Stories of success and hope: the impact of the project dedicated to the mothers of Mathare

The second year of the social-work integration project for the mothers of Mathare has ended. It serves young adolescent women who have recently become mothers and who live in one of the largest slums of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Every year, a group of fifteen girls is selected for the project who can attend a training course two days a week for twelve months. The objective of the course is to develop craft skills in weaving and making beaded artefacts.

For these girls, learning a trade means having a real opportunity to improve their lives.

Throughout the process, the girls were followed by a professional counselor who offered them psychological support and instructed them and their children on personal hygiene and provided them with sex education and disease prevention strategies. Furthermore, every week they receive a package containing necessities, such as sanitary pads, diapers, flour, rice, beans, sugar, oil, tea, and oats to prepare porridge. These products are of vital importance to them because conditions of extreme poverty it is common for some women to resort to prostitution to feed themselves and their children.

This year, all the girls in the group have successfully completed the course. Being part of a group has been instrumental in building mutual support, and we are happy to share that one of them has decided to go back to school to complete the course she interrupted when she became pregnant.

Furthermore, two other girls acquired enough skills to open a small hairdressing and beauty business, hiring another girl who lives in the Mathare slum. These are success stories that are a beacon of hope in the difficult lives of Mathare.

Since the beginning of the project, thirty mothers have had the opportunity for a better future. For next year, our contact person in the area, Joab Omoto, and the sisters of Mathare are already working to identify the fifteen new girls who will become part of the project.