RTL Childrens Learning Centre
The RTL Children Learning Centre Project is a construction project, that was sponsored by RTL-Wir helfen Kindern e.V. to create a learning space that is a value-add to the mainstream formal education system, as taught in the public schools in Kenya. The center offers a safe place where children learn outside of the classroom. The aim is to extend the learning experience to include a platform that promotes learning by doing, i.e. using all senses (touch, feel, hear, smell and taste). The learning is based on three main pedagogy domains;
• Cognitive (intellectual ability)
• Affective (feeling)
• Psychomotor (learning by doing).
Which will enable us to achieve the below:
• enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills,
• boost creativity and imagination,
• ensure self-efficacy.
The Program Activities at the centre target children and youth between the ages of 4 to 12.
The Banda
The Banda was the first site of the Sauti Kuu Foundation. It is from here that Sauti Kuu initially operated and continues to operate, offering children and young people a safe non-threatening space to meet, interact and engage in diverse activities and trainings.
The space also serves as an office facility for some of the Sauti Kuu programs.
Sauti Kuu worked closely with Architecture for Humanity (AFH) to design the Banda. This was done working with beneficiaries to integrate their input into what the Banda would look like. The Sauti Kuu Youth attended AFH design workshops and discussions and completed a series of basic design sketches and building models that were then developed by Architecture for Humanity into what then became 'The Banda'.
The end result was two buildings: one a pavilion that allows approximately 50 young people to meet for activities or workshops, and the second, an office, storage room, small kitchenette and lounge area and a residential area. Most of the work on the buildings was done using physical labour, with minimal use of motorized machinery.
Barack Hussein Obama Sr. Centre for Knowledge Learning & Excellence
Dr Auma Obama founded the Sauti Kuu Foundation with a vision to create a platform for young people that would enable them to realize their potential. The aim is to ensure they participate in improving their living conditions, gain financial independence and at the same time contribute positively to the development of their communities.
Sauti Kuu works to incentivize rural youth to recognise the potential of their environment as a positive space for financial and social growth, and a very real alternative to an urban slum existence.
With part funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)) this vision has became a reality. The Barack Obama Sr. Centre for Education, Knowledge and Excellence in Alego Nyamgoma, Siaya County, Kenya, was completed and inaugurated in June 2018, with Barack Hussein Obama Jr., 44 President of the United States of America, presiding over the event as the guest of honour.
The Centre is a secure and safe physical space for rural youth to meet and interact regularly to participate in different sports and learning activities. It also includes a Vocational Training facility that offers training in several different vocational trades.
