Thanks to generous contributions made as part of the 2009 Global Giving Access Challenge, the Candlelight computer lab project is a success! Candlelight School now has a fully functional computer lab, with fourteen computers networked and connected to the Internet.

Candlelight School was able to partner with local craftsmen to construct quality workstations to create a productive and private work environment and computer covers to protect the machines from dust. The concrete facility has been secured by installing metal doors and windows.

The lab is being integrated into the curriculum at Candlelight School, allowing students the opportunity to obtain computer skills that are essential for employment in Kenya. Candlelight School has brought in an additional instructor for the lab and continues to work with experts to refine the curriculum.

As a testament to the need for computer skills in Kenya, the lab continues to have several community members visit the lab after hours to receive computer training. Candlelight has been able to hire a night supervisor for the lab, which provides a vital service to community members at a reasonable price and provides valuable revenues to the school. Cyber cafes and computer training centers are very popular and profitable businesses in Nairobi, and Candlelight hopes to fulfill this need as the only such facility in the Matopeni area. So far this project has been a great success, and one that we hope to use as a replicable model for some of our other partners in Kenya.

Once again, thanks to our donors for their generous support of The 1010 Project and Candlelight School. Their contributions have undoubtedly improved the prospects for hundreds of hard-working and grateful students in Nairobi as they develop the job skills necessary to create a better life.

Thank you for joining the story as we learn and work together to break the cycle of poverty for life!

How did an orphaned child bride become an honors student in the Korogocho slum of Nairobi?

In this part 2 of our interview with Erastus Omukhango, founder of REHEMA.  If you haven’t already, watch part 1 covers about how it all started with 2 kids abandoned at a church service.

Your investment dollars have helped provide REHEMA with revenue generating businesses like selling eggs from chickens (listen for the squawks!) Invest today to help us continue to provide organizations like REHEMA with the training and capital they need to be self-reliant.

Imagine: a single mother brings in her two kids. After the service she’s gone, and her kids are still there. The police ask the church to keep the kids while they look for the mother…who never turns up.

This is how REHEMA Daycare and School was started, and since then they’ve provided education to over 600 children! Your investment dollars have helped provide REHEMA with revenue generating businesses like selling eggs from chickens (listen for the squawks!)

After you watch this, continue to part 2: “From Child Bride to Honors Student.”