Githeri Day
As a child, githeri was one of those meals that felt like home—maize and beans cooked together until the flavours married, filling enough to carry you through an afternoon of football and chores. The maize gave quick energy; the beans held you steady until evening.
On feeding days at ETCO, we sometimes swap rice and beans for githeri: simple, nutritious, and honest. There is nothing fancy about a big sufuria steaming behind a tent, but there is something sacred about it—350 children eating together, spoons scraping plates, someone asking for seconds and someone else laughing.
We watch the queue move, we check the salt, we make sure the smallest hands get served. Joy here is not abstract; it is a child’s full belly and the sound of friends arguing about who finished first. The communal sharing of meals builds a kind of belonging—proof that you are not alone in needing help, and not alone in receiving it with dignity.
On days when charcoal costs bite and tomatoes feel like a luxury, githeri still delivers: protein and energy in one pot, the kind of meal grandmothers cooked when budgets were tight and love was measured in fullness, not flair.
You can almost set your watch by it: when the sufuria lid lifts, the steam carries the same promise it carried years ago—enough for today, and strength for whatever the afternoon asks for.
Our hope is straightforward—that these children grow into adults who remember what it felt like to be fed without humiliation, and who pass that memory on in how they treat the next person in line.
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.