Taveta Children Assistance has an aspiration and a plan that if implemented in the future, will make Taveta Children Assistance, aka T.C.A, become a model organization that helps the community to develop and move towards a brighter future by way of helping the community to meet its life’s expectations through poverty alleviation initiatives.
The following three plans form TCA’s strategic plan
- Spiritual plan
- Economic plan
- Social plan
I: SPIRITUAL PLAN (GOSPEL PROPAGATING)
Taveta Sub-County is at the south western part of the Republic of Kenya, is remote and not obvious to the world. It is located at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro; Africa’s highest mountain, and at the border between the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Tanzania.
The population is approximately 75,000 people according to the 2010 National Census.
The majority do not go to church, with some practicing indigenous animist religions. Christianity and Islam are also present, with the Islamic religion being more aggressive in spreading Islam through such means as dominating the local businesses, construction of mosques in every village even in places with no Muslims and in places with less population. They have established an Islamic school in the town and a madrasa in every village of Taveta to target children with the aim of converting them to Islam.
Taveta Children Assistance, which is registered by the Kenya government, is also legally authorized to offer Christian spiritual services which are inclusive of spreading the gospel to the beneficiaries in any way that is legal.
During our feeding programs when the children come together to the children’s center every weekend, they are also taught the word of God through the Super-Book (The Bible is the Super-Book) as well as Christian guidance and counseling services provided to them. This has helped some of the kids to know Christ and remain in him. Many have been healed from traumatic experiences.
However, when we release them back into the community during the weekdays, the negative influences is rife in the schools where they go to and in the villages where they live.
In the light of this, T.C.A aspires to mobilize resources to build a low cost Christian primary school at the children’s center. T.C.A has a piece of land where the center sits. T.C.A plans to buy an additional one acre piece of land next to it to realize this. The government allows such a school to have a chapel for use by the students and the community adjacent to the school.
It is hoped that the school will help many children avoid the secular and negative influences. During vacation, the school and the chapel will be used to bring the children from the community together for Vocational Bible Studies, (VBS); a first in Taveta. As we teach them to walk in the ways of the Lord, they will not depart from them when they grow up.
It is important to note that this church has been born from those children and young people who received Salvation during the Super-Book programs. The name of this vibrant young but growing church is the Taveta Christian Assembly. For its Statement of Faith, visit our website.
TCA, and the church at TCA seeks partnerships with Bible based churches and Christian organizations for the gospel outreach and missions. Mission trips involving the spread of the Gospel and medical camps are highly coveted.
II: ECONOMIC PLAN (SELF SUSTAINABILITY)
T.C.A. relies on well wishers to keep its operations and activities afloat. The donations from well wishers have not been reliable and sufficient.
In view of this, T.C.A plans to come up with income generating activities which will eventually help it become self reliant.
Almost a year ago, TCA was blessed to have the support of CBN (The Christian Broadcasting Network) to drill a water bore hole which yields 13,500 liters of water per hour. This water source has been a blessing to the Taveta community.
With God’s provision, we aim to put up a Water Bottling plant and utilize the water we now have for value addition.
This will be the first water bottling plant in Taveta.
Taveta imports bottled water from Nairobi and Mombasa cities as well as from the neighboring Tanzania.
Taveta has a warm and hot climate and the bottled water is in high demand. This business, given a few years to break even, is sufficient to support all or almost all of our projects and programs. The funds being sought for this could be in form of a grant or venture capital.
To empower the guardians and other poor parents who take care of the children we support, TCA seeks to mobilize resources to support them with dairy goats and pigs. Goats provide milk for the families while the pigs, which reproduce faster in large quantities, will be sold by the families to earn an income for them. This will help alleviate poverty.
Dairy Cows Project. TCA has already started a small dairy cows project and wishes to expand it to commercial levels. This will create more employment opportunities for the children’s guardians as well as raise more incomes for self sustainability.
Organizations willing to partner with TCA to dig wells and boreholes for the various communities and villages without water are welcome and encouraged to do so.
Finally, TCA seeks help and support to construct at least 50 accommodation rooms for shelter.
III: SOCIAL PLAN (YOUTH EMPOWERMENT).
Some of the children who benefit from TCA’s educational programs in primary schools have not been able to join high school due to either lack of school fees or failure to do well in national exams in order to qualify to join high school.
At this time, most of them are already in their late teenage years.
Eventually, they end up losing hope in life and start engaging in delinquent behavior. The danger of them becoming radicalized to join terror groups like the Al Shabaab for financial gain is high.
T.C.A aspires to establish a small Vocational Training Centre for them within our property to offer simple skills to them such as tailoring courses, hairdressing & design and soap making, music classes and a computer class. Once they acquire these skills, they will be able to be self employed and depend on themselves as well as support their families.
This Vocational Training Centre will consist of eight (8) classrooms with all the necessary equipment such as sewing machines, computers, hair dryers, furniture among other equipment.
In consultations with the Regional Orphans Promise Director, TCA looks forward to begin The School of Life for the young people within TCA and the community of Taveta.
CONCLUSION
The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon said, “Better the end of a thing than the beginning thereof……’’ Ecclesiastes 7:8a. It is TCA’s main goal to see all the children throughout their lives succeed from the day they started receiving support to the day they become adults.