What children learn at Double Joy

House work

A Kenyan child expects to assist his family by working hard from the time he is very small so children learn house keeping and child minding skills from an early age.

All our children from age 6 onwards are involved in some form of house work coordinated by the older children and our six house parents. Younger children do the washing up while the older children do the ironing and cooking. The children also wash and mend their clothes and clean their houses.

Each child is given a small weekly allowance, from which the older children budget for provisions for the week for their household. Maize flour, sugar, tea, fire wood and water are provided free, the children buy their own vegetables, fruit, matches and soap. The nearest market is 1 mile from us, so is easily accessed by our older children to buy any items they need.

The school

Kenyan children value schooling very highly and make extremely motivated students. However, some children never have the opportunity of going to school, and those that do can take many years to complete their primary school education. Although primary education is free, there are many costs that prohibit poorer families from sending children to school, such as school uniform and text books. Often children start school late or miss out large chunks if their parents run out of funds.

Double Joy has its own nursery and primary school, and provides an accelerated learning scheme for children who are behind with their education so that they have a chance to catch up with their peers and join a class of their own age.

Education at the school is tailored to suit the needs of each child, and class sizes are smaller than in many other Kenyan schools. There is a strong emphasis on nurturing self-esteem and developing the individual child's natural abilities and interests.

Double Joy employs 10 teachers, one teacher’s assistant and three technical instructors.

Vocational skills

The children are also taught vocational skills, necessary to lead independent and productive lives. Finding employment in Kenya is not easy, but there are possibilities in our community for those skilled in carpentry, tailoring and bicycle repair. We teach these skills at DJ and have workshops allocated for these three areas. We employ technicians in each of these skills.

These vocational skills are further developed at polytechnic once the children leave Double Joy.

Cycle repair

A number of bikes are kept in the workshop, and are dismantled and re-assembled to provide valuable practical experience for the children. In one class, boys as young as 12 completely dismantled bicycle wheels, leaving a pile of spokes, a hub and a rim. They then re-assembled the wheels into working condition.

People from outside have started to bring bikes in for repair, as word gets around. These will be valuable and marketable skills for when the boys get older.

Basket weaving

Often during school holidays, girls will attend workshops to learn basket weaving skills. Firstly the reeds are dyed in an assortment of colours and put out to dry. Then they are braided into a 2-inch-wide plait of several metres length, graduating the colours. Finally the plait is sown around into a basket shape and handles fitted. The result is a basket of considerable beauty.

Growing food

As well as attending school and carrying out house hold chores our children learn to grow food and keep animals. This is an essential requirement as many adults in the rural areas have no employment or are poorly paid so they need to grow crops to eat and sell.

Each of the older children has a small plot or shamba where he or she can choose and grow crops. Maize is the most popular of crops but the children also grow beans, kale, tomatoes, onions, millet, sorghum and sunflowers.

Keeping animals

Double Joy is called a Children’s Farm because we teach agriculture and keep farm animals. At present we have a small number of donkeys, cows, sheep and hens. All the hens belong to individual children. The children learn how to care for the animals. In Kenya keeping animals is like having some savings in the bank, as well as the animals working for you and providing food.

Cows and sheep are kept overnight in shelters, and in the daytime moved to pens, where they are milked and fed in the morning. Common feed includes banana leaves, as well as commercial livestock fee. Shelters and cages are cleaned out daily. During the day the donkeys are taken outside of the compound to pasture, while the other animals stay in their pens.

Our aim is to equip our children with all the necessary skills to cope once they reintegrate into the community. All our children naturally take on the tasks they would be expected to carry out outside.