This project will change Brian's life! He's desperate for an education but has no money for school fees. On a recent visit to Kenya, Brian's neighbor was sitting with me when his application for a sponsor for school fees came in to the Olalo office. "I know this boy," she said. "He is my neighbor. Each evening I hear him crying outside his house." Brian is 14. He works three days a week in a carpentry shop to earn enough money to put himself in school 2 days a week. And he's only 14...
Brian, even at 14 knows the value of an education. Life in western Kenya is difficult enough, but without an education there is no hope of a better life. So, Brian works hard those three days just so he can attend 2-days a week trying to improve his life with an education. Long days, strenuous working conditions, studying and school are taking a toll on this young boy trying to cope with an impossible schedule...he's only 14...and his neighbors listen to him cry each evening, discouraged.
This project, if successful, will remove the burden of this 14-year-old working three long days in a carpentry shop to pay for two days a week at school. Brian can then focus on his studies only and look with hope to a future. This project gives Brian a chance to succeed; it allows him to be a student with the freedom to focus on his studies, to learn, to thrive, to succeed and it dries up all his tears.
Without an opportunity to complete a student's education, the cycle of poverty continues generation after generation. Today's student wants to improve their lives. They are motivated to make changes that impact their own futures and improve the community. For too long education beyond grade 8 wasn't even expected. For the most part, it's the same today, so when a child gets the opportunity to continue their education, they begin to dream big, work hard and begin a new cycle. A cycle of hope!
