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It’s all about the child. A student gleefully practices writing her name at Kidogo’s Kawangware ECD hub. ByJanet Mwitiki Janet is a Fellow in Metis’ Cohort II. She is a passionate visionary Child Care and Development Specialist with over 20 years of experience in Early Childhood Development (ECD) lobby and advocacy. “They looked at me helplessly, “These are the words he heard from the people killing his dad.” Hearing Brian repeating what he had heard from them became a new normal thing to the teachers.” “Kata shingo songa mbele...” (English: Cut the neck, move forward…) I heard young Brian screaming it repeatedly. I looked confused to his teachers and asked them: “Why aren’t you stopping him? Why do you let him say these cruel things in front of his classmates?” They looked at me helplessly, “These are the words he heard from the people killing his dad.” Hearing Brian repeating what he had heard from them became a new normal thing to the teachers. My heart suddenly felt heavy and I realized: It’s not just our traumatized children, but also our teachers that urgently need our support. Traumatization In Early Age Comes With A Major Impact Recent research underlines the impact of child abuse not just for the individual health of children, but also the well-being and economics for families, communities, and countries across our continent. With an increased focus on early childhood development, improved outcomes cannot be expected without addressing the adversity of child abuse and neglect which is a major threat to the achievement of the sustainable development goals on the continent. According to a Child Protection Report launched by Childline Kenya between (2006-2016), over 33,929 cases of child abuse were reported through the 116 helpline. Among these, child neglect was reported as the highest form of abuse, making up 41% of cases for a total of 13,878 reported cases. The report showed that 75% of child neglect was perpetrated by immediate family members followed by parents and extended family at 17% and 8% respectively. When neglect was reported at a high rate, all other forms of abuse rose as well. Neglected children are at an increased risk for impaired cognitive, language, emotional and social development, especially in early years where the brain development is rapid and critical, negative influence is harmful and permanent. It’s therefore impossible for me to accept that child abuse is still a largely unaddressed topic in our Early Child Development (ECD) Programs. Facilitating Child Protection Training to the Kidogo Trainer Of Trainees. The Role Of Our Teachers & Community Is Crucial Despite the family, our community, including teachers, are the crucial base of child protection. They can help identifying, treating, and preventing child maltreatment. On the one hand our teachers have close and consistent contact with our children. On the other hand, educators carry the professional responsibility. Children cannot learn effectively if their attention or energy is sapped by the conflicts inherent in being maltreated. Teachers have a unique opportunity to advocate for children, as well as provide programs and services that can help children and strengthen families. According to studies from the US Department of Health & Human Services, positive and balanced relationships with an adult may enhance the resilience of children who have been abused. It is therefore urgent to build teachers’ capabilities to answer to the special needs of abused children. I still find a major lack of awareness, sensitization, and knowledge throughout Kenya. Janet providing a Child Protection Training at Kiambio Slums Child Protection – My work with Metis I envisioned to initiate a child protection training to support both teachers and grassroot organizations with the target to help them identify and respond to common forms of abuse in their ECD programs. With the incredible help of Metis, I am training and mentoring a group of twenty Directors and Proprietors of ECD Programs from the Kiambio slums of Nairobi. In addition, we empower the local community child protection leaders and caregivers in the informal settlements of Kagemi and Kibera as part of the Kidogo childcare programs. Our training enabled the heads of these childcare centers to identify common forms of abuse. They initially could identify an abuse but had no idea of where or who to report to. However, through this training they are now able to link the abusers with the local reporting and referral systems in nearby health facilities. For the purpose of community sustainability, the trained teachers and community leaders are in the process of forming a Community of Practice (COP): 10 members are conducting monthly meeting to share best practices on children’s’ concerns and help each other to identify appropriate systems to respond to these abuses. “The responsibility of protecting children lies in the hands of us all.” My vision Despite my efforts, I truly believe the responsibility of protecting our children is not just in the hands of care givers or teachers, it is all our responsibility! Starting from the community to politicians and up to government stakeholders. Child protection is not a one man show! It’s a multi-sectoral approach! I ask you to join me today fighting for the importance of child protection. Together we have the power to convince our government to increase resources and prioritize our children. “Let children be children” and ensure that young girls and boys, like Brian, get the care they need and deserve.

Bridging siloes to create community On Friday, May 10th, the second cohort of Metis Fellows started their Metis journey with a weekend retreat in Thika, Kenya. The theme of the weekend was connect. Over the three days, they grew their connection to themselves, to others, to the education challenges their work addresses, and to a sense of possibility. Over the next 6 months, Fellows will design, test, and iterate innovations in education. They now have the most important thing for their success: community.

Metis alum Dr Maina WaGioko sat down with young leader Aziza Mwendwa to reflect on paradigm shifts in his career, and the role Metis has played in his journey. Pictured above, Maina with Gr. 2 students during an environmental learning activity. I have dedicated my life to wielding the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world: education. Through this journey of educating myself and others, I have experienced major paradigm shifts. I used to be a teacher. I’d stand at the front of the classroom, and my pupils--equal parts bored and anxious--would transcribe copious notes from the board. I would act as a knowledge dispenser to learners who would memorize and replicate the information successfully in their examinations. For 10 years, I was that teacher. Then, I transformed into a learning facilitator. A learning facilitator motivates and empowers students to be active contributors to an interactive learning process. I have been a learning facilitator for the last 15 years and now I find I learn just as much from my students as they do from me. This perspective definitely goes against conventional Kenyan teaching methodologies, so I have often found myself frustrated within an antiquated system. Dr Maina learns with Metis Fellows Kenneth Okolo of Kidogo, Teresa Njoroge of Clean Start, and Esther Gacicio of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Design at a monthly Community of Practice session. Thankfully, I found my “tribe” through Metis. In the company of broad-minded educators pushing the boundaries of teaching and learning, I had my second career paradigm shift. For the last decade, my mission has been serving the underserved. Through my work at Aga Khan, I ran projects for out of school youth and under-resourced classrooms and teachers on the coast of Kenya. However, my perspective on the scope of marginalization was narrow until I went through the Metis Fellowship. My interaction with the other Metis Fellows made me realize something humbling: I still privileged able-bodied and neurotypical learners, and still privileged boys. Not because I was consciously desiring this, but because I was blind. Joining the Fellowship changed this. I met educators who worked with and for the incarcerated, for girls, for the disabled. I have many anecdotes to share, but I will stick with two. Firstly, in the fellowship, I was with ten strong women. They pushed me specifically to think about how the program I was running on the coast had to address gender stereotypes if I wanted to increase overall participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). “Are you getting to the root of why girls aren’t participating in STEM if you’re also not engaging teachers and families?” they asked. I have evolved from gender-biased to gender blind, to gender neutral, to gender conscious, and finally, gender responsive. My interaction with the other Metis Fellows made me realize something humbling: I still privileged able-bodied and neurotypical learners, and still privileged boys. Not because I was consciously desiring this, but because I was blind. Joining the Fellowship changed this. I met educators who worked with and for the incarcerated, for girls, for the disabled. Secondly, I visited Maria Omare at her Hub for The Action Foundation. Seeing her work with children with disabilities made me realize that there is so much more I could do for many more groups of people. In the trainings I had been doing for the national curriculum reform, I didn’t even hint at inclusion. I didn’t speak about modifications for the differently-abled. My visit to Maria completely changed this. Teachers across Kenya need to build their toolkit of how to engage with learners with autism, with physical disabilities, and with other learning disabilities. Maria, Founder of The Action Foundation in their community hub for inclusion in Kibera Beyond being challenged by the cohort of Kenyan leaders in the Metis Fellowship, the content and structure of the fantastic Metis design thinking curriculum led me on a broader path to innovative education intervention. It gave me the framework to creatively strengthen the programming we created for Aga Khan for girl’s STEM education on the Kenyan coast and improved my national teacher training for the curriculum reforms. Without Metis, I would not have the skills for inclusive pedagogy. The one-on-one mentorship sessions with my coach Rebecca helped me fine tune my ideas. The other fellows and invited experts were a well of knowledge, inspiration, and safety. They gave me a space to voice my ideas and learn about the best ways to implement them. I saw people who dared to realize their own wild dreams for education and this invigorated my ambition. Metis continues to impact my work across the continent. For a new seven-year project to reach educators across East Africa our materials, delivery, and reporting are gender-responsive and as a prerequisite the educator should have taken a course on gender responsive pedagogy to equip the teachers with critical lenses. I am also integrating digital and in-person support for teachers to differentiate for learners with disabilities. The lessons received from the Metis Fellowship have transformed my work practice, decision making, and idea generation from marginally marginalizing the marginalized (MMM) to engaging everybody equitably (EEE). I am glad to be a part of the Metis Community and to furthering excellence and equity in Kenya and beyond! Dr Main WaGioko is a national teacher trainer for the Competency Based Curriculum, part of Kenya’s three-year reforms in education. Dr. Maina WaGioko is the Vice Principal of Professional Development and Outreach at Aga Khan Academy Mombasa, a Microsoft Showcase school. He teaches World Studies, Physics and Design Technology. He featured among the Top 50 Finalists for the Varkey Foundation 1 Million Global Teacher Prize (2018), and the Top 100 Most Influential People inOnline Learning in Africa (2018). He is also a Learning Toolkit Ambassador for Africa. Dr. WaGioko has contributed to Kenya’s education reform by sharing his expertise both for the Digital Literacy Program, and in the creation of Kenya’s new competency-based curriculum. Aziza Mwendwa graduated from Strathmore Law School with Honors and is studying for the bar at the Kenya School of Law. At university, she was the Organising Secretary of the Legal Aid Clinic. She teaches and mentors students from Kibera and Deep Sea Slums. She has a passion for education reform which is the focus of her current research. “I try to be a guide by the side, rather than a sage on the stage,” says Maina.

Take a sneak peek at the first three days of Metis Fellows’ six month journey! On Friday, May 10th, the second cohort of Metis Fellows started their Metis journey with a weekend retreat in Thika, Kenya. The theme of the weekend was connect. Over the three days, they grew their connection to themselves, to others, to the education challenges their work addresses, and to a sense of possibility. Over the next 6 months, Fellows will design, test, and iterate innovations in education. They now have the most important thing for their success: community. Over the course of the fellowship, our leaders will design, test, and iterate education initiatives that ensure Nairobi youth from cradle to career access high-quality learning opportunities. The Metis Fellowship provides them with the curriculum, coaching, connections, and community they’ll need to succeed. This short film documents the kick-off retreat. Watch the magic of the #MetisMovement!