Service Project #1

Our second day here, we were put to work organizing the Zawadi (gift) Shop. The purpose of this “shop” is to teach the children how to work for things they need and/or want. The shop gets stocked with essential items like soap, clothes, and school supplies and also fun things like stuffed animals and books, then the children earn points around the center by doing work. When we arrived, the Zawadi system had dwindled due to a lack of donations to fill the shop. And because of this, the kids had stopped doing extra work (they still have daily duties). Essential items were just being distributed, and the center’s main goal of preparing the children for life after the center was failing. So it was our job, under the supervision of a new friend of ours, Gladwell, to get it going again!

Step 1: Cleaning. We swept the walls and the floor with a Kenyan “broom”, which is a bundle of stick-like things binded together at one end. (I’m pretty good with them now!) Then we scrubbed every inch of the inside of the shop with soap and water.

Issa, myself, and half of Bethany working on painting Mount Kenya.

Bethany and I working on the puzzle.

Step 2: Painting. The shop already had some great paintings on the wall, but a lot of them had faded badly and most of the paint was chipping off or had water stains. We chose a light purple (Go State!), and had a lot of other great ideas including a puzzle, Mount Kenya (thanks to a very talented artist we’ve met here named Isaa – he even let Bethany and I do a lot of it), and handprints (thanks to a couple very patient and adorable nursery school kids who were very okay with us painting their hands)!

Kenna and Gladwell by the handprint wall. It says CYEC!

Step 3: Organizing. The shop had a small assortment of leftover clothes and random toys, but after unloading the donations we and the Penn State team (they are also partnered with the center and send a 3-week team every summer) brought, the shop was looking much more full! A couple other donations came in, one of them a huge truckload, and now the shop is so full of great things. This has been an on-going process, and hopefully it stays that way!
Step 4: The actual system. At first we thought it would be easy. The kids do work, get points, buy stuff! Well, there’s been a lot more to it than that. So many problems came up during this, such as: Who gives out the points? How do we keep track of who has how many points? Who decides what work can be done for points? And on and on and on. Bethany, Nick, and Gladwell took the lead on working out the kinks of these problems, and have set up a pretty complex QuickBooks system. We are also relying on the Prefects (it’s just like Harry Potter! I’ll explain more later) to give out the points, and they have been doing a great job of staying on top of things and being organized.

Mount Kenya (finished), the Kenyan flag, extra supplies, and the clothes side of the shop.

The essentials/toy side of the shop. The "Zawadi Shop" was leftover from the first round of the Zawadi system.

The kids had been getting so excited for it, standing at the windows every day and looking in. The day the Zawadi system was implemented again was hilarious. I couldn't get anyone to even play football with me because they all wanted to work and earn points. :) And the first day the shop opened... insanity!! I have never seen them so excited. But the great part is that they have that same enthusiasm every time they get to go in. They are more than willing to work for what they get, and they are proud to finally have that opportunity again.


Step 5: Sustaining. This is definitely the most important part of this program. While the shop is full now, we still worry about how long it will last. If the center doesn’t keep getting sufficient amounts donated, then it won’t work. The center itself is also struggling to continue buying even the essential items that the children have to have. We are looking into the best options for us to be able to ensure the sustainability of the program. If you are interested in helping please e-mail me at bmyers09@ksu.edu, and I’ll keep you posted on the possibilities.

The front of the shop. It looks even better when there are 20 kids lined up outside! (I'll get a picture one day.)

                Thanks for reading!