shade, Kshs 250,000 for spares shop and 1.5 Million for theory training block Kshs 250,000 for vital equipment that may be lacking in the in the VCAA and partners donanted equipment list e.g. car wash machine among others equipment all these are project direct costs. The bulk of this fund will be sourced from VCAA as grant support while the remaining amount from enterprise revenues. It is envisaged that the center will be self-sustainable after three years of consistent business operations based on the projected service provisions and market levels and associated cash flow implications.

CURRENT PROBLEMS TO BE SORTED OUT AND SITUATION ANALYSIS

Problems associated with street kids and vulnerable orphans in Kenya;

Recent research and surveys conducted in the urban and Perry urban centers of Kisumu city has revealed that vulnerable youth and street kids lack basic education and parental care due to poverty and poor mentorship. The household income and food security is insufficient to warrant them quality basic needs and education. Some involve in child labor and commercial sex as income alternatives for their poor and hopeless families, the resultant effects have been drug abuse, thurgery, spread of HIV/AIDs and influx of street families. The vulnerable youth and street kids are energetic and can drive the country’s economy if imparted with the right skills and financial support through community banks.

Recent attempts by government to promote technical trainings through village polytechnics have left out many vulnerable youth, orphans and vulnerable children due to stringent entry requirement, discrimination and inability of the poor to pay exorbitant training fees. This project has been designed to support the poor of the poorest in both technical skills up-grading and enterprise development through community banking. Reserves created from the center revenues will used to encourage the center graduands to save and invest in their own garages so as to absorb more trainees.

Empowering the vulnerable youth technically makes economic and social sense since such kind of empowerment will not only engage the youth productively but also contribute to their improved incomes through created job opportunities. This will contribute to national Gross Domestic Production (GDP) and attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Enterprise/project feasibility

From the rapid assessment on training and automobile service demand for motor vehycles , many facts are available about the dyanamics technical trainings in the village youth polytechnic and in the jua kali sector.The traineed lack quality trainings due to lack of effective training facilities,they lack money to pay training fees, if they pass out of the training centers their experiences and skill are more theoritical than practical and this pose challenge in their absorption rate in the job market.

This project will make it technical skills acquisition in automobile engineering easier and affrodable to street kids and vulnerable youth.It will also reverse the adage of theory based taechnical traings to practical and enterprise oriented trainings for the target beneficiaries.The project will sustain itself through its enterprise wing of motorvehycle maintainance ,repair ,car wash and spares shop.Reserves will be created to support the graduands saving in the commuty bank to establish their own enterprise sites .This will facilitate the replication of technology aquired from the center for exteneded job creation and improved incomes.

Support from Cordaid

We are happy to announce Cordaid will support Streetkids Engineering in collaboration with VCAA Foundation! We are very grateful with this donation, as we can start with fase I, building the garage.

Cordaid combines more than 90 years’ experience and expertise in emergency aid and structural poverty eradication. They are one of the biggest international development organisations with a network of almost a thousand partner organisations in 36 countries in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Cordaid has a strong support base in the Dutch community This is proved not only by some 370,000 contributors who support Cordaid financially, but also by the commitment of volunteers who collect clothing, organise meetings in their towns or parishes and assist in organising festivals.

Money is still needed, but with their support we can move a step forward.

Background Streetkids Engineering

Streetkids is a training centre targetting the most vulnarable youth in Kisumu, West Kenya. It focusses on technical skill upgrading in mechanical engineering and related disciplines. It is supported by VCAA Foundation in partnership with BIG Ltd.
Main Centre activities will start by June 2009.