The KDI-KEFRI Carpentry Training Academy equips youth with the knowledge and skills to produce furniture and fittings made from bamboo and timber. The youth have provided furniture and fittings for KPSP08, Anwa Junior Academy, as part of their training. The Carpentry Academy boosts career prospects of Kibera youth and builds their capacity to transform their built environment for the better, while encouraging sustainable carpentry practices.
Context
Original furnishings at Anwa Junior Academy
Youth in Kibera face an uphill battle, with soaring unemployment rates, poor education opportunities, ethnic tension, family breakdown, and the threat of gangs and drugs.
However, they are keen to serve their communities and build their skills. As over half of the Kibera population, they are critical source of innovation.
Process
Building desks
KDI and KEFRI co-designed the first phase of a course covering bamboo utilization as well as carpentry and joinery production, culminating in the production of fittings for Anwa Junior Academy, a primary school in Kibera.
The second phase focuses on furniture production, with students producing desks and chairs for Anwa.
Solution
Anwa school with newly-fitted window shutters and doors
The carpentry trainees built and installed sustainably-produced doors and windows for Anwa, which enable teachers to control temperature and light for a productive and comfortable learning environment.
The trainees are now in the process of creating desks and chairs that will further enhance the school environment.
Impact
Sanding the desks using new tools
The skills the trainees learn will set them on a path of lifelong self-sufficiency and community service.
They will not only create a positive learning environment for the 400 children at Anwa Junior Academy, but also contribute to other community-led built projects and even generate income with their skills.
