FIELD TRIP REPORT

COURSE CODE SWK

FIELD TRIP REPORT

COURSE CODE: SWK 421

On

WESTERN AND NYANZA REGION OF KENYA

Drawn by

OMONDI STEPHENE

Reg. No. SW/64/14

And

SUBMITTED TO:

MOI UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of Degree in Bachelor of Arts
(Social Work)

ELDORET

KENYA
 CHAPTER ONE

1.0 FIELD COURSE OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the field course as per the curriculum are:

 To make an academic field trip to agencies and institutions to practically learn social
work issues and practices in the field.
 To be able to write a comprehensive academic field trip report.

1.1 ACHIEVEMENT OF FIELD COUSRE OBJECTIVES.

During the field trip in the Western and Nyanza region of Kenya region were able to visit various
agencies and organization. In these organizations, we were able to learn various social work
issues and practices. A visit to the World Vision Organization enlightened me on how
development agencies are involved with the community to ensure that the basic needs for life are
attained in various communities. I also learnt how the criminal justice system works in Kenya to
ensure that offenders are rehabilitated properly and reintegrated into the society in making a trip
to Children remand home in kisumu. KUAP sub-project in Obunga slums were community in
collaboration with KUAP are involved in urban planning and development , I learned how they
work in helping to upgrade low income residential area. All these activities were aimed at
achieving objective of the field course.

The writing of this report is also aimed at the achievement of the second objective of the field
course. As to whether the report is comprehensive enough will be confirmed by the supervisor.

1.2 OBJECTIVE OF EACH DAY AND HOW THEY WERE ACHIEVEMENT

 To expose students to criminal justice system.

 To introduce students to family based care and family strengthening program.
  To enable students identify community development initiatives and disaster mitigation.
 To enable students learn contemporary disability rehabilitation, integration and
mainstreaming measures.

1.3 INDICATE THE PROGRAM ITINERARY OF THE FIELD COURSE

This would involve the activities that were undertaken each single day during the field trip.

17th September 2018

This was the first day of the field trip and it was all about travelling. Students from their various
campuses travelled to the lakeside city of Kisumu. All students arrived at Kisumu at 5pm in the
evening, not much was done on this day. We had a briefing before we departed for where we had
to spend the night.

18th September 2018

We travel to KUAP –Pandpieri in Kisumu were we learn how local and the orgnazation
participate on development through the orgnazation taking us on some of project they do and the
way they do them. We later went to some of their project at Obuga slum which involve building
of toilet to provide cleanliness and to improve sanitation. We observed how people in this area
live, the type of housing that they stay in also their way of earning income. I realized that poor
drainage was a major challenge facing the area, there was also no source of running water clearly
meaning that this people either buy water or get it themselves from the lake. The area is also
densely populated; structures are together in that houses are close together. Obunga area that we
visited was generally dirty, at least according to what I personally observed .There were also
biogas kitchen where community could be able to cook at accost of 30 shillings this help reduce
air pollution and also to make used of waste product from the toilet. All this help the community
to improve their socio-economic status. KUAP shall seek to work with the local communities of
Kisumu.
19th September 2018

This was the third day of the trip. The groups were supposed to go to World vision in Pala,
Homa Bay County but because of time, so we went to World Vision in Lower Nyakach Division,
West Kabodho location in Kisumu County. We arrived at the area at around 9a.m. We met a
group of farmers who call themselves the model farmers who collaborate with the World Vision
to help them improve their farming methods hence improving their produce. We looked at the
type of farming methods that the farmers took part in, they includes dairy farming, aquaculture
and horticulture.

World vision help the people by improving their lives, for example, they provide clean solar
energy and water to the primary schools in the area. We also learnt that the project life is
subdivided into three phases and each phase takes at least 5 years meaning that the project life is
15 years.

20th September 2018

We travelled to Kisumu town, where we had a chance to visit the Kisumu Children Remand
Home. The main idea here was to expose us students to learn how the children’s remand home
operates for the young offenders. We met various heads of departments in the remand home and
thus we got to learn the things that take place in the institution. We found out the role of the
children remand homes system, which includes putting young offenders into safe custody so that
they do not continue harming the public and through providing educational training to them so as
to improve their lives. We also learnt the various forms of rehabilitation that is put in place by
the prison service to help the young offenders be better people in the society. These remand
homes activities include vocational training for the children so that when they get out they can be
better children than they were when they got in the remand home at least that is the whole idea.

We later went visited Health Options Kenya just a walk distance from Kisumu Children Remand
Home. This is a local Non-Governmental organization which has been a leading service provider
of sexual and reproductive health services in the country for the last five decades. This is to learn
ways in which they provide sustainable, innovative and comprehensive services in response to
health and socio-economic needs within the community. We then take a short lunch break.
Finally a talk by Douglas Ogoro from Plan International to sum up the day. An area of interest
was to understand the role of NGOs in development and ways in which they partner with the
communities in addressing societal challenges.

21st September 2018

This was the last day of the field trip, the main activity for the day was to learn the role of social
services at the county level and also learn on the counseling and probation services at the county
level. We therefore visited Kisumu county regional headquarters. We met and talked to one Mr.
Danish county director labor and social development. He took us through the service they
provide and challenges that they normally face as an administrator. We also met Mr. Kevin
Owade who happens to be county counselor who also took us through what they do and some of
the challengers they faced. Finally a talk by county probabational officer to highlight various
services offers and some of the challengers they faced.

In the afternoon of the same day we got motivation speeches from our lectures Dr.SAMBU,
MRS.WAGUI, MRS.BUSENEI, MR.CHIRCHIRCHIR AND DR.PROF.KIMANI and summary
of the all trip and ways of trip report writing then we say goodbye to trip. We then part ways to
various places where we sleep so as to prepare us for the next day which travelling back to Moi
university main campus.

1.4 DISCUSS TRAVELLING EXPERIENCES EACH DAY.

We usually met at Palmer hotel in Kisumu where we are briefed on the activities for the day
before we could leave for the day’s activities. We sat in the buses according to our course.
Travelling experience generally was nice, as we did not encounter any problems along the way
or back. On Tuesday 18th, we travelled to KUAP Pandpieri and some of their projects for
example Obunga slums and we manage to reach our destination. Observations made on the roads
were very educative to me personally.

On Wednesday, we travelled out of Kisumu and went to World Vision Katito where we visited
some of theire projects. The drive was nice and cool. We passed through various towns like
Nyamasaria, Rabuor and Ahero junction where there were a newly construction of an
interchange.

On Thursday, we were just around Kisumu town and we visited the health option Kenya and
Kisumu children remand home. The journey was tiresome being that it was in the evening but it
was a good experience.

Friday was the last day of the trip again we were just around Kisumu town where we went
Kisumu county headquarters and later that day we all met for the debriefing by our lectures
where we were given guidelines on what was expected of us while writing out field trip report.
We ended the trip well without any casualties or pressing issues and it was nice. After the
debriefing, we got into our respective buses and we departed for to our various destinations.

CHAPTER TWO

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses the activities of each day during the field trip. In this regard the writer
critically looks at each organization that was visited. The organization is critically assessed to
determine how important its interventions are helping the communities it is working in. it looks
at a brief history of each organization, what the organization does i.e. the activities of the
organization, the challenges they face and how those challenges can be dealt with.

2.2 KISUMU URBAN APOSTRIAL PROJECT –PANDPIERI

A. Background history

KUAP was established in 1959 to work with people who have been left behind within the society
for example street children. Target areas are Dunga, Pandpieri, Nyalenda, Manyatta, Kondele,
Obunga and Bandari.

Mission; KUAP shall seek to work with the local communities of Kisumu. Together they shall
aim at improving the standard of living of their people, irrespective of their gender, ethnic
background or religion This shall be accomplished by integrating cultural, economical,
environmental, health, social, spiritual, educational and human rights values.
Objective; KUAP shall address poverty and public distress throughout Kenya. In so doing,
KUAP shall endeavor to provide responses to the needs of urban communities utilizing
community-based programs that minimize dependency formation and foster long-term goals for
self-support and sufficiency towards holistic development.

Vision; The Gospel fully at work creating a united Kisumu community bonded together through
solidarity, spirituality and neighborhood ministry.

B. Organization Structure

 Architecture of Kisumu-Board of directors

Missionary

 Health
 Children
 Education
 Legal aspect
 Financial aspect
 Donation
Community

D. Activities of the organization

Children services- (Presentation by Okumu Francis) they involve in helping less advantage
children in the society e.g. street children through taking them back to school, putting them under
adoption and also providing income generating activities for the families. Child protection
through rescue children, rehabilitate them then restoring them back to the society.

Community Health project;Robert Ouma take us through health project which involve clinical
health where they practice clinical services to various people in order to reduce health challenges
affecting the communities. They have various health centre in Obunga,Manyatta,Nyawita and
Dunga.KUAP also took part in environmental health through WASH, ensure clean latrines and
clean water for drinking within the community in order to reduce water related diseases. Under
health there is also HIV/AIDS control and prevention services ,this is generally to reduce the
spread of HIV/AIDS and lastly counseling unit which the patients and community to undergo
counseling services in order to reduces psychological issues affecting the people.

Education; they also involve in education services to the people through construction of ECD to
allow young children to access education. There is also a vocational training school where school
drop outs can get enrolled to undergo small training such as tailoring plumbing to help them
better their lives.

Challenges

 Inadequate resources; this majorly due to inadequate finance from the donor countries
thus limited services offered to the people..
 Inadequate funding, KUAP face many challanes due to inadequate finance from the
donor countries which intern limited there services to the people.
 Cultural diversity; there are various cultural differences and believe which doesn’t allow
some people to go for health services like family planning due to their customs and
beliefs. This intern affects the general operations.
 Political ideology; there are many political differences within the region which affects
funding of some project.
2.3 WORLD VISION ORGANIZATION

A. Background history

The World Vision is an Evangelical Christian humanitarian aid, development and advocacy
organization that was founded in 1950 by Robert Pierce, as a service organization to meet the
emergency needs of the missionaries. In 1975, development work was added to the World Vision
Organization objectives. It is active in more than 90 counties in the world. In Kenya, World
Vision started its work in 1974 and currently provides hope and assistance to children and
communities in 35 of the 47 counties in Kenya. World Vision Kenya’s strategic goal is to
contribute to the increased protection, participation and wellbeing of the 2.6 million most
vulnerable children and 14 million children by 2020 through advocacy and policy influence.
World Vision’s community development approach in Kenya focuses on livelihood and
resilience, child protection, education and health, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

In Lower Nyakach division where we visited, World Vision began its operations in 2002 as
support organization for needy children through sponsorship. In this division, World Vision
supports over 36055 registered children.

B. Organization Structure.

World Vision now operates as a federation of interdependent national offices governed by the
same agreement but different levels of central control.

1. National Offices – under strong central control by World Vision International registered in the
host country as a branch of the main organization.

2. Intermediate Stage National Offices with a separate board of directors.

3. Interdependently National Registered Offices – autonomous in internal decision but are
expected to coordinate with World Vision International and are bound to the Covenant of
Partnership.

The Covenant of Partnership is a document that all national members of the World Vision
Partnership have to sign. According to this document, all national offices have to accept policies
and decisions established by the national board and must not establish an office or program
outside their own national borders without the consent of World Vision International and the host
country. Except for direct project funding, all funds intended for outside their national borders
have to be remitted through World Vision International. The financial planning, budget and
principles adopted by the International Board have to be accepted as well as examination of the
financial affairs of national offices by Partnership representatives.

Partnership Representatives

The president of World Vision International has a seat in all national offices with their own
national board. The partnership offices located in Geneva, Bangkok, Nairobi, Cyprus, Los
Angeles and San Jose, Costa Rica coordinate operations of the organization and represent World
Vision in the International Arena. For making large scale decisions, the international
organization considers opinions from each national office, whether in the developed or
developing countries. An International Board of Directors oversees the World Vision
Partnership. The full board meets twice a year to appoint senior officers, approve strategic plans
and budgets, and determine international policies.

C. Activities of the organization in Lower Nyakach Division – Katito

During the field trip, the focus was determined what World Vision does in Katito and therefore
we looked at the development interventions it is involved in, in this area. Lower Nyakach
division is in Nyackach Constituency in Kisumu County. It is a place that experiences drought in
the larger part of the year and therefore an agricultural activity, which is the main source of
livelihood do not perform well. As a result of this, the residents of this area were living in great
poverty until World Vision came in with strategies to alleviate poverty. Some of the strategies
included;

I. Model Farming

Lower Nyakach has 12 locations in which World Vision supports agriculture through model
farming. Before World Vision came in, the people of Nyakach were just ordinary farmers with
little knowledge on agricultural production. They were only producing basic food crops such as
maize and other cereal crops. However, these were not doing well enough to get them out of
poverty.

When World Vision came and started its operations in this area, it began by empowering the
farmers through education and training on how best they could do their farming to maximize
their production. It identified a few farmers who were taken for a trip in Yatta, Ukambani as
these two places have the same environmental conditions and Yatta being a place in which
World Vision had done the same thing. From the trip, the farmers were able to learn a lot of
things which they began to implement once they came back.

Formation of Model Farmers Group

Model farmers do not include all the members of the community in this division. Having come
back from the trip, the few farmers organized to have a group that would involve a good number
of people in the division. As already mentioned, Lower Nyakach division has 12 locations. To
form the Model Farmers group, the farmers organized to have three people from each location
who were trained by the farmers who had gone for the trip. The three in turned trained some
other 12 from their locations so from each location there are 36 members or model farmers. The
number of model farmers in the division as at now is therefore 432. This forms the group of
model farmers which is like a community based organization right now.

Criteria for Registration

Membership in the Model Farmers group has to be formal through their main office and one has
to possess the following attributes before consideration for registration:

i. One has to be a farmer and has a piece of land to do the farming.

ii. One must show interest in joining the group.

iii. Has to pay a registration fees of Kshs1000/=

During the trip, we were privileged to visit two of the model farmers to see what they actually
do.

Farmer 1: Tobias Onyango

Tobias is one of the farmers who had the chance to visit Ukambani where they borrowed the idea
of using water-irrigated agriculture. Tobias together with other farmers learned that in as much
as Ukambani experiences drought, they have enough food from their farms as they are using
irrigation to carry out agricultural activities. As a result, every farmer in Ukambani has a small
and in which water is stored and used during the dry spells.Mr. Tobias Onyango having learned
this came back and started the practice in his farm. He has dug a pond in which water is fetched
during the rainy seasons and stored for use during the dry seasons. That pond was dug in 2004,
December 20 Onyango carries out horticultural agriculture as well as production of maize. He
has a farm of vegetables such as saga, manage, kales, pumpkins, among other as well as green
grams, beans and maize. He also does livestock keeping and poultry farming keeping local
breeds. This has ensured food security in his household as well as being a source of finance for
his children’s school fees and other uses.

Through this farming practice, his wife has also been empowered and is able to earn some
money from the produce. For instance at the time of our visit, she had been plucking the
vegetables to take to the market for selling. Actually the whole neighborhood benefits a lot from
this household because they are able to find a variety of the food stuffs at one stop. Model
farming encourages all the farmers in this group to dig a pond to store water so that they do not
have problems during the dry spells.

However, there is a challenge with the pond that the model farmers face. The main challenge
being leaking of the pond. As explained by Mr. Elijah, the chairperson of the model farmers in
the division, if the pond is dug passed 10 feet; it starts draining water and therefore there may be
lack or inadequacy of water for use during the drought period. This may hinder food production
during the drought. World Vision has assisted the farmers in dealing with this challenge greatly
through the provision of dam lining materials. This plastic polythene material resists the drainage
of water, with the pond also comes the challenge of insecurity. This is because the fence is not
fenced to prevent accidents for both animals and human beings alike. This may be dangerous as
the pond is just by the homestead and playing children may be at risk of drowning in the pond.
Then there is the challenge of water, especially stagnant waters such as this, acting as a breeding
zone for mosquito and as a result, there is risk of malaria infection in the homestead and the
neighborhood.

Farmer 2: Mrs. Alice Odingo and group members

Present at this homestead is Alice Odingo, John Onyuo and Julius Omolo, who are group
members of Model Farmers of West Kabodho Location in Lower Nyakach division. Together
with other members of this group, Alice is a model farmer doing dairy farming, horticulture,
poultry keeping and aquaculture. As she explains, World Vision has been of great significance to
her group and Lower Nyakach as a whole. For example, through the effort of World Vision,
there are 36 dairy cows in Lower Nyakach for the farmers.

They benefit so much from the dairy farming as they are able to produce 14 – 15 litres per day.
This helps them as food as well as selling part of the production to neighbors to earn income.
They are intending to ensure that all members of the group has a dairy cow and to achieve this,
they are practicing what they call pass – on. In this case, if one farmer has a cow that has
reproduced a female calf, that female calf is passed on to another farmer and the trend goes on
that way. This way they will ensure that all farmers have a dairy cow for milk.

Manure from the waste of the livestock are as well beneficial as they are used in the farms as
manure and also the crops such as maize stalks are used as food for the livestock. The process is
therefore kind of symbiosis, as a result, the farms do not lose nutrients, and as well they reduce
the cost on purchase of fertilizer.

Poultry farming is another activity taking place in this farm at Alice home and as dairy farming,
this is well very important and the farmers benefit significantly from it. They are able to get eggs
used as food and as well sell for income. They keep local breeds and hybrids. Again the waste is
beneficial for manure and they are also used as fish feeds in the fish ponds, the poultry feeds
have nutrients that are also used as feeds for the fish since the digestive system of the birds is in
such a way that there is no complete digestion of the food. As a result, the wastes are used to
feed the fish as explained by John Onyuo.

In this group, there is also aquaculture taking place. There are three fish ponds that have fish.
There is one pond stores water and acts as the inlet for the other three ponds. This group keeps
tilapia and catfish in the three ponds. And as is the case with other activities taking place in this
farm, the fish are as well very important to the farmers.

Lastly, there is horticulture also practiced and production of other food crops such as maize,
beans, sweet potatoes and other crops. This group has two greenhouses in which they do the
production of vegetables such as tomatoes and kales. Model farming is very advantageous to
these farmers as they explain to us since from the activities they do, they are able to earn an
average income that can be enough to pay school fees to their children and support children from
poor families and orphaned children. Generally, they can live a comfortable life from their
earnings from the farms. This is really important is alleviated in this community and people are
focused on increasing food security and fostering other development agenda.

This well-established development group even operates a bank account in which 30% of the
sales of their produce from each member is ploughed back to the group to sustain it while 70% is
for the farmer. This group meets on a weekly basis and gets funds from merry – go – round and
fines and registration fees.

World Vision Policy Son Poverty Reduction

The world vision goal is to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.The World Bank’s definition of
poverty is those living on less than one US dollar a day, but the United Nations goes beyond a
numerical definitions and highlights the deprivation of basic human needs as part of its
definitions. Poverty isn’t just low income, but a lack of access to services and essential goods.

The millennium development goals set the target of halving extreme poverty by 2015 and
achieving it in 2010.The consequences of poverty are far-reaching and long lasting, including
child deaths, lack of access to education and food insecurity, all which can be caused by poverty
and in turn can perpetuate it .World vision addresses both the long term and short-term causes of
hunger and food insecurity in many countries around the world. By teaching farmers how to
nurture their farms, prevent soil degradation and increase sustainability and productivity.

World Vision also provides farmers with various seeds that are both more productive and
nutritious, and training in improved agricultural techniques. When food is assured and children
don’t have to contribute to providing food, water and firewood to a household, they can focus on
the education that will help lift them and their own children out of poverty. Educated mothers for
example are better informed about healthcare and appropriate nutrition and raise healthier
children. Education also results into higher wages and economic growth with each additional
year of schooling equating to a 10% increases in wages.

World vision works with the communities by providing small to create and expand businesses,
and help improve access to local and international markets. It also establishes community saving
groups and provides education and training to foster entrepreneurship.

Challenges

i. Transportation: this is a problem as there are no proper roads in the villages that can be used to
ensure their products reach the market while fresh as they are dealing with perishable goods such
as tomatoes and fish.

ii. Transparency: it is a policy that 30% of the proceeds from the farms be ploughed back into the
group is members. However, this may not be the case with members as they may be dishonest to
the group. Transparency is therefore a major challenge.

In model farming, World Vision is involved in the following activities.

Empowerment through trainings and trips to other places where these activities have been

achieved. This broadens their knowledge and they are encouraged to work harder to achieve their
objectives.

Through the support if World Vision by funding they are to construct concrete tanks and dig

the ponds to store water for use during the drought.

 Provision of dairy cows to model farmers to start dairy farming.

Funding some of the projects that the farmers are involved in.

Linking the farmers to other agencies and government ministries like the ministry of

agriculture and livestock to support the farmers.

D. General work of World Vision in Nyakach

We were supposed to visit World Vision’s Office in Katito but that did not materialize because
of the bad weather and time factors. However, we were able to get ever important information
about World Vision’s work in Nyakach through the program director in charge, Mr. Peter
Otieno.

As he explained, World Vision is an international partnership that began its operations in Kenya
over 50 years ago and in Lower Nyakach it started its projects in 2003. Their projects usually run
for 15 years with three phases of 5 years each. The first phase is the community entry phase in
which the community is approached and assessed .The second phase is the peak of the projects in
which the identified projects are implemented. The last phase is the exit phase and in this phase,
the organization works on the strategies of sustaining the projects after they have left.

In Lower Nyakach, World Vision is involved in three main projects:

Sponsorship project

Livelihood project

Grants

Sponsorship Project

World Vision has a major role in ensuring that poor orphans and vulnerable children lead a good
life. They do this through registration of orphans and vulnerable children in the community into
their sponsorship programs and they call these children Registered Children. This term is used to
reduce the expectations from the community as opposed to if the term sponsored children is
used. The Registered Children have to be orphans, poor and vulnerable that are just yet to
celebrate their 13th birthday although they can at times go down that limit but the child has to be
of school going age. It is only one child that is considered in a household. This is so because they
believe that through that one child the whole household and even the entire community are going
to benefit significantly. Once a child is registered, World Vision ensures that that child schools in
a good school, has a good life and this is how the community is poised to benefit. For example,
World Vision will decide to improve the structure of a school in which one of their children is
learning. The organization may as well decide to construct and equip a health facility in the
community to ensure that their children have access to good health facility.

In Lower Nyakach, World Vision has over 4000 Registered Children that they support. When
their project cycle in a community expires, and their children are yet to complete their education,
World Vision will transfer those children to neighboring projects so that they continue to support
them. Their sponsors are informed of the changes that take place.

From this project, we can see that it is an initiative that intervenes for the whole community and
that the community is destined to develop through the sponsorship project.

Livelihood Projects

World Vision is focused on ensuring that the community in which they operate is alleviated from
poverty and that people live comfortably by ensuring that there is food security, clean water for
domestic use and that health and sanitation is of high standards. Model farming is an intervention
that World Vision uses to achieve the objectives of this project.

Grant Projects

For World Vision, there are two kinds of grants projects:

Water project – KAKAL WATER PROJECT: World Vision is focused on ensuring that Lower

Nyakach people have clean water for domestic use and they have come up with is project to put
up water point in the division at different places. In some locations, they have piped water to
some homes. This is development initiative as Nyakach is a dry area and clean water is a major
problem.

Computer for schools: the world is moving very fast in terms of technology advancement. As a

result, World Vision is focused on ensuring that children learn computer skills in their schools as
earlier in their lives as possible. To achieve this, they have provided computers in a few schools
from the grants they receive.

E. Funding

World Vision has over 4000 sponsored children in this division and so that means it has over
4000 sponsors. World Vision therefore gets 90% of its funding from the sponsorship project.
Most of the sponsors are based in the USA. World Vision also writes proposals to their donors
and through this initiative they are able to get the grants.

F. Monitoring and Evaluation

The community members have been empowered through trainings to do the monitoring of the
projects for World Vision. Model farmers are members of the monitoring team. World Vision’s
work is to supervise the process of monitoring through their monitoring team. There are forms
that the organization has designed for monitoring process. For evaluation, the organization does
quarterly evaluation of their projects and a report is always done and sent to the donors. They
also do financial auditing to ensure transparency and effective use of the funds as intended.

G. Challenges they face

As any other NGO World Vision faces challenges in their operations. Most of these challenges
have to do with the funds.

Inadequate funds: As an organization, World Vision is involved in many activities generally in

the whole world. All these projects and programs need funds to be executed to their completion.
However, the organization may not be able to acquire all the funds as budgeted for and so
inadequacy of funds is a major challenge to the organization and execution of the programs.
 Willing individuals to support the organization as sponsors and donors is another challenge.

The organization may find it needful to support as many children as possible but if they do not
have willing people to sponsor the children, then this may be a problem to the objectives of the
organization.

Communication is another challenge. As the programme director explained to us, the

Registered Children do not have direct contact with their sponsors and so direct communication
has been curtailed. All communications have to go through some individuals in the organization
and this may hinder the intended information from reaching the sponsors to realize how needy
their children are.

Inadequate personnel are another challenge for the organization. Most NGOs rely on

volunteers to work for them and potential people may not be willing to volunteer to help the
organization achieve its objectives. For example, Lower Nyakach has 12 locations which is a
vast area to be covered by just one farmer.

H. Learned Experience

A visit to the World Vision was a revelation to me personally since I realized that everything is
possible under any condition. All people need to do is to put an effort and try it. Nyakach is a dry
and what I observed is a very different picture. World Vision has empowered this community
and poverty is never a thing they can think about anymore. NGOs do a wonderful job in fighting
poverty in the poor countries. It is my thinking that if Kenya can partner with many other
organizations in this war against poverty, achieving vision 2030 is a reality.

World Vision is also an opportunity to youths such as graduates in different fields to grow their
careers and gain experience in their professions. They can work as volunteers to help this
wonderful organization achieve its objectives.

I.2 KAKAMEGA MAIN PRISON

A. Background
On 20th January 2016, we travelled to the western town of Kakamega to visit Kakamega
command, an institution of criminal justice system, which has three major departments i.e.
Regional Commander Offices, Kakamega Male Prison and Kakamega Female Prison.

Vision

The vision of the criminal justice system in Kenya is, a correction of excellence in Africa and
beyond

Mission

To contain offenders in humane safe conditions in order to facilitate responsive administration of

justice, rehabilitation, social reintegration in community protection.

Motto

Kerekebisha ni haki, meaning to correct is a right.

B. Administration Structure

The Kenya Criminal Justice System is under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of
National .Government, whose Cabinet Secretary is Hon. Joseph Nkaissery. This department is
administratively structured as below. Commissioner General of prisons based in Nairobi where
the headquarters are situated heads the prisons service. The commissioner general of prisons is in
charge of all prisons countrywide.

The deputy commissioner general of prisons assists the commissioner general of prisons. We
have directors of various departments in the prison service below the deputy commissioner
general of prisons. The directors include; director of administration services, director of
rehabilitation and welfare service, director of prison entrepreneurship, director of operations,
director of training, director of inspection, director of legal affairs and statistics, director of
gender.

From the directorate, we have the regional commander in charge of each region in Kenya.
Regions are the formerly provinces in Kenya. Then we have the county commanders in charge of
the counties. We have the officers in charge of the prison facilities following the county
commanders. Lastly, we have the section heads. The sections include the prison industries,
farms, spiritual, and documentation.

C. History of Prison Service in Kenya

In 1911, Kenya Prison Service was established under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Heritage,
and Sports. In 1917, the posts of Commissioner of Prisons and Assistant Commissioner of
Prisons were and the created control and management of prisons became the sole responsibility
of the commissioner.

There are 92 correctional institutions in Kenya include 89 prisons, 2 borstals and 1 youth training
centre. Prisons have undergone major reforms since 2003 when president Kibaki ascended to
power, which saw television sets, computers, and educational facilities. Since 2003, prison have
installed better treatment standards of prisons by making them more accommodative and
developing a human attitude.

The department has gone a long way in changing the face of prison systems in Kenya, which had
been neglected over the years. Sanitation has improved remarkably and the supply of water in
prisons regularized. The prisoners diet comprising sukuma wiki, cabbage, beans, ugali and beef
has been improved and the ratios are more satisfying.

The prison wardens are more friendly and useful to inmates. Senior officers have been identified
to listen to prisoners’ views and complaints, and look into their welfare. They meet inmates and
ask them about their welfare and problems. They also interview ailing inmates and recommend
treatment or arrange for the sick to see the government doctors.

D. Recent Reforms in the Kenya Prison Service

Over the years, many changes and reviews have taken place in this department resulting in the
current Prisons Act (cap 90) and Borstal (cap 92) and more recently in 1999, the extra Mural
Penal Employment was abolished and replaced with the Community Service Orders (CSO) under
the Department of Probation and Aftercare Services.
Further changes have been proposed including the name change from the Prisons Department to
Correctional Service Department, and the incorporation of the Probation Department to the
prisons department as it offers almost related services.

Under the Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) reform programs, the prison
service has offered convicts, dignified living conditions in prison. The service has moved from
the policy of years gone by that prisons are not hotels to reform initiatives aimed at restitution of
the dignity of the human life to acceptable levels in line with International Conventions that is a
party to.

Prisons had been known to hold up to 10 times the number they were designed for. For example,
if a prison were designed to hold 100 inmates, it would hold 1000. The Community Service
Order has proved a useful tool in rehabilitating those charged with minor offences thus reducing
the number of people being jailed.

Kenya’s prisons have continued to offer inmates rehabilitation programs and vocational
education and training that would help them be integrated into the society and actively
participate in positive socioeconomic engagement upon release. In most cases, community
members stigmatize ex – convicts in their communities when they return after completion of
their jail terms. The skills gained in vocational education and trainings enhance their chances of
engaging in gainful employment and minimize their chance of returning to criminal activities.

Inmates these days are transported in buses instead of Lorries, their clothing has improved and
they are allowed to wear long trousers as opposed to the shorts.

E. The Chain of Criminal Justice Administration System in Kenya

This section explains how justice administered in the criminal justice system in Kenya. In Kenya,
if there is an offence, the offender is arrested by the police. It is the work of the police to arrest
offenders. They are then charged in the court of law and function of the court is to convict
offenders. If one is found guilty of the offence he/she is charged with, they are taken to the
prison to serve their jail terms as ordered by the court.

F. Role of the Prison in Kenya

The core functions of the Kenyan prisons service are as below:

1) Contain and keep offenders in safe custody.

2) Rehabilitate and reform offenders.

3) Facilitate administration of justice.

4) Promote prisoners opportunities for social reintegration.

5) As a form of punishment and not to be punished in the prison facilities

6) Ensuring that the decision of the court is upheld.

Kakamega main prison is a regional command that at the time of our visit had over 1000 inmates
in the male prison. The statistics for that day are as below:

Wednesday 20th January 2016

Type of offenders Number

Prisoners 404

Ordinary remands 384

Capital remands 226

Robbery remands 92

Condemned prisoners 17

Civil debtors 1

Lodgers 1

Total 1125

In this facility, there are categories of the convicted offenders. There are two major categories
i.e. convicted and remands. Among the convicted there are the following categories;
i. Convicted for life: these are offenders (prisoners) who are imprisoned for life. They are meant
to serve their jail term until death.

ii. Condemned: are prisoners that have committed capital offences and as a result are meant to be
killed. Many years ago, this category of prisoners was meant to be hanged although that is not
the case now. They are offenders who have committed capital offences such as robbery with
violence, murder among other offences.

iii. Long termers are prisoners serving longer sentences of 6 months and above.

iv. Short termers are prisoners serving shorter sentences of 6 months and below.

The remand group of offenders includes:

i. Capital remands that are committers of capital offences and their cases are still going on in the
court of law.

ii. Ordinary remands: are offenders of petty offences and their cases are still in court awaiting
judgments.

G. Admissions

The major sources of admission of inmates in Kakamega Command are two. Admission from the
court i.e. those who are convicted by the court and sentenced for a jail term. The other source are
transferred offenders from other prison facilities which is majorly due to congestion in those
other facilities.

The table below shows the statistics of the day 20th January 2016.

Wednesday 20th January 2016

Type convicted Number

Prisoners -

Ordinary remands 20
Capital remands 13

Robbery remands 13

Condemned prisoners -

Civil debtors -

Ledgers -

Total 46

H. Industry programs

As per the reform for the Kenya Prison Service inmates are be rehabilitated and reformed
through various means. One of the means of ensuring this is achieved is through vocational
education and industry programs. I the industry programs, inmates are engaged in work that will
ensure they learn some skills that can help them reintegrate in the society, once they have
completed their jail terms. Through the industry programs inmates are taught technical abilities
such as carpentry, masonry, electrical engineering, wilding, painting and decorations among
other many programs. Industry department is therefore a very key part in the rehabilitation of the
offenders, in the prison service department and these inmates are doing wonderfully marvelous
and making a lot of revenues for the government of Kenya through the sale of those items.

During this field trip, we had the chance to have a firsthand witness of what is really taking place
and learned the truth that these people are artists in the carpentry department. An example of
what prisoners have done is the parliamentary seats at the national assembly in which one costs
Kshs200, 000. Identification of potential individuals for training at the industry .The prison
department identifies among the inmates those that can do well in the industry according to their
abilities. Usually, those serving long-term sentences are the ones enrolled for the training. To do
this identification, the reception board sits to interview inmates who are long termers of three
years and above to identify those with abilities in the various programs, for training. Once
identified, these individuals are trained starting from the lowest grade test i.e. grade 3 through to
the highest grade i.e. grade 1. There are tests done at the end of each grade to qualify individuals.

I. Recidivism
Even though the Kenya Prison Department is doing all these trying to rehabilitate individuals,
they have not achieved their objectives 100% to prevent re-offences. 40% of the inmates in
Kakamega Main prison are recidivists. Recidivism is re-offending after one had been convicted
and has completed their terms in prison. Once they are back in the society they get engaged in
criminal activities which again lead them to being jailed. This problem leaves us with the
question that is the prison service really effective in the rehabilitation of offenders? To leave in a
crime free society, there has to be found a way to end recidivism in the prison service.

J. Challenges

Prison service faces major challenges in their operations, both the prisoners and the prison
officers alike. Some of the challenges they face includes;

Health challenges: despite the fact that the reforms have improved the condition of life in the

prisons in terms of cleanliness, there are still issues to health hazard for the inmates.

Risk of working with dangerous offenders is another challenge faced by the prison officers.

The condemned category of offenders are very dangerous and the officers are living in fear in
working with them. This include murderers and even violent robbers.

This leads to them being placed in their own ward and some are even celled to put them away
from other prisoners as they may be even dangerous to their fellow inmates.

Being liable for offenders that escape is another challenge that the officers are faced with.

When a prisoner escapes when you are on duty as an officer, then you become liable and
responsible for that. This may lead to some of them losing their jobs.

Social life and interaction with the society: both prisoners and prison officers are despised by

the community members and the interaction is very poor especially to the prisoners. They are
viewed as people who should not be in the society even after they return from their jail terms.

Recidivism is another challenge for the prison service.

 Resources to the prison department is also a challenge to this department as they are not able to

execute all their objectives in service provision for instance in the industry department.
Inadequate funds for the materials and payment for the trainers is a major challenge.

K. Learned Experience

I was able to have first-hand experience on how the criminal justice works. Entering the prison
wall gave me a clear picture on how criminals are handled. I was able to apply what I learnt in
my criminology class and put it into practice on how inmates are handled. I got to know the
various types of offenders and how the government has put measures to help in their
rehabilitation and making them better citizens.

It is an incontrovertible fact that crime has become part and parcel of our society today due to
fall of man right from creation of the earth leading to man’s inclination towards criminal
behavior, it should be noted that the real and suspected criminals who eventually find their ways
to prison are the unlucky ones who could not escape the long arm of the law. After all there are
many out there who have committed much serious crimes and are still committing crimes but
they walk freely outside, possibly due to their social status or connections to people in power and
authority.

I.3 NYALENDA LOW INCOME RESIDENTIAL AREA

I.4

A. INTRODUCTION

Day four of the field trip, 21st January 2016 saw us visit Nyalenda low income residential area, a
slum in Kisumu. Nyalenda estate is on of the largest in Kisumu and even in Kenya. The estate is
divided into two regions named A and B. for our study, we visited Nyalenda B where we had an
interaction with one Mr. Washington Omondi Oyata, the head teacher of Nanga Primary School.
Nang Primary is one of the local schools in this residential area. It has a population of 1272
pupils. We also interacted with Mr. Kevin Owade, a former Moi University and a sociologist,
now working as a ward administrator for Nyalenda B. the objective of this visit was to
sociologists, through the study of Urban Anthropology and Sociology of Urbanization, as units
in the study of sociology, are involved in urban planning. Nyalenda B is divided into five units
namely, Nanga, where we were, Kapuothe, Dunga, Western and Got-Owak.

Having grown and has spent all his life in this residential area and as administrator of the school,
Mr. Washington Omondi had the following to tell us in his observations which are also
challenges to his administrative duties.

1) All sorts of social problems among the residents surround the area. Among these are sexual
molestation of young girls in which they are being raped and defiled by their relatives and even
some by their parents. The bodaboda operators who cheat them with their cheap money and
molest them also endanger them.

2) That the residents of Nyalenda are also resistant to developmental changes. For instance, they
have resisted the opening up of roads in the area.

3) The lake is another challenge that the administration of this school face since it affects the
education of the children and the youths in this area. Parents to the pupils are not concerned with
the educational matters of their children are always busy with their work in the lake. They do not
respond to meetings with the teachers concerning their children when called upon. This is a
challenge because the success of a child in education must be a combined effort of the teachers
and parents to be realized. The girls especially are at a bigger risk and their performances have
never been good over the years. However, with the support of some NGOs, the academic
performance of the girls has recently improved.

4) There are very many school dropouts in the area, resulting from unconcerned parents and
many other activities taking place in this residential area.

5) Drug and substance abuse is another problem that this slum, like any other slum. Most youths
are involved in drug abuse and therefore are not engaged in any constructive activities. Mr.

Owade is an alumnus of Moi University, in the sociology department and now works with the
county government of Kisumu as a ward administrator in Nyalenda B. through him, were able to
achieve the objective of this visit to the slum area. He was able to highlight to us the programmes
they are involved in, in urban planning and development, in this low income residential area and
how these programmes are aimed at upgrading the slums.
B. Characteristics of low-income residential areas

Low residential areas have common features that distinguish them from other residential areas in
urban settlement. The following are the characteristics of Nyalenda low-income residential area
as observed during this trip.

i. Insecurity is a characteristic of slums in cities and Nyalenda is no exception. In November

2015, there was a gang of youths that instilled fear in the residents of Nyalenda, called the 42
Brothers. They were stealing from people, raping women and murdering the residents of this
area. This gang had a 16-year-old boy from the area as their leader.

ii. Poor access to the area is another characteristic of this slum. There are very poor roads leading
to Nyalenda slums. The roads are merely narrow openings. Attempts to open up the roads have
also been resisted by the residents who claim encroachment of their lands.

iii. The area is also poorly lighted and this has even increased insecurity as well as hampering
economic activities such as small business that cannot be carried out up to late in the night.

iv. Poor water supply is also a characteristic of Nyalenda slums. Over 80 of the households in
Nyalenda B do not have permanent water despite the location of the area near the lake.

v. Health and sanitation is an issue to be addressed in slums as a characteristic. In Nyalenda B, it

is possible that over 10 households share 1 pit latrine which is also in a poor condition. As a
result, there are health hazards and the residents are prone to contact diseases such as, cholera
and typhoid. Kisumu being a tropical area, malaria prevalence is very high adding to the health
problems.

vi. Low economic status of the residents of slums is another feature of slums. Most people living
in Nyalenda B are poor with no properly paying jobs. Most residents are engaged in low income
generating projects such as small business by the roadsides and bodaboda operation.

vii. Slums are also characterized by poor drainage. Dirty water and sewer lines always flow in
between the house also contributing to poor health.

viii. Garbage dumping is yet another feature in slums. Most garbage dumping sites are by the
roadsides and near the water sources.
C. Policies and Programs by the county Government of Kisumu and Partners in Upgrading
the Slums

1. Partners

WORLD BANK

The World Bank has collaborated with Kisumu county government through KISIP organization
to help upgrade Nyalenda slums. KISIP is Kenya Informal Settlement Programme that works in
low income residential areas to ensure the improvement of infrastructure such as housing and
roads.

FRENCH GOVERNMENT

The French government through Kisumu Urban Project is another partner to the county
government of Kisumu in ensuring development. This programme is concerned in ensuring that
the Dunga- Kachok road is opened up and tarmacked. This will be the first road to be tarmacked
in Nyalenda. They are also working to improve the lighting in Nyalenda in putting up floodlights
in the area to improve the security in the area and economic activities such as the small
businesses. This programme is also working in other parts of Kisumu such as Kondele and
Obunga, which are other slum areas in Kisumu.

LEONARD CHESHIRE is another partner to the county government working to ensure the
education of children in Nyalenda B is improved especially among the girls through provision of
sanitary towels and other essentials.

UMANDE TRUST is an organization working in Nyalenda to empower the women

participation in the development programs in Nyalenda ward.

2. Programs by the county government

The county government of Kisumu has also designed programs that are geared towards
upgrading the slums. Among the programs are:

i. Infrastructural development including opening of roads in the slum areas to improve their
access.
ii. Construction of health centers and for the first time in history, a health facility is being
constructed in Nyalenda B.

iii. Street lighting is another program the county government is undertaking to improve the
security. Connected to this is the electrification of houses in the slums in which upto 80% of the
households in Nyalenda have electricity.

iv. Also to ensure that security is enhanced in Nyalenda, a police station is being pu up in the
ward by the county government.

v. Organization of sporting activities is also an initiative to ensure that the residents are always
engaged especially the youths so that they do not have time for evil activities. The county
government is building sport centers in the areas to improve sporting activities.

D. Community Participation in Development Programs

Public participation in development programs is a very sensitive factor to consider in the

upgrading of the slums. To achieve public participation in Nyalenda B, the county government
has included the community members in every project to help in the monitoring of the projects.

This way the county government ensures that, the community members are satisfied with what
has been done by a particular project before the money is paid to the implementers of the project.
For instance, if it the road that is to be built, then at the completion of the road, the members of
the community through their representatives in that project have to be satisfied that the road is
well build before money is released to the constructor.

E. Learned Experience

I was able to link what i learnt in class and what I observed in the field. Sociology of
urbanization came in handy because I learnt how slums developed and the challenges that
residents in the slums face during their day-to-day life. I was able to have firsthand experience
on the challenges facing slums like the poor drainage because we jumped over the dirty water
passing through the houses.

In addition, I have to see how the slums are being improved inters of housing. I could see some
permanent buildings that were coming up in the area; this obviously was not the case before the
slum development project begun where old buildings were destroyed and new ones in forms of
flats were being constructed. Also there has been the improvement of infrastructure example
running water is now available in at least every 3 households.

2.4 SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGE KISUMU

A. Background

Hermann Gmeiner in Tyrol, Austria founded the first SOS children’s village in 1949. As a child
welfare worker, Gmeiner saw how the children orphaned as a result of World War 2 suffered. He
was committed to helping them by building loving families and supportive communities with the
generous support of donors, child sponsors, partners, and friends. Gmeiner’s vision of providing
loving family based care for children without parental care and of helping families stay together
so that they can care for their children has steadily grown over six decades. Today SOS
children’s villages international has grown and is active in 134 countries and territories around
the world, helping hundreds of thousands of abandoned children through a family based care unit
system, schools, and family strengthening program.

Vision

Every child belongs to a family and grows with love respect and security.

Mission

Build families for the children in need, shape their future and in the development of the
community. Kenya was one of the first African countries in which SOS-Kinder of International
became active.

The national Association SOS Children Village Association Kenya was founded in 1971.Its aim
was to help reduce the ever-increasing number of orphaned neglected children in the country
who were not receiving any support from the state. It was just one year later that the construction
of the first Kenyan SOS Children’s Village started in Buru Buru, a suburb of Nairobi. Over the
years more SOS Children’s village facilities have been built in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and
Meru. The SOS children village work in Kenya has been supported by former president Daniel
Moi since the 1970s, he has also taken on the patronage of SOS Children’s Village in Kenya.
Kenya, just like many other Southern and Eastern Africa countries has been hard hit by the
raging AIDS Pandemic .In order to react from 2003 on, SOS Children’s Village started setting
up .Social and Medical Centres in Nairobi, Eldoret and Mombasa. The social centres include
family strengthening programmes, which enable children who are at risk of losing the care of
their family to grow within a caring family environment. To achieve this, SOS Children’s
Village directly with families and communities to empower them to efficiently protect and care
for the children, in cooperation with the local authorities and other service providers.

In Kisumu, SOS Children’s Village began its operations in 2010. The Social Centre in Kisumu
provides a family strengthening programme to the local community, which aims to alleviate
hardship so that family stability can be upheld and children will not be abandoned. The Social
Centre supports families in feeding , clothing and providing shelter for the children, as well as
ensuring that the children attend schools and make progress in their learning.

We were able to interact with Mrs. Grace Oduor, the programme director of SOS Children’s
Village Kisumu. She higjhlighted that SOS Children’s Village is an organization that supports
vulnerable and orphaned children of age 8 and below. These children once enrolled with the
programme, are supported until mthey are adults of 23. At this age they are disengaged with the
program although they are allowed to make visits to the organization and can even support the
remaining children.

SOS Children’s Village is a unique organization from other organization I have come across that
supports the children. In this organization, the children are brought in a family set up as if they
had parents. For SOS, every village has 15 houses and each house is supposed to hold 10
children of both sexes and a mother and these children live as brothers and sisters. The director
of the village plays the role of a father in every village. The family approach to the management
of the children makes this organization really unique and different from other organizations. The
children also live in a very conducive environment that is hard to find in other organizations.

They have a medical center in the village in which cases of health issues are addressed. They
also have a kindergarten for their young children in pre-primary school. all other children are
taken to public schools around. The medical centre and the kindergarten school is also open to
other children from the community at a fee which is a source of funds for the village and
organization.

B. Admission of the children

SOS Children’s Village does admission of children for all cultural backgrounds and once
enrolled, the children can be taken to any of the villages in Kenya irrespective of where they
have come from. The following are however, looked into before a child is admitted as
qualifications.

The child has be 8 years and below.

A total orphan or abandoned child

An admission latter written by the guardian of the child.

Copy the birth certificate.

Copies of the death certificates for the parents if orphaned child

Copy of medical report

Letter from the chief

Case history from the district children’s officer

Police report for abandoned child

A letter from the National Director of SOS Children’s Villages

A committal order from the court

These requirements show that this organization does transparent work in their operations.
C. Funding

SOS Children’s Village gets its funding from the following sources.

i. Donors especially from Netherlands and Austria

ii. Foundations such as NSSF, Banks like Commercial Bank of Africa

iii. Fundraising activities such mountain climbing and sporting activities

iv. Proposals

v. From the facilities such as the health centre and the kindergarten school

D. Challenges

As any other organization, SOS Children’s Villages is faced with various challenges such as

Inadequacy of fund to sustain the organization since organization has grown too large.

Challenges to the youths as they grow in the facility

Those who are unsuccessful at the end of their stay in the organization tend to be ungrateful

and talk bad about the organization defaming it.

CHAPTER THREE

SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND OWN EXPERIENCE

3.0 INTRODUCTION
In the chapter, the focus is to identify social urban problems, discuss the problem, and as well
suggest a solution to the problem.

3.1 Commercial Sex Work

During this field trip, I was able to identify commercial sex work as a social problem. At the
hotel where I use to spend the nights during the trip, at night I would observe women, park near
the clubs and guesthouses as they wait for their customers. In the bars and clubs, the sex works
jostle around in search of clients in their seductive dresses. One night as I was going to watch a
football match in one of the pubs together with some colleagues, I happened to be walking
behind. As we entered the pub, I was surprised when a lady grabbed my arm and called me.
Aware of what she was up to, I feigned friendly to get the information I would use to make my
report. It was an investigation I had planned to carry out on this lucrative trade as it is nowadays
named. As I turned, she smiled and asked if I could be interested in having good times with her.
Our interaction was short though. I found out that this was an orphaned child in late teenage. She
resorted to this business when she lost her parents and being the first-born, she had to find ways
to fend for herself and her three siblings. She had to drop out of school and for how to make ends
meet for them. Having found life hard back in the village, she opted for the city to look for a job
so that she could earn a living. She found a waitress job in one of the hotels, however, the job
was not well paying and so she had to look for something else. This is when she started this
business. She says that on a regular night, she gets about three clients who pay from Kshs200 to
Kshs2000. This way, she is able to pay her house rent and as well provide for her siblings back
in the village.

I also found out that they target high-class people who they believe to have a lot of money.
Mostly, politicians and other driving class people are their targets. They are also able to identify
newcomers in the city as well as regular customers. Commercial sex is a social problem in our
urban centres especially the major cities and towns in Kenya. With the spread of sexually
transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS on the rise, it is even more dangerous. Commercial sex
workers bargain on the prices depending on the type of intercourse they want to engage in. Those
who want sex without protection usually pay double the price. Sex workers are therefore at risk
of contacting the diseases and are at the same time can spread the diseases at a high rate.
3.2 Street Children

Street children are another urban social problem I observed in the city dung the field trip. Street
children are boys or girls, aged less than eighteen years, for whom the street has become home,
and/or their source of livelihood and who are inadequately protected. When one walks bottles in
their mouths.

Street children are viewed as an urban problem because of how they behave in the streets. In
most instances, they instill fear of attack and being stolen from among the people, especially
those who have just arrived for the first time in the city. For this reason, there is insecurity,
which is a problem in the city.

3.3 Solutions to Urban Problems

As a sociologist, I would suggest and recommend the following measures that if taken into
consideration may help solve the social problems identified above.

For commercial sex workers, the government and development agencies should come up with

a programme that will see a reasonable amount of money allocated through the social protection
programs and the commercial sex workers mobilized and organized in to small groups such as
self-help groups, registered by the government.

Having done this, they are supposed to be trained on how they can make a difference in their
lives using a different approach to sex work. They should then be given funds to kick-start
promising businesses that can earn them a living.

The government should also collaborate with other development agencies to investigate the

problems street children face that force to take to the streets so that they are able to come up with
strategies to assist the street children lead a normal life.

Rehabilitation measures should be put in place to assist the street children get back to their

former lifestyle. This should be done through construction of youth rehabilitation centers and
accommodative measures ensured in those centers.
CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.0 Introduction

In this chapter, the objective is to give suggestions and recommendations on the field course. It is
supposed to assess how the field course can be carried out effectively and what ought to be
improved in the field course. This is my sincere opinion on what should be done to help improve
the field course.

4.1 Suggestions and recommendations

1. Management if time: time is a very important resource that must be considered and observed
for the success of any project. The field programme indicated when the activities were to begin
and end. In each day, we wasted a lot of time in the morning to the extent of beginning our
travels as late as 10 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. as was indicated in the programme. The staff should
especially observe time to improve the field course.

2. Life has been expensive in recent years since the economic status of our country has really
declined. The department should review the allowances give the students should therefore be
improved from the current amount to at least Kshs4, 000.

3. The timing of the trip should also be looked into to stop the inconveniences caused to the
students. The field course is meant to be undertaken at the end of third year and not at the end of
fourth year.

APPENDICES

The pictures below show some of the activities of model farmers and the chacteristics of
Nyalenda slums.

123

45

67
89

10 12

14.0 APPENDICES

14.1 Map of C.D.A area of jurisdiction

14.2 Field Course Programme