"Jukumu Letu" translates to "Our Responsibility" in Swahili. Founded in 2007, the Center is located in the Mathare slum of Nairobi. One hundred twenty children, 6 years of age and younger, receive food, shelter, and educational programs for up to 9 hours during the day while their caregivers, often single mothers, look for work or day labor.
Without the Center, the children would be left by themselves with no food or security in one of Kenya's largest and most dangerous slums. The children live in shacks made out of cardboard, corrugated metal, or whatever else the parents can find at the city dump. There is no running water, electricity, or plumbing.
Susan Pierce, who has set up a non-profit organization to help fund the Center, traveled to Kenya in June 2010. With donations made by friends and neighbors, she was able to buy and install a 5000 liter water tank with rainwater collection pipes for the Center. She started a dental program for the children. Susan also supplied the Center with donated medicine and first aid supplies and purchased tables, chairs, carpet, and stools for the children’s classrooms. She helped the Center teachers set up a master daily schedule for each classroom, started a T-shirt stenciling group, and attended a local Rotary Club meeting to encourage more Kenyans to be involved in the Center.
Susan will be making another trip this November to visit the children and to bring badly needed supplies to the Center. Susan pays out of her own pocket for all of her expenses, including her plane tickets and extra baggage fees to carry the supplies. 100% of all donations goes directly to the Center for the benefit of the children, 0% of the donations goes to administration. I don't know of any other non-profit organization that does this.
----To read more about the Jukumu Letu Center and to view photographs, please go to http://www.facebook.com/JukumuLetu
