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| The Uweza Community Center officially opened in June 2011. The space provides Kibera residents, especially youth, a safe place to exchange ideas, explore talents and interests, and develop income generating activities that they enjoy. Youth in Kibera very rarely have the opportunity to develop creatively. There is a lot of pressure for youth to perform well academically and school curriculum is largely focused around memorization and repitition. Talents and interest in the arts, theater,sports, and other activities may go untapped for the entirety of their lifetime because they lacked an avenue to explore these areas. Youth often lack opportunities and choices for ways to productively spend their free time. All center activities are developed and run by Kenyans. In the near future, we hope to launch income generation activities for adolescents after observing that many youth are not able to finish school or turn to a life of drugs, crime, early pregnancy and marriage, and continue a cycle of poverty that has persisted for generations. Programs will include business and finance training, skills building, business mentorship, and small-business development. In the coming year, we hope to launch a recylcing program, utilizing the large amounts of trash in the slum to produce saleable goods. The center caters to not only youth but to Kibera adults as well. Kibera Agenda 4 Business Savings, a community-based organization that provides savings and loans opportunities for small business owers, holds two weekly meetings at the center. Some of the HIV positive members of Kibera Agenda, noticing the center's privacy and safety, also hope to start a support group. |  Current Community Center Activities: After School Tutoring Journalism Club Youth Life Skills Counseling Painting Classes Group Savings and Loans |
 | More Information: Read stories about the Community Center on our blog.. View photos of Uweza soccer players painting the Community Center.. View photos from the center's launch event. |