History
From the time Kisumu Urban Apostolate started in 1979 efforts were made to do something for the girls in the peri-urban areas. Sister Mary Ellen and Josephine Akelo organised workshops in which girls could discuss their problems with mature women of the community like Petronela Osuru . There they were taught wisdom for life, sexual behaviour  and useful cooking techniques. In 1983 Sister Ruth Ella SND , a longtime teacher at Eregi decided to come out of retirement to put up a more permanent structure for giving assistance to the many girls who had no money for following secondary education. A survey had shown that there were many of them, wasting their time in idleness or irresponsible behaviour. Cheap and ignorant girls made cheap and ignorant mothers.
Sister Ruth, a highly qualified person in girls education, gathered the opinions of the local girls in order to draw up a syllabus of a possible girls domestic school: her plan was to include in the syllabus all the subjects that girls were really interested in: health care, baby care, fashion, dress making, religion, sex, domestic finances, catering and cooking. She also got the cooperation of the Tienge (Small Christian Communities) to find some places where such educational courses could be given. The proposal was to make sure that the tuition was of the highest quality whereas the location could be anywhere for the time being.
In 1984 the communities indicated three places where the project could start. In Got Owak Dominicus Ndege allowed the course to start under a tree in his compound, with furniture from his own house. In Nyalenda the Christians obtained permission to start the course at the back of the Kachok Nursery . In Magadi the Christians had a small empty plot which they put at the disposal of the new project. Each of these three courses started with about a dozen girls, and through the efforts of Sister Ruth began to develop beautifully.
In Got Owak Dominicus Ndege allowed a reed house to be put up in front of his house; soon this was replaced with a mud house. Some years later he gave a small plot on which more permanent building could be erected with the aid of the Mill Hill College in Goirle (Holland) and a Harambee led by Prisca Auma in Pandipieri Centre. Thus the Girls Domestic gave rise to Got Owak Centre.
The development of the Nyalenda school was equally spectacular. It soon appeared that the locality behind Kachok Nursery was not practical. So Fr. Hans approached John Oloo who gave permission for a small mud building to be erected  on the edge of his plot. After a year the school had to move since John Oloo needed the plot to be empty; the Nyalenda Christians were called upon to find a plot that could be bought so that a school could be built there. They found a plot: the present Nyalenda Centre. It was inaugurated when Bishop Zacchaeus Okoth said Mass there after  he had given out certificates to newly trained health workers in the compound of Alfred Akwany . Soon the new buildings were erected: two classrooms and some staff houses. So the Girls Domestic was the start of Nyalenda Catholic Centre. Many years later the Nyalenda school could move to the plot of the Plastic Recycling, where a splendid edifice arose.
Magadi Girls Domestic started with a reed structure. The Sisters of Notre Dame decided to make Magadi their habitat, and a simple convent was built there. When that was ready a proper building was put up for two classrooms, a community hall and some more rooms; whilst the building was going on classes were given on the veranda of the convent.  Thus the girls domestic also gave rise to Magadi Centre. After five years Sister Ruth went back to the USA and handed the running of the schools to Mary “Mandazi” who resided at Magadi.
In the beginning of the nineties the Christians of Manyatta Flamingo enabled us to acquire a tiny plot there. The Indian architect Mr.Dave, a good friend of Pandipieri,  made a clever drawing for a building that made optimum use of the plot; Frank Boomers oversaw the building work. Thus the Girls Domesti c gave rise to Flamingo Centre.
The buildings needed attention, and ultimately more permanent buildings were erected with the help of overseas donors. The four schools were combined into two because the new buildings were fit for that. Thus Got Owak was combined with Nyalenda, and Flamingo with Magadi. There were some struggles too. Around the year 2002 Nairobi consultants became involved to secure a higher degree of professionalism.  They decided to reduce the educational character of the school to merely vocational training as they wanted to put exclusive stress on the money earning capacity of the girls. This change of the original character of the programme was resisted as being retrogressive:  the educational role of the school was firmly reasserted. After the intervention of the Nairobi consultants an extra effort was needed to restart the involvement of the community.
The Girls Domestic has been a community project from the beginning. Its vision and typical method attracted the attention of development agencies and friends oversees. The school has even taken part in an exchange programme with youth from Holland. These latter years overseas donors have contributed very much towards the construction of the beautiful new buildings.