Victory Bay Children Centre

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PROJECTS
A) HEALTH
Ill health increases poverty. Improving community health is a first step to economic empowerment.
Since 2010,Jitoni community Medical Clinic and Laboratory, a project of VBCC has worked with communities using a holistic and integrated approach towards achieving the WHO definition of health: a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of diseases or infirmity.
We undertake this activity because preventive health care tends not to be a primary goal of formal government healthcare systems. VBC’s focus is on education and building the skills that enable a community to live and choose behaviors that contribute directly to good health and disease prevention, as well as to seek care for treatment and advice when sick. Our approach in these areas is as follows:

1) DENTAL CARE: A smile is the cheapest gift anybody can afford to give. We do promote the spirit of giving to the needy and hence encourage victory kids to give what they can afford. Some thought they had nothing to offer that they can only be on the receiving end. But little did they now that a smile always is a free gift and they need to offer. “How do we give?” they ask since they know the string attached to it. Thanks the question was answered by Sonia & Nagir of Hope prayer group of Holland by the introduction of tutorial of dental care as well as the distribution of toothpaste & toothbrushes to each kid.
The project is not for one day or kids alone. The aim is to start with the kids to brush every day then its spreads to the whole family then neighbors and the community at large. The initiative has been kick started and therefore we all the support to maintain it through your support so that the whole community and country as a whole prevents the diseases associated with dental complications.
2) SANITARY TOWELS: Teacher I’m not feeling well need to go home has been a common problem with our girls without explaining the reasons to male teachers. We realized that this problem do interfere with the girl child education as they are shy on how to handle themselves during that period. This problem does not only affect our girls but the poor girl in the village. At the moment we do appreciate the project has started thanks to Mr. Ali & Jacqueline he helped in the start of the project. We do aim at the constant supply not only to the girl at our centre but the community at large to reduce to risk of contagious diseases associated with hygiene during these periods of the month. We still lack safe disposal containers for the used ones as well as the constant supply so please support this project.
3) Water project: Sanitation is the first step to the preventive healthcare. Availability of clean water is a step towards promotion of cleanliness. The area has a continuous water problem and the cost of water goes as high as ksh 20 per 20ltrs.To maintain the supply water we need storage facility. A tank of 10,000ltr full can take us through the month. With the help of some volunteers we have secured a tank of 1,000ltrs. We require a bigger tank to help the centre and the community at large. Therefore we require at least two 10,000ltr tank from well wisher to help us reduce water bone diseases at the centre & community as a whole
4) Hiv/Aids programs: Building awareness and reducing the stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS
Lack of awareness about AIDS has resulted in fear, shame and denial. The resulting wall of silence has hindered prevention and care efforts. The initiative encourages stakeholders to work together to reduce stigma so that people will support vulnerable children and take advantage of available services without fear Counseling, availability & accessibility of the ARVS to the victims. Your support and link will make us reach the neglected and marginalized to be part of the society.


5) Care seeking and compliance with treatment and advice
• Giving sick household members appropriate home care for illness
• Taking children as scheduled to complete a full course of immunizations.
• Recognizing and acting on the need for referral or seeking care outside the home.
• Following recommendations given by health workers in relation to treatment, follow up and referral.
Ensuring that every pregnant woman receives antenatal and maternity care services.
6)Health Promotion:
• Ensuring a healthy diet
• Building healthy relationships to ensure mutual support in meeting daily needs as well as coping with shocks in life.
• Monitoring health status to promote early detection of problems for timely action .
• Using available services to monitor nutrition, chronic conditions and other causes of disability
• Providing affordable medical care and free consultation
• Provision of family planning awareness to the community
• 7)Disease Prevention
• Practicing good personal hygiene in terms of washing hands, using latrines, etc.
• Using safe drinking water.
• Protecting against malaria.
• Preventing abuse, and taking appropriate action when it occurs .
• Ensuring appropriate sexual behavior to prevent transmission of sexually transmitted diseases
8)OUT & IN PATIENT SERVICES: VBCC provides out patient ,in patient, laboratory & referral services to the children at the centre free of charge and at lower cost to the community. We look for well wishers to provide equity and quality heath care at a lower cost if not none. The privilege of quality health care is always preserved to the rich but we need to break this circle to let it reach the poor through your support
b) Education
Education is one of the surest ways to improve life in Africa. Without even a primary education children are likely to remain impoverish for the rest of their lives. The centre removes the hurdle for thousands of children while helping their parents to see the importance of prioritizing education

i. Feeding program : Hunger breeds sickness hungry kids are always sick and cannot learn. By providing lunch and breakfast to all the students the centre is therefore capable of not only bringing them to school but keeping the there and makes them love school since the worry of what to eat after school is solved.
ii. Quality education: Early childhood care and education remains a luxury for most African children. Its often provided by private institutions and is concentrated in urban and wealthier areas where their parents can afford the cost and tend to be aware of its benefits.
Africa faces many obstacles in its efforts to improve early childhood education such as lack of resources, inequitable access to service, the absence or insufficiency of mechanism to ensure quality in training & provision and the low standard or non availability of early childhood personnel. However VBCC in the network of service delivery has well trained teachers for both primary & nursery. We bring quality education to the needy.
iii. Secondary & tertiary education: With the help of well wishers & sponsors we manage to pay tuition to our students after primary since the centre only offer up to primary education. Efforts are underway to expand the centre to offer secondary & tertiary education come 2014.
iv. Scholarships: The centre is working around the clock to source organization for scholarships for the bright children to further their education within and without.
v. Sports : VBCC has a football team both for boys and girls with the aim of identifying talents of which the centre aims at connecting the to the relevant bodies for the benefit of not only for the kids but to the community & country al large.


c)FARMING:VBCC acts as a mentor for local schools and the communities’ Psychosocial Support Centers to enhance children’s and youth’s participation and learning in their different club activities, e.g. child rights, agriculture (4K) and football clubs. By integrating participatory learning processes into education, children and youth become engaged in a holistic way, influencing their personal, physical, social, emotional, moral and intellectual development. By encouraging children and youth to be active participants in their own learning and reinforcing their responsibility for their own development, the overall well being of children and youth in the community is improved .We do farming of different types of vegetable e.g. tomato,onions,papper,swiss card etc. This is divided into different club leading to competition as well as quality care. the food is mostly for centre use .we appeal for green house from donors to make the farming to standard.
d) Empowerment :
Poverty is as much as a state of mind as it is a state of being.
VBC's challenges communities to look at what they have, not at what they do not have. We help communities develop an awareness of what is within their reach. We integrate enterprise development and entrepreneurship into existing activities and build on local knowledge and skills

We empower adolescents & youth to take charge of their economic growth by exposing them to simple and practical business concepts that help them use existing resources and their daily activities to generate an income and lift themselves out of poverty. We integrate enterprise development concepts and entrepreneurial approaches into our school & clinic activities. The result is a more stable community based on individuals who have been educated not just in skills but in application of those skills so that they can sustain themselves and become active participants in their economic well being
 WOMEN GROUPS
: Women are the backbone of economy and the main care providers for children. The small business they do are the basis of their families’ livelihoods. At the same time, women constitute the majority of the poor and the illiterate, with some being pushed into sex work to generate income to feed their families.
VBC works with women’s groups to encourage expansion of their economic and social initiatives to strengthen both their capacity to provide the basics for their children and families, and their participation and leadership in the development of their communities. These values have an impact on children – and particularly girls - who look to their mothers, grandmothers and aunts as role models for the adults they will become.


e)Advocacy and Rights
After realizing the enormity of child abuse cases, much of which were unreported due to cultural influence and social pressures. It became clear from communicating with families and community members that most adults affected by child abuse did not know to whom to turn when their child was abused. Furthermore, there were minimal or no official consequences when incidences of abuse were reported. Our first opportunity to address the issue came in 2010 with the establishment of a holistic child rights program. Working with children throughout the community, this program was designed to halt the abuse of children and to bring unity in community awareness, thus providing care and protection for the children.
The extreme sensitivity surrounding the topic of child abuse convinced VBCC that a community-focused approach was more likely to result in a community-driven response that fights child abuse more so than an organization-based solution that imposes the concept and need for children’s rights. VBCC also aligned with local government to encourage a proactive posture for the implementation of a program that supports children’s rights and the support and encouragement of community initiatives.
Within the community, we identify all stakeholders who have responsibility for protecting the rights of children (i.e. chiefs, assistant chiefs, police, teachers, parents/guardians, community health workers and community paralegals.) We work together to identify their roles and responsibilities in protecting children’s rights and counsel them on how they could best interact with each other in carrying out these roles. Once comfortable with their identified roles, we provide support through training and mentorship to help them fulfill these roles and responsibilities within and for the community.
We also partner with the District Children’s Officer, at the systems level, and participate in activities and facilitate processes that strengthen Jomvu’s Area Advisory Council (AAC). The AAC safeguards the survival, development, protection and participation in rights of children in the area through oversight and guidance to local organizations, addressing children’s issues at the district, division and local levels.
 Child-Led Organizations: As adults in the community have become more comfortable and less threatened by the concept of children’s rights, children have been able to engage in more active participation at home, school, and in the community. VBCC is building upon this paradigm shift while it is still in its infancy in order to enhance children’s engagement in their own personal, physical, social, emotional, moral, and intellectual development. All indications point to this approach strengthening children’s participation in their own development, helping to achieve a unified response to protecting children’s rights. We are hopeful, and fully expect, that this will continue to entrench this attitudinal shift within the community and culture and continue to prevail when these children become adults.
 Child Rights Club, or otherwise known as ROC Club (Rights of a Child), have been established in primary school and in one community Psycho-Social Support (PSS) centre. These club is now supported by community paralegals, both in cooperation with school and under the mentorship of VBCC. These club help to increase child participation in a safe and non-threatening way, which helps children to understand that human rights is a basic entitlement, just like education; while always providing the encouragement for children to unearth the confidence to become positive agents of change in the community. VBC feels strongly that this will ensure that change is able to adequately transcend to future generations.
 COMMUNITY PARALEGALS: VBC initiated this program with the help of community volunteers who held the interests of children in their heart. We trained them in advocacy and child rights, yet they remained as central decision makers regarding their own lives and communities. Ultimately, they devised their own way of empowering the wider community to find positive approaches to challenging the cultural and social tendencies that tend to ignore instances of abuse. Community paralegals have created their own niche in the community, supporting the education of children’s rights and responsibilities taught through schools and PSS centre’s, as well as becoming liaisons and extension workers for police and the chief, assistant chiefs, and village elders; always ensuring community-wide child safety.
 COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS (CHWs): VBC incorporates child rights education into the health and mentorship program with CHWs. This enables CHWs to integrate their child rights knowledge into their home visits and lectures focusing on community-wide family health education. Where CHWs find instances of child abuse, the cases are promptly reported for further investigation and involvement by paralegals in partnership with local and village administration.

 GUARDIANS & PARENTS:VBCC creates a safe space in community forums such as the monthly Guardian Support Groups and community meetings, wherein parents and guardians have the opportunity to ask questions of paralegals and discuss children’s rights and responsibilities. This helps to alleviate myths and reduce anxieties concerning the rights of children and enables adults to understand how their children and future generations will benefit from such a change in attitude
Guardians and surviving parents also learn the importance of children’s birth certificates, as well as the need to process death certificates promptly when a parent dies. Both documents are vital to protecting children’s citizenry rights and act as tools for helping children to claim their rightful inheritance when they come of age.
VBCC also plays a key role in helping to strengthen partnerships between community paralegals and police. This creates a greater level of cooperation between police, community investigations, and controls.
 RELIGION: Fear of God the beginning of wisdom .
VBCC is built on a strong Christian faith. We promote fellowship for all age levels from youth to elderly grouping.
We do not discriminate on religion as coastal is a major Islamic area and 65% of the centre beneficiaries are muslims.We encourage the madras classes as well as the timing of worship . We therefore has the need to put in place both mosque and church as both has the major aim of worshipping one GOD/ALLAH
 TECHNOLOGY: To be compliant with vision 2030 on environment. We do entertain & educate the orphans using the local television channel available. Thanks to Star Times of China who has seen the need and chose our centre as the only one in Mombasa to benefit from more than 72 channels fully installed for entertainment and education for different age brackets.