To empower communities through education, social initiatives, and sustainable development to participate in creating a prosperous, healthy, educated and sustainable society.
Our tailoring project has proven in the past to be able to generate enough income to sponsor many of our other community projects, but right now we are in desperate need of financial support to regain our resources and facilities. Find out how you can support us here.
In pursuing our mission and working towards our main objectives, we have a blended approach which involves both continuous ongoing programmes, and specific, limited time projects. Our tailoring project, for example, is a continuous programme, and we aim to have new trainees ready to enrol as soon as our current ones are ready to leave. Our partnerships with local schools are also ongoing, but the support we offer them may come in the form of limited projects such as feeding programmes and resource donation drives.
ICGN Tailoring Project
ICGN offers tailoring lessons to vulnerable women for 1 year in a shop within Homa Bay’s market.
These women are vulnerable because of early pregnancies, being orphans, living with disabilities, having quit school, or living below the poverty level.
The apprentices will be learning tailoring with skilled women. They will have the chance to receive a commission on the clothes they make and sell.
Making them learn tailoring competencies allows them to learn a job, gain skills, be able to run a business, and earn money during the training period to satisfy their basic needs and support themselves and their families.
Education Support Systems
Selling clothes on the market will also generate funds that will be allocated to promote education, paying for talented girls and needy children’s school fees and school feeding program, including the distribution of sacks of maize, beans, rice, milk, and sugar.
School fees in Kenya have increased, and feeding programmes ensure that children are motivated to remain in school and continue their education. They also help to support the families of the children, who may be struggling financially.
Offering sponsorship for gifted students not only offers equal opportunity to children, regardless of their financial background, but also provides an incentive for the whole school community to strive to perform well in their studies.
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Wellbeing
The clothes sold through the tailoring project will generate money for buying sanitary pads for young girls at various schools who can’t afford hygienic products. Not only do we intend to offer free distribution of sanitary products, but also to engage the community with educational workshops breaking down the many taboos around periods in Kenya.
Sometimes when these girls have their periods, they miss school for around a week due to shyness and shame. In addition to not covering the syllabus, they may relate to ill-intentioned men who promise solutions to their needs, leading to early pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and early marriages.
Many of the trainees who we support through the tailoring project have suffered due to the same poor access to sanitary products and reproductive health education
Youth Outreach, Mentorship and Counselling
Our community programme manager has assembled a network of peer counsellors, who have chosen to offer their time to visit local educational institutions and give expert and specialist life advice and mentoring.
These workshops are strategically planned according to the desires and requirements of the target group. Workshop topics can range from careers and employability advice, to wellbeing, sexual and reproductive health discussion groups, to skills development and self-confidence mentoring.
Waste Management and Environmental Conservation
In the past, we have run limited yet successful environmental conservation projects such as tree planting and waste collection. The community in Homa Bay has immense potential to take control of it’s own waste management, provided the right systems are in place.
We are currently searching for partners and funding to allow us to once again offer waste management solutions, environmental conservation, and climate advocacy projects.
We are desperately seeking funds to ensure all of our community projects are able to continue running and sustain themselves! Click here to find out how you can support our work!
For more information about our recent activities, check out our blog and social media profiles!
