A Beacon Of Hope For Marginalized Children In Kisumu

Some of the Akili girls participating in Sustainability Club.

It is easy enough if you live in the slums of Obunga or even in Obambo Village in Kisumu, Kenya, to slip into hopelessness. Because if you live in these areas, you are among those with the lowest incomes and HIV is rampant. At one time, if you were a girl, the lack of opportunities, the inability to escape from poverty would have slammed right into you.

But there has been a beacon of hope, a high-quality place, a place where a girl between the ages of 9 and 15 can receive a quality holistic education. It's a place of dignity that teaches self-reliance and provides emotional and physical support and it only accepts girls from these impoverished areas. That place of hope and education is the AKILI PREPARATORY SCHOOL.



David Omondi Otieno has lived in Obunga since 1998. Armed with a Medical Biochemistry degree from the University of Nairobi, completed in 2010, he has been key in establishing Akili Library, part of Akili Preparatory School, and is using his IT skills to develop an IT and preventive health center in the larger community.

David talks about his drive, "I believe that young people can change their communities and solve the many social problems, including unemployment, in our country which is now at 40 percent. I am driven by an innate desire to create sustainable change in my community and see girls and women empowered."

The Akili library and information center, which David was a major force in developing, is the only library in Obunga and serves more than 500 youth in the community.The library is a safe haven from the ills of the slums, provides textbooks for users, teaches children to read, offers homework assistance, has spaces for reading, and teaches computer skills.

The library also offers a penpal program, in partnership with Freedom Christian Academy. First graders at Akili Preparatory School also participate. By being able to correspond with children in another part of the world, children can come to understand that they are part of a larger community, beyond the slum area in which they live.

The girls from Akili Preparatory School are also given computer training. The girls learn through developing stories, games, and models, through the use of etoys. These skills bring the girls into a more competitive position with other students throughout Kenya.

Some children reading, while others work on computers at Akili library.

These are only some of the opportunities provided through Mr. Omondi Otieno's experience and skill. The amount of hope engendered in these youngsters is an immeasurable plus.

Some of the school staff; David Omondi Otieno is at right.

Thanks for information from this article by Pollination Project: http://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/david-omondii-girls-for-girls-digital-skills-project/; this article on the Akili library: http://akilischool.weebly.com/library--it-center.html; and the above link.

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