SEAM (Self Education And Mentorship) Program

The SEAM children have been continuing with their craft skill development and are showing signs of mastery both in their craft skills and farming skills. We have been trying to find more ways for the parents to participate in their children's development, and have started a finance training program that will also involve the parents. We have also successfully opened bank accounts for level 2 kids to teach them about saving. 

This year we have had a successful open day where parents and the public came to the center and saw the children's activities. We had a plant and arts n' crafts sale, as well as hosting the Kisumu district of Kenya horticultural society. The children entertained the guests with traditional dance, poems, songs and skits.

As mentioned in previous reports we are looking for ways to expand the program. We have a plan that if implemented well would allow the SEAM program to become self-sustainable and have a further reach than it currently does.

As always we begin this report by confirming that the children at SEAM have been continuing with their regular activities and continue to develop useful life skills as they engage with mentors, and other members of the community, who transfer valuable knowledge to the children when they visit. We have had some losses as we recently lost one of our children who had been unwell for quite some time, but with the support from everyone who is a part of this program we were better able to handle the grief that we found ourselves faced with. The pioneers of the SEAM program (i.e. the children who were among the first to join the program) have also been a vital part of the training program, by training their younger counterparts on some of the skills that they were able to pick up from the program, such as mat making. This has been great for the community because it allows for the older children step up to the role of older sibling to the younger children of the community, and to understand the responsibility of mentorship to younger community members. The children have also been working on attaining market standards for their creative works (mats and beadwork), for buyers who have agreed to support the SEAM program. We have also been training the children on wellbeing, self-esteem, discipline, punctuality and good behavior, whilst also facilitating special visits from local authors and a hockey coach to teach them about the sport and some of the opportunities that come with it. In order to be able to expand the reach of the SEAM program, we have decided to explore collaboration with other institutions. We have been having discussions with the head teachers from other schools on areas of partnership to improve outcomes for children in the community. And finally, as an idea for the future, we are planning on improving our kitchen facilities at the site, to build a better cooking stove that will be powered by Organic Fuel Biomass Briquettes, and afford us the opportunity to introduce the children to this environmentally friendly and efficient resource.