Daraja Academy for Exceptional Kenyan Girls

The Daraja Academy team prepares for its largest event of the year - Race for Daraja.  Over 250 runners will participate in the Bay to Breakers 12K race in San Francisco, Kenya, and across the world, advocating and supporting girls' education and Daraja Academy.  Sister races will take place in Australia, Kenya, Singapore, Korea, California, Virginia, and Washington this year making this a truly global event.

Each Daraja girl on campus in Kenya is matched with a participant who runs on her behalf.  As Lilian, a junior, recently said, "I was so happy during Bay to Breakers last year because we were working towards a goal.  There are people out there who are willing to do everything so that I can get an education. It makes me feel loved and cared for."  On race day, runners wear their partners photos on their backs, making the distance and the hills (in San Francisco) all worthwhile!

This year, there will be five classes participating in Kenya, or 130 girls plus staff and volunteers, including the recent high school graduates who have returned to Daraja to attend the newly formed Transition Program.  The Daraja Academy Lap-a-Thon is held every year, giving the students an opportunity to contribute to their own education.  Donors sign up to support up to 28 laps that the girls run (equivalent to the 12K distance of Bay to Breakers.)   Irene N. said, "The first time we ran the girls were so excited because we knew that we were the ones contributing to our own education."

The Race for Daraja 2013 should be even bigger and more successful than the last, and it is all in the name of girls' education. To join us, email race@daraja-academy.org.

These are the type of ambitious and determined girls that you are helping to support in the 2013 school year. Thank you for giving them access to further their education!

Lately, we've been hearing a lot of statistics and reading stories about the uphill battle girls face in many countries. Although the facts are startling, what's even more jaw-dropping is the enormous influence and change that can occur simply by investing in girls education. Still, many people ask us why we "discriminate" against boys. But, this isn't about ignoring boys, it's about embracing girls, and their close relationship to their families. When you're investing in a girl, you are investing in her future children -- the number of children she has and her ability to take care of them.

The international community is celebrating Day of the Girl on October 11th and we've made special photos to celebrate the occasion. Thanks to photographer Barbara Rick, with these pictures you can educate and inspire.

The pictures remind us that the statistics don't scare us. We know there is work to be done and the girls of Daraja have built the foundation to change the status quo. With the support of advocates like you, we can educate people in our networks about WHY it's important to invest in girls. The first step of any movement is to education and build awareness so that people decide to pay attention.    

Links:

• Check out the beautiful images taken by Barbara Rick

The diversity of Kenya is represented at Daraja with girls coming from almost every district in the country.

Blue dot – City, town, or village a Daraja girl(s) is from
Yellow star – Daraja Academy campus

When the Daraja students traveled home earlier this month, many traveled for only a few hours or a day while others journeyed for two or even three days. Girls from Mombasa on the coast can share stories with students from Pokot in the west and Isiolo in the north. Daraja also understands the importance in providing an education to girls from the local villages and town of Nanyuki, where twenty-two Daraja girls call home.

Rose

Hometown:  Marsabit

Form 1 Rose Buda is from Turbi in Northern Kenya, ten hours north of the nearest major city, Marsabit. Rose travels for three days before she reaches her home, only three hours south of the Kenya-Ethipoia border. Seven Daraja girls live in Marsabit, a city located on the southern edge of Chalbi Desert. The city itself is surrounded by mountains, volcanoes, and small forests; but soon the landscape turns into dry, flat desert.

Mary

Hometown:  Mombasa

Form 2 Mary N is from Mazeras, a small town north of the large port city of Mombasa, located on the Indian Ocean. Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya and is the main port for all of East and Central Africa. It is also a big tourist attraction. Mary travels for two days to get home along with eight Daraja students who live along the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway. Mombasa has extremely diverse culture and history going back to the Sixteenth Century.

Molly

Hometown:  Kisumu

Form 2 Molly is from Kisumu, located on Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. Lake Victoria is an extremely important for fishing, commerce, and tourism. The Nile River begins at the lake, which shares a border with neighboring Uganda. Surrounding Lake Victoria are numerous important cities and towns that are home to thirteen Daraja students.

Daraja welcomed Mpala researcher Corinna Riginos, to discuss land conservation and guest teacher Penina, to prepare Forms 3 and 4 for the K.C.S.E.

Daraja students challenged to take on land conservation, generate ways to make an impact on the cause in local communities.

Riginos: “Conservation is about more than preserving the land. Its about loving the land”

The partnership between the Mpala Research Centre and Wildlife Foundationand the Academy has provided Daraja students with many opportunities to explore science as a field of study and to examine their land and land use with scientific lenses. Last night, Mpala researcher Corinna paid a visit to Daraja for an interactive lecture about degradation versus conversation of land. Corinna explained how excessive grazing contributes to the degradation of land that could take anywhere from three to five thousand years to regenerate.

“How do we change this? What can we do?” Corinna posed to the Academy.

Form 1 student, Yvonne, suggested an education campaign to spread awareness about the harmful effects of improper land use. Ultimately, each Daraja club will generate ways that they can make a positive impact on land conservation efforts and report back to Mpala on their findings.