The family strengthening programme in Eldoret started in September 2008

Capacity building
The FSP is putting more emphasis in building the capacities of caregivers in order to attain self reliance by 2011, which will mark three years of programme implementation; and to be able to provide and take good care of their families. In this quarter, a child rights workshop was held and the target group was 50 FSP beneficiaries, 20 village elders and the local chief. The participants were guided through the Children’s Act Cap 201 on the rights of the child, parental responsibilities and the different forms of child abuse. The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Phillip Nzenge, The District Children’s Officer (DCO), Eldoret East and West.

Self help groups
In a bid to support the groups, the FSP offered a refresher course on baking to Kambi Ndege self help group. The one day course was aimed at equipping them with skills to produce bakery products for sale at a lower production cost. The course was facilitated by Nancy Musai and Esther Nasambu who are both kitchen staff at the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School. To ensure that there is clean, safe and constant water supply, the FSP, in partnership with group members, revamped an existing borehole in a beneficiary homestead.
The Chamgei self help group poultry project is doing well. They now have 12 hens with one in the incubation process. The group has a layer cock which is being used to improve the breed. They collect an average of 5 eggs a day.
K-Rep Development Agency (KDA) continued training of three self help groups on business and financial management, as it is one of their standards and our requirement before group members receive loans. The groups have been further subdivided into five member groups called Watano. Training and orientation is done for eight months during which they save. Minimal savings are Ksh 100 per week. An appraisal is done to ascertain the assets they each have after which they apply for the loans. One must save 15% of the loan to be awarded.

Community management committee
During August, the FSP beneficiaries managed to select eight members from the different zones who form the community management committee (CMC). The process was very open and transparent whereby FSP beneficiaries selected people whom they had confidence in and could represent their interests effectively.

North Rift children’s conference
SOS FSP sent eight children and two chaperones to the North Rift Children’s Forum, held in August 2009. Four children and one female chaperone were from the village, while four children and one male chaperone were selected from among the FSP beneficiaries. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Listen to a Child’s voice’. It is an annual event that involves children from North Rift (9 districts) and it gives them the opportunity to share experiences and learn from one another.  
Issues highlighted in this year’s workshop include child rights, forms of child abuse, child labour, and support available through child line call 116 with support networks where children can make the calls for free. These networks in Eldoret include Telkom, Safaricom and Yu Networks.

Nutrition programme
The FSP came up with an evaluation tool for nutrition assessment which is used during the phase out stage of the nutrition programme. This was done in June 2009 whereby 19 beneficiaries were to continue with the nutrition support for 3 months, two of whom are on milk and egg support. The health condition for the children receiving this support (milk and eggs) has now become better than before. As an emergency response, 6 non FSP beneficiaries were supported with food as a result of severe hunger.
However the programme’s food reserves, which were purchased last year, have now been exhausted. It is hoped that with the expected rains, the people will plant short season crops to alleviate the dire situation. Early in the year the beneficiaries were supported with maize seeds, fertilizer and tools with the hope of phasing out food packages in the next financial year. However due to the poor rainfall pattern, it is expected that most of the beneficiaries will lack the minimal nutritional requirement for survival.

Psychosocial support
Twenty children identified during group counseling are undergoing counseling and debriefing sessions with the counselors. The programme has two counselors, one who also serves as the programme coordinator while the other is a volunteer who has really played a great role in the formation and implementation of the psychosocial support programme. The sessions are aimed at helping the children, who are mostly orphans, and their guardians resolve their current crisis and become well adjusted members of their community. FSP Unity Kids club activities are held every Saturday and in the various zones. The activities include sports and games, talks on moral values, health and hygiene, gender roles, life skills; adolescent development, sexuality, drug abuse and relationships, among other arising contemporary issues.
 In the ‘woman to woman’ sessions, the strategy has changed from group counseling to household home visit counseling. There is also an effort to involve other women in the group to support their sisters who are facing various challenges.

Jigger control programme
A total of 50 household have been sprayed to eradicate jiggers, fleas and lice infestation and out of this, 80% of the households have had a positive impact. 17 children and 3 adults who have been treated are now fully recovered. A challenge in other cases involves lack of commitment by the guardian in supporting the treatment process which has to be repeated every day for two weeks.  
The treatment process involves soaking infected areas for five minutes every day in an antiseptic/antibacterial solution, then cleaning with clean water and soap, rinsing with clean water, drying, then applying Vaseline or any jelly available.
The programme has also been involved in community health education, addressing issues of environment and sanitation. There is a need to address issues of water and sanitation in the community to support with hygiene and reduce communicable diseases.

EDUCATION

August remedial teaching programme
The August 2009 holiday remedial programme was organized in 2 community schools. This remedial programme unlike others organized before, aimed at supporting the weak performing children and especially those who had initially dropped out of school.
To mark the end of the holidays and recognize the performance of children, a get together was held at the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School grounds with the school principal as chief guest. Best performing pupils were awarded with gifts.

Support of partner schools
10 metal + wooden desks were donated to Border Farm Primary School. This was as a result of a situational analysis that was done early this year in partner schools in Kapsoya location, whereby Border Farm was the neediest school in terms of infrastructure compared to pupil’s ratio. This was an average of 4 children to 1 desk especially in class 5 and 6.

Adult literacy education
Adult literacy education for FSP beneficiaries started in June 2009. There are five FSP beneficiaries who attend the literacy programme and the majority are grannies. The grannies are now able to do simple mathematics as well as vowels. The class has 50 students’ mostly Sudanese nationals. They celebrated the International literacy day on 8th September 2009 together with other literacy centers from the wider Uasin Gishu district at the municipal grounds in Eldoret.