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.
Easter Feeding Program
Thanks to Tim Ruff and Stephanie, ETCO hosted a warm Easter Friday feeding program for children at our new office—bringing joy, a good meal, and community together in Kibera.
ETCO's Kibera Slums Tour
We thank Tim Ruff and Stephanie for joining ETCO’s Slum Tour in Kibera—walking with us, listening to residents, and experiencing the strength and reality of our community firsthand.
FLOOD SUPPORT APPEAL – KIBERA
Heavy rains brought flooding to Kibera’s riparian areas—destroying homes, claiming lives, and leaving families in urgent need. ETCO appeals to well-wishers for food, clothing, bedding, medical support, and other basics, while urging everyone to stay safe around fast water and contamination risks.