**A Season of Hope and Community Love! **
Merry Christmas from Kibera. The season finds us tired sometimes — honest — but still lighting stoves, still answering messages, still believing the next child through the gate matters.
This year you helped us do the unglamorous work that holds a neighbourhood together: outreach when it rained, environmental clean-ups when it was easier to stay home, talent days where a shy singer became brave for three minutes.
We felt your support in practical ways — supplies arriving, strangers becoming friends, messages that said, “We see you.” That kind of solidarity is not decoration; it is fuel.
We are not asking you to picture us perfect. We are asking you to picture us present — black, white, and grey T‑shirts; dust on shoes; M‑PESA confirmations that mean beans tomorrow.
If the holidays are hard for you too, know you are not alone in that. Community is partly built in the uncelebrated weeks — the return visits, the follow‑up calls, the clean‑up after the party.
However you celebrate, carry a little of this place with you: warmth, noise, stubborn hope. And if you can, send a year‑end gift to ETCO so January’s programmes start strong.
We will close the year the way we started it — with work that fits in gumboots and aprons, with gratitude spoken plainly, and with room for one more plate if someone arrives late.
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.