Polycom Development Project

Polycom was started in response to the sexual violence and exploitation faced by young girls in Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi. There was a particular case when a 39 year old man had a sexual relationship with an 11 year old girl that spurred the organisation’s founder, Jane Anyango, into action. She wanted to help girls to understand that they need to take care of their bodies until they are ready. She started by educating girls to understand themselves and make informed decisions concerning their lives, particularly their bodies. The organization was later registered as Polycom Development Project (PDP).

Polycom is located in Kibera informal settlement, working with 50 schools to reach out to adolescent girls and 5 organized groups to reach out to girls who are not in school. Our work is summarized under one word “G-PENDE”(which means to love yourself). It is about promoting self-worthiness and appreciation among girls. The programmes have recently been extended to include out of school girls and young women aged 16 to 25 years. Every year, Polycom recruits fresh school leavers as volunteers who are trained on psycho-social support to carry out school counselling sessions and to oversee the G-Pende safe space sessions.

Polycom Development Project is our Safecity partner in Kenya.