Milestones
2019
In March, bags of donated items (including material for uniforms and other items for our single mothers sewing group, soccer cleats, kneepads, girls’ running shoes and socks) were taken to Nairobi by volunteers. Then in September, PCA sent funds to MCEDO school for water and firewood.
2018
Provided food for two schools, funded our after school programs, our street kids feeding program and paid teachers salaries.
2017
PCA provided funding for water delivery to MCEDO school.
2016
PCA purchased an autoclave (for the sterilization of instruments and liquids), blood testing equipment, crucial for work with HIV/AIDS.
We also purchased oatmeal for the schools, as the World Food Program discontinued the distribution of oatmeal to slum schools.
The Bytown Rotary Club along with PCA gave funds to teachers and “Head Teachers” who oversee the quality of teaching by the teaching staff.
Continued to fund the after school program for teens and funded Roots, a small Mathare community organization working with street kids.
2015
PCA delivered over 10,000 kilos of “First Food” (reinforced oatmeal for children suffering from malnutrition) to the primary schools in Mathare.
We continued funding the after school activities of the Paamoja Health Initiative programs.
Also, continued to fund teachers in an effort to raise the level of teaching in the schools.
2014
PCA oversaw the addition of 3 additional floors to the original school building (Loving Concern Education Centre) of one and a half floors.
PCA established the first free medical clinic in the slum, through Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital Outreach Programme. The clinic serves approximately 900 patients a month, and does immunization throughout this south end of the slum, along with HIV /AIDS workshops.
2010
Project Chance Africa purchases The Loving Concern Education Centre. At this time the building consists of one and a half floors, unfinished.
2007
The single mothers sewing program is started at the school. The women make zippered bags out of discarded cement bags, children’s dresses, and uniforms.
We purchased computers, office supplies, books.
We bought disposable cameras for the eldest students, as a project for them which involved filming their environment, and writing about it.
2004 - 2006
One of PCA’s board members created a second sewing group named “Mathare Stitches.” She brought sewing machines and materials. PCA built a small shop within the grounds of the school, to ensure their safety.
This group make bags from reclaimed cement bags, school uniforms, and reusable sanitary napkins to give freely to the students, and marketed to women throughout the slum.
2002
PCA built an affiliation with Canada-Mathare Education Trust over time. A non-profit charity, working solely in Mathare, which offers secondary school scholarships to primary school graduates.
Registered the school with the Association of Informal Schools, which made them eligible to receive the official primary school curriculum from the Ministry of Education, without which the students would not be able to take their final exams for entry to secondary education.
1995 - 2000
PCA first meeting with Rev. Luke Wanayama, the principal of a small primary school in Pangami, a district abutting the Mathare Slum. We provided food for the students, school supplies, and assisted with their rent
1992 / 1994
Suan Cross, returned to Kenya, and volunteered to assess a rehabilitation clinic in Nairobi.
From there she worked with the International Women’s Law Association, whose mandate is to assist women in conflict with the law. She helped in releasing women with children, held in prison.
She conducted HIV/AIDS workshops for Kenya Pipeline Co., worked with WOFAK (women living with AIDS) as well as workshops for Families of Schizophrenics.
1989
Suan Cross first visits Kenya