About Us
A Few Words
About Us
Happy Promotion Centre (HPC) is a non-formal school that started in the year 2010 with seven children. HPC is situated in Mukuru Kwa Njenga informal settlement, off industrial area, along the Nairobi- Mombasa Railway line. The school started as a not for profit centre and it is registered as a Community Based Organization (C.B.O).
We have school account , which catered for the less fortunate children in Mukuru Kwa Njenga and its environs. This came up due to many reasons, which are: Kids that were greatly affected by the 2007/08 Post-election violence that led to many school dropouts in the area, due to lack of school fee and school uniforms which is a necessity in private schools in the area, lack of enough public schools, highly congested schools, child neglect due to family disputes which lead to single parents, prostitution, HIV/AIDS. This has contributed to failure of children to attend school and end up as street children.
I was touched by the challenges the kids were facing and took the initial step of renting a single room that belongs to the settlement security vigilante group popularly referred to as Nyumba-Kumi. We later on purchased desks and bought some text books, whilst others were borrowed or donated by well-wishers so that the school would begin operating.
Joseph Muendo,
Proprietor & member of the Kenya Federation of the urban poor (Muungano wa Wanavijiji)
Education
We provide education to children who cannot afford it
Growth
We create an environment that fosters quality child-care
Food
Because one cannot learn on an empty stomach
Activities
Fun and games bring joy and complement the learning process
Strides
Our Progress
Our teachers love what they do, and that's what makes them so special.
The school continues to grapple with the challenge of adequate space, since the school has enrolled more children and are currently using the same structure, which during class hours is partitioned with clothing to accommodate the more than 60 pupils in the school who are in baby class all the way to standard 5. All the 60 pupils are in the care of two volunteer teachers.
In order to contribute to this good course, Dr. Saori who is a professional architect practicing in Tokyo, volunteered to come up with a design that would largely accommodate the school population and open up the institution to host pupils from baby class to standard 8.
Our Impact
- After the school was started there has been a lot of changes, parents created a lot of interest so they started bringing their children whereby the number increased to 50 at this point intake was halted due to lack of adequate space.
- Vulnerable children have been able to access education because they are not paying school fees, except some parents who have accepted to pay affordable fee of Ksh. 300/= a month for the running of the school.
- Some parent stay at their places as housewives now can go to search for jobs because they leave their children at school.
Challenges We Face
Textbooks
This is most challenging because one that the school is using are old and worn out while some are borrowed from our neighboring schools.
Classrooms
The school lacks adequate classrooms since we only have one classroom accommodating all classes (from baby-class to STD five) in one classroom, since the school is not capable of renting more rooms.
Uniforms
Some parents are not able to buy uniforms for their children.