EMPOWERING YOUTH AT PENDO AMANI

Pendo Amani (“love peace” in Swahili) is a youth development center located in Juja, about nineteen miles north of Nairobi, Kenya. The director, Mike Wachira, is a long-time friend of the Komolion HDF founders and a talented artist. Here is his description of Pendo Amani.

Goal

Our programs provide a platform to develop leadership skills and experiences for young people and enhance their civic role.

Approach

The leadership building program consists of different topics that enhance leadership skills and personal growth to support youth in their growth and continued development. Topics are delivered through seminars, trainings and events. We organize a year-round youth football league, music and dance sessions, and training in computer and media skills. We operate a learning center to help youth improve their academic performance. There is a Saturday book club in which students ages 11-14 read stories to each other. All the activities are conducted in a gender sensitive way in a volunteer-based setting and they combine both informal education and value based learning.

Impact

Pendo Amani programs have almost 1,000 annual participants. In May 2019, the Baylor Music Mission team taught lessons in instrumental music to the children at Pendo Amani. The music and dance programs have been going very well. The soccer league championship was held in December 2019, with 48 teams of both boys and girls. A new handball league aimed at young girls in local schools has also been started.

The learning center that provides study space for students has attracted larger numbers in 2019 and all the children who took the exams at the end of primary school achieved scores high enough to allow them to go to secondary schools.