Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb

Kenya Literacy Project

The Social Justice Committee is participating with the children of the UUFD congregation in the Kenya Literacy Project. This project brings together civic and religious groups in Illinois and Pennsylvania, Northern Illinois University (NIU) early childhood faculty, and Kenyan educators for the purpose of developing international friendship and understanding, providing educational resources for community-based school reform efforts, and fostering community development in both the U.S. and Kenya.

Phase 1: Dr. Moses Mutuku, NIU faculty, began laying the groundwork for the project by establishing infrastructure projects in the Machakos District (Mwala location). These projects included earthen dams to improve water access, small infusions of capital for family-based businesses, and construction of a church and a community library.

Phase 2: In December, 2003, three NIU early childhood faculty members (Drs. Moses Mutuku, Maylan Dunn, and Randi Wolfe) traveled to Kenya for 16 days in order to develop relationships and begin a collaborative inquiry into the best educational practices for school improvement in rural Kenyan schools. This aspect of the project will be continued by educators in Kenya and during a second visit in December 2004.

Next Steps:

1. Improving the local school facility (Kwamwonga Primary School) by installing a concrete floor in place of the deteriorating packed dirt floor, repairing deteriorating brick, installing windows and doors, installing solar collectors to provide lights for cloudy days, and installing a water cistern to provide water for children during the school day.

2. Bringing drilling equipment to the area, training local residents in the use of the equipment, and drilling a community well. Once the local community well is functional, those trained will be able to use the equipment to offer drilling services to neighboring communities at an affordable cost.

3. Begin a teacher exchange between the U.S. and Kenya, beginning with students preparing to teach and/or administer early childhood programs.

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb
158 N. Fourth Street
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-756-7089
uufdchurchoffice@aol.com

9:00 a.m. - Church opens for Coffee & Conversation
9:45-11:00 a.m. Worship Service - Note: Children (age 4+ stay with us through the entire service)
11:00-11:15 a.m. - Coffee quick break
11:15-12:15 p.m. - Faith Development programming for all ages.

Child care services available. Our church is handicapped accessible. For directions to our church, please click [map]