Marianists of East Africa at PO Box 50504 , 00200 Nairobi - City Square , Nairobi Province 00200 KE - MDP: CHANGING LIVES IN MOMBASA

The Marianists founded the Marianist Development Project (MDP) after investigating the situation of poor youth in Mombasa. In May 1996 Brother Peter Daino found that youth in Mombasa face three major problems, namely unemployment, drug abuse and sexually transmitted diseases. He also noted that about thirty to forty percent of the youth are poor. After listening to those working with youth, to some of the youth themselves and drawing on their own experiences as educators, the Marianist leadership concluded that a small trade school that a) develops the psychosocial and trade skills needed for employment, b) vigorously seeks places for industrial attachments for students and employment for graduates and c) encourages spiritual development would be the best way to assist poor youth. The Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa agreed, and it donated about two acres of its land in Bombolulu for the project. Information available on the internet shows that the situation of youth described by Brother Daino in 1997 remains valid today. (Seek out 'Kenya - economy' at the CIA - Worldfact Book.) The first students began their courses at MDP in April 1998. They studied one of the following trades: carpentry, catering, hairdressing or metal work. They also took classes in Basic Business Knowledge led by MDP's Job Creation Programme officer and self awareness led by the social worker. The social worker also led the Gospel Living spiritual development discussions. In this way, MDP adapted the program successfully in use at IMANI in Nairobi. The combination of these courses plus the sports and service activities at MDP develop the technical, the psychosocial skills and the spiritual awareness needed to hold a job, to avoid drug abuse and to avoid sexual behavior that leads to infection with diseases. Each course has places for up to twenty-five students. The carpentry, catering and metal work courses last for eleven months from January to December; the hairdressing course lasts for six months, and two cycles are offered each year: January to June and July to December. All students go for a three month long industrial attachment after completing their course work. In this way, the centre trains about one hundred and twenty-five youth yearly. Each May MDP has a graduation ceremony to send the successful students on their way in life. The MDP works in cooperation with other agencies. Each year some of the students come from residence programmes serving homeless youth. The MDP provides training while the other agency provides a home and professional counselling so that the young person can make the transition to a productive life. The Marianists chose carpentry, catering, hairdressing and metal work because of the potential for employment in the Mombasa job market. Equally important, these skills have a high potential for self employment either by opening a shop or by seeking a contract from a person or business in need of their skill. Service is an important part of the students' learning experience at MDP. Taking care of the compound helps them to develop a sense of service and a spirit of participation. The students begin each day with a short period for cleaning the grounds and classrooms, and they have a longer time for general cleaning on Friday afternoons. Wednesday afternoons include a time for sports. MDP provides lunch for the students at mid day. One of the unique things about studying at the Marianist Development Project is tool kits. The students buy a kit of essential tools for their respective trade. Therefore when they leave the centre, they have the physical tools as well as the spiritual, psychosocial and trade skills that they need to start out in life. A second unique thing about the school is workshop space. Graduates are welcome to come back and rent space in the workshop on a daily basis to work on their own projects. Renting out workshop space serves three purposes: it gives graduates a place to work until they can find a job or open a shop of their own; it gives the current students an example of a successful professional; and it gives MDP a small income to help cover its cost of operation. The Marianist Development Project aims to help poor youth between sixteen and twenty-five years of age “Move from situations of dependence and destitution to situations of increased economic value” from a Christian identity. It charges students a caution fee of KSh 200 (about $2.60), a monthly tuition fee of only KSh 100 (about $1.30) and the cost of the tool kit which is different for each course. The contributions by the students both in cash and in work are important, but they do not come any where close to covering the costs of MDP's operations. Since the centre seeks out students who can not afford to pay for the services that they need, MDP will always need assistance from friends and benefactors to continue its mission. If you feel moved to assist the Marianist Development Project in its ministry with youth struggling to get out of poverty, please contact Fr. David Paul at the Marianist Provincialate, 4425 West Pine Boulevard, St. Louis MO 63108-2301, telephone 314.533.1207or by E-mail at dpaul@sm-usa.org. Or, you can contact us at our address in Mombasa.

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