The John Cockerill Foundation supports The Nest Home

2019, Kenya

The Nest Home is a project in southern Kenya with three locations in Nairobi and Limuru. Its objective is to take care of children whose parents have died or are in prison. The association sets up support and social and economic reintegration processes (reception, education, medical care, schooling, etc.). About a hundred children and about thirty infants, whose traumatic load must be reduced, are taken in charge by the association. Not financed by the African state, the association, which is internationally recognized, lives on funds mainly from abroad. The association wanted to become energy independent, reduce its energy costs and, in addition, store and treat rainwater.

The project serves a noble cause, which gives meaning to our work and the opportunity to confront the reality of the field.

Guillaume, Hugo et Julien - O-hub

We offered the association the installation of an energy and water supply solution. We also collected clothes for children (0 to 15 years old), school supplies (EN), computer equipment etc.

The energy and water treatment solutions were realized thanks to the technology developed by O-HUB (Innovation lab), the involvement of John Cockerill’s teams in Kenya and local partners for the delivery of materials and manpower.

Concretely, the energy solution is a system that includes the construction of a photovoltaic carport with 62 panels that produce 80 kWh every day and the installation of a container equipped with batteries connected to the panels. This solution allows the center to have electricity 24 hours a day, which facilitates the conservation of medicines and foodstuffs, but also the drying of laundry in this part of the world where temperatures can drop quite quickly at altitude, and the installation of comfort lighting in the common areas, thus ensuring safety at nightfall.

As for water, the center was already equipped with a rainwater recovery system, so we provided a system for filtering grey water and making the community’s water drinkable. Thanks to the Lifestraw ® system, the 125 residents of the center have access to drinking water, even in times of drought. Each day, the system produces 192l of drinking water.

We also trained the center’s staff in the use of the various systems.

Finally, we collected clothes, school supplies, toys… More than 520 employees of the John Cockerill Group mobilized in Belgium, France and Luxembourg to collect, sort and send more than 4 tons of material per container.

125

chlidren

80

kWh of electricity

1,6 l

of drinking water

120.000 €

cost of the operation

After a few months of operation, the system became “safe” and, thanks to the John Cockerill teams in Kenya, we were able to intervene to solve the problem: the batteries were replaced and the system is finally stable. The support of a medium and long term project is very important. It ensures that the aid is not a one-off and that we meet the needs of the community in the long term.

The association is very happy to be able to become less and less dependent on the Kenya Power Limited Company and thanks the John Cockerill Foundation and its teams for the great resilience they have shown in ensuring the smooth running of the project.

The center is also impacted by the covid-19 health crisis. Most of the children have been sent back to their relatives. In order to maintain the link, especially in terms of education, the center has hired a teacher to provide distance learning and educational materials to the children.

The Nest also assists mothers recently released from prison by guiding them towards new professional challenges. The pandemic also affected this area of activity and the association set up a food program to help mothers who could no longer feed themselves and their children due to lack of income.

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The Nest Home