Smart Children Lacking Education Opportunity
On Saturdays, when more than 200 children sit with us, brilliance shows up without a uniform. You see it in the child who finishes a puzzle first, then pretends it was luck.
Teachers will tell you — if you ask the right question — which children arrive hungry, which ones share pencils, which ones carry worry like a second school bag. We listen, then we open the fee conversation parents dread.
Five children at Joash Olum Primary is a pilot, not a parade. Sponsorship here is follow-up: attendance, report cards, a parent meeting under a tin roof when the rains allow.
Too many of those minds are trapped by need — not lack of effort, but lack of fees, books, shoes, the small items schools list as if every home has a drawer for extras.
ETCO began an education programme with five children at Joash Olum Primary School in Kibera — a start measured in names, not headlines. We focus on public schools where follow-up stays possible: teachers who know us, parents we can text.
Under Kenya’s Competency Based Curriculum, we began with Grade 1 and hope to grow each year toward at least twenty sponsored children — books, learning materials, uniforms, polish for shoes that still shine with effort.
Daycare on the horizon
We also plan to revive our Little Children Daycare Centre — clean floors, a locked gate, caregivers who sing as much as they supervise — so parents can work knowing toddlers are safe. Sponsor a learner, donate a textbook set, or ask your school partnership to twin with us — education travels faster when it rides on relationships.
CBC requires more than fees — it requires materials for projects that live on kitchen tables. Help us stock the messy, beautiful work of learning: glue, clay, paper, patience.
Community Capacity Building Training
We are currently participating in the ongoing PROVE (Public Space Governance Research, Observation, Validation and Experimentation) Pilot Programme, a four-month initiative by Public Space Networks (PSN) bringing together 11 community groups from Kamukunji and Korogocho. The programme focuses on strengthening community organizations’ capacity to manage, protect and improve public spaces as well as restoring rivers and it's ecosystems. The ongoing capacity-building training is helping CBOs and community organizations better understand the connection between public spaces, river restoration and ecosystem conservation, while exploring practical approaches and stronger collaboration among communities, government agencies, development partners and other stakeholders.
🎓 ETCO Education Empowerment Program
📚 Holiday Tuition Classes Now in Progress! Give your child the opportunity to learn, grow, and stay academically active throughout the school holiday. Our experienced teachers provide quality guidance in all subjects, helping learners improve their understanding, confidence, and performance. ✅ All Subjects Available ✅ Supportive Learning Environment ✅ Open to Learners of All *High School* Levels
From Participation to Agency: ETCO at the SAIIA Youth Programming Innovation Lab
Last week, ETCO represented Kibra at the SAIIA Youth Programming Innovation Lab in Nairobi — where the real question wasn't youth participation, but youth agency. Here's what that means for our nine programmes, and an honest look at what it takes to build sustainably as a volunteer-run organisation.