Week 6 of 2024 looking better
By week six of the year, a feeding programme is no longer new—it is expected. Children arrive earlier. Volunteers know which sufuria needs stirring first. The woman who sells mandazi outside times her break to the queue. That rhythm is a kind of mercy: proof that love can become routine.
That is the milestone worth naming: not hype, but habit. Week after week, plates go out, bellies fill, and the community proves it can keep promises to its youngest members—even when money is tight, even when the news is heavy, even when someone asks whether it is worth continuing.
It is tempting to talk about impact in grand sentences. The honest truth is smaller: fewer children standing through Saturday hungry, more elders eating without shame, more young people seeing that consistency is a kind of love that does not need applause.
If you have supported ETCO—money, time, a bag of beans—this is what your gift looked like in week six: ordinary, faithful, and still necessary. And if you have not yet, there is room in the line. Week seven is coming.
We are not claiming victory over poverty in six weeks; we are claiming faithfulness—showing up when the news cycle has moved on, when donors are tired, when the sufuria needs scrubbing again. That is what ‘looking better’ means from the inside: not glossy photos, but a programme still standing.
So yes—week six looked better, not because everything is fixed, but because the community kept its appointment with its children.
Engaging Children through Feeding Program
Thanks to Chris and Jayne, ETCO had a warm feeding program for children at our new office—bringing joy, a good meal, and community together in Kibera.
Project Site Visit by Rotary Club of IPSWICH (USA) and Kikuyu (Kenya)
It was a great and engaging day of partnership and learning as we hosted the International Rotary Club of IPSWICH team, led by Environmental Lawyer Chris and his wife, Jane, Former President of Rotary Club of Kikuyu Hon. George Ngotho and Rotarian Yumbya for a visit to our project implementation sites. The visit provided an opportunity to review the project areas on the ground, discuss implementation priorities, and strengthen our shared commitment to sustainable environmental and community development. We also had the opportunity to visit the Nairobi Rivers Commission (NRC), where we were hosted by Commissioner Dr. Loice Kipkorir, a member of the Ngong River Committee. We explored opportunities to strengthen collaboration and align our work with the Nairobi Rivers Commission's Restoration Framework.
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.