Author: wandie

Launching our Foundational Learning pilot in Turkana

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In Turkana County, thousands of children attend school irregularly, and many more are entirely out of school. Even for those enrolled, learning outcomes remain critically low. Foundational literacy and numeracy gaps often emerge in the early grades and, once entrenched, push children out of the education system altogether. Primary school enrollment remains far below national averages, attendance is highly irregular, and foundational literacy levels are alarmingly low. Poverty, long distances to schools, mobility linked to pastoralist livelihoods, and chronic teacher shortages compound the problem.

Launching our Foundational Learning pilot in Turkana

In Turkana County, thousands of children attend school irregularly, and many more are entirely out of school. Even for those enrolled, learning outcomes remain critically low. Foundational literacy and numeracy gaps often emerge in the early grades and, once entrenched, push children out of the education system altogether. Primary school enrollment remains far below national averages, attendance is highly irregular, and foundational literacy levels are alarmingly low. Poverty, long distances to schools, mobility linked to pastoralist livelihoods, and chronic teacher shortages compound the problem.

For many children, schooling has become synonymous with repeated failure. Over time, this leads to disengagement, absenteeism, and eventual dropout.In response to this challenge, Education Empowerment for Rural and Urban Slums Initiative (EERUi) has officially launched a pilot Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) program in Turkana, integrating accelerated learning recovery with structured sport-based engagement to boost attendance.
This pilot marks an important step in testing a community-anchored approach designed specifically for pastoralist and hard-to-reach contexts where conventional school-based interventions struggle to reach and retain learners.

The Turkana FLN pilot combines three critical elements:

1. Accelerated, level-appropriate learning
Children are assessed and grouped according to actual learning level rather than age or grade. Trained community teachers deliver targeted literacy and numeracy instruction focused on rebuilding core skills quickly and confidently.

2. Community teacher model – Rather than relying on externally deployed teachers, the program recruits and trains local graduates from within the settlements. This strengthens trust, improves attendance, and ensures continuity in contexts where formal teacher deployment is limited.

3. Sport as a re-engagement tool – Football and structured play are intentionally integrated into learning sessions — not as extracurricular activities, but as mechanisms for motivation, attendance, and retention. For children who associate schooling with failure, sport helps reduce anxiety, rebuild confidence, and restore a sense of belonging.

Early signals from the pilot

Since launch, the pilot has reached children who had been out of school or attending irregularly, many of whom had not mastered basic reading skills. Early observations show:

  • Improved attendance and consistency at learning sessions
  • Increased learner confidence and participation
  • Stronger engagement from parents and community leaders
  • Positive uptake of sport-integrated learning among both boys and girls

Community teachers are already using assessment data to adapt instruction and track learner progress, laying the groundwork for structured learning recovery and future re-enrolment into formal schools.

Building pathways back to school

The pilot is not designed to replace formal schooling. Instead, it functions as a bridge.
EERUi is working closely with nearby primary schools, village leadership, and parents to ensure that children who regain foundational skills are supported to return to school and remain there. Football-based activities are also being used to support retention during the transition period, reinforcing attendance and peer connection.

Looking ahead

Over the coming months, EERUi will continue to refine the model through structured assessment cycles, teacher coaching, and community feedback. Evidence generated from this pilot will inform future scale-up across additional settlements in Turkana and similar contexts.
We are grateful to the community teachers, village leaders, parents, and children who are making this work possible — and we look forward to sharing lessons as the pilot progresses

Childcare as a Livelihood: Inside EERUi’s groundbreaking caregiver empowerment program

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Childcare as a Livelihood: Inside EERUi’s groundbreaking caregiver empowerment program.

What happens when you train women caregivers not only to nurture children—but also to run their own profitable childcare businesses?

That’s the driving force behind EERUi’s latest initiative: the Caregiver Capacity Building Project, launched in early 2024 with generous support from the Global Schools Forum (GSF). The project focuses on supporting informal home-based caregivers, most of whom are women from underserved communities, with practical tools to improve early childhood care while strengthening their economic livelihoods.

Through a powerful combination of training, mentorship, and micro-business coaching, the program helps caregivers:

  • Implement the Nurturing Care Framework.
  • Build stimulating environments using local, low-cost materials.
  • Access training in basic bookkeeping, meal planning, budgeting, and marketing
  • Form peer-led learning circles guided by caregiver champions

This project is not just about children; it’s about empowering women to become recognized early childhood professionals and entrepreneurs.

Program Milestones

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Caregivers trained and equipped
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children receiving improved care
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Caregiver champions leading mentorship circles
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Dozens of recycled learning tools now in daily use

By placing women at the center of both childcare and economic development, this program is driving systemic change, one neighborhood at a time.We’re excited to share more stories from these incredible caregivers in the coming weeks.

Finance Officer Vacancy

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The position is responsible for managing the financial operations of the organisation. You will ensure accurate financial reporting, budgeting, and analysis, as well as compliance with financial regulations. Your role is crucial in maintaining the financial health of the organisation and supporting strategic decision-making.

Finance Officer Vacancy

  • Position : Finance Officer
  • Location : Eldoret
  • Qualification: Degree/CPA-k
  • Job Type : Full-time
  • Deadline : 27th January 2025

Introduction

EERUi with the support of partners executes programmes that provide access to quality education for the low-income communities in Kenya. We achieve this by partnering with like-minded organizations, development partners and individuals to provide capacity building, technical support and infrastructural support to schools and communities. In order to carry out these activities, EERUi engages talented and passionate staff. We are pleased to announce a vacancy in the position of Finance Officer.

The Role

The position is responsible for managing the financial operations of the organisation. You will ensure accurate financial reporting, budgeting, and analysis, as well as compliance with financial regulations. Your role is crucial in maintaining the financial health of the organisation and supporting strategic decision-making.

The Finance Officer is an integral part of the senior management team and is expected to be proactive in documenting, improving and enforcing good accounting practice and processes in the company. Internal auditing of inventory movement and reporting on any variances is expected as an integral part of the Management reports.

As well as meeting the job-specific and professional requirements of the role, the applicant will be evaluated on their attitude and their fit with the organisation. We are looking for someone who will share our passion for what the organisation represents.

Key Responsibilities

  • Ensure that all financial transactions are carried out and recorded in accordance with EERUi procedures and policies. 
  • Cash flow management and monthly bank and M-Pesa reconciliations. 
  • Review and verify all copies receipts for all expenses before they are entered into accounting system. 
  • Review procurement transactions prepared by operations team to ensure that all supporting documentation and approvals are accurate.
  • Ensure the maintenance of proper accounting documentation. 
  • Petty cash management and custody 
  • Preparation and prompt settlement of statutory and other payroll deductions i.e. PAYE, NSSF, NHIF,NITA etc 
  • Ensuring proper book of accounts are kept and maintaining a sound archiving (filing and retrieval) system. 
  • Preparation of various supporting schedules to the financial statements to facilitate annual audit and assist in the fieldwork process.
  • Preparations of year end accruals and monthly reconciliation of the accruals. 
  • Preparation of the payroll journal and monthly reconciliation of the payroll control code
  • Develop, Implement, review and update current financial management policies as required by the board or donors and in compliance with financial regulations. 
  • Any other reasonable duty assigned by management. 
  • Develop, Implement, review and update current financial management policies as required by the board or donors and in compliance with financial regulations. 
  • Establish and implement internal controls, procedures and systems to ensure that the organization’s operations are executed in line with approved plans and agreements.
  • Plan, organize and train staff on all organizational policies and hold forums to collect feedback from staff on the policy changes and submit the recommendations to the CEO.
  • Accurately and timely prepare and submit grant reports to the donors through the CEO. 
  • Act as the finance focal point person for the organization with the external parties (donors, partners, regulators etc) and through the CEO provide responses and other financial information to such parties as requested. 
  • Review draft donor agreements and provide informed advice to the CEO before signing of the agreement.
  • Ensure proper contracting and engagement of internal and external auditors. 
  • Timely and accurate preparation of internal and external financial statements for audit purposes. 
  • Review the annual returns to the NGO Board and Registrar of Companies prepared by the accountant. Ensure such returns are done within the set timeline.

Knowledge

1. Skills and Experience Required for this Role

  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or a related field from a recognised university.
  • Professional accounting qualification i.e. CPA-K or equivalent.
  • Proven experience as a Finance Officer or in a similar role,preferably in a non-governmental organisation.
  • Strong knowledge of financial regulations, accounting standards, and financial reporting.
  • Proficiency in financial management software and tools.
  • Advanced Excel/Google Sheet skills: strong ability to extract, clean, and manipulate large data sets.
  • Strong initiative and ability to drive process improvements that impact multiple teams.

2. Personal Attributes

  • Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills
  • Excellent negotiation and relationship-building abilities
  • Strong attention to detail and accuracy
  • Good communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a team environment
  • Strong organisational and multitasking skills
  • Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
  • Strong leadership and team management skills, with a focus on developing and motivating employees.

Job Application

If this job opportunity is of interest to you, please click the apply button below and fill out the form   on or before 27th January 2025.

Apply Now

Launch of early years program

Author wandiePosted on Categories blogs, newsupdates  Leave a comment on Launch of early years program

We have launched an early years program targeting children aged 0-3 years across five sub-counties in Uasin Gishu county.

Launch of early years program

Provision of quality childcare services plays a critical role in the early development and well-being of children. On this backdrop, we have launched an early years program targeting children aged 0-3 years across five sub-counties in Uasin Gishu county. The program is aimed at empowering caregivers of these children with knowledge on the nurturing care framework components including responsive care-giving, adequate nutrition, good health, safety and security and opportunities for early learning.

We have conducted a comprehensive needs assessment and baseline study of childcare providers in the sub-counties with aim of understanding the current state of childcare services they provide. EERUI’s Main focus was on the quality of the childcare service, and identifying capacity-building gaps and develop strategies for improving the quality of the care for a better early developmental outcomes of children.

Launch of early years program in pictures.

Mashujaa Day Environmental Action

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Mashujaa Day Environmental Action

#mashujaawamazingira

We’ve spend the better part of Mashujaa holiday celebrating the day with our we4all/EERUi environmental clubs (Kapsaos secondary schools, Merrylane Center Schools, Kapkoros primary school) by cleaning our estates.

Learners used this opportunity to educate their community on the importance of Environmental conservation and how to change their behavior to fight climate change. Together with our partners we’ve decided to be doing the same regularly to make sure that all population adopt sustainable ways of waste disposal.

Large amounts of trash and garbage, plastics, and other wastes can become breeding grounds for hazardous insects, cause pollution, and create unsanitary conditions that encourage the development of health problems and diseases. Such an environment also makes it difficult for children to find a safe place to play, and increases stress for everyone who lives in it. Cleaning it up provides a real and immediate health benefits to neighborhood residents, as well as helping them think about the possibility of neighborhood wellness.

Our Partners

We thank our partner We4All for supporting us through these activities as well as Old Uganda Road Enterprises for volunteering to help us dispose the collected waste properly.