KEEPING AKILI GIRLS IN SCHOOL THROUGH SCHOLARSHIPS

Although an educated girl is a powerful force for change, many girls  especially in the rural Kenya where we work never make it to secondary school. This is because most families live in poverty and can barely afford to feed their families and meet inhibitory costs of school uniforms, stationery, menstrual hygiene supplies, school lunch programs and school fees. 

Lack of sanitary pads has particularly continued to hold many girls back from staying in school. When these rural girls have their periods, they are forced to make their own “pads” using old clothes/ rags or stay at home for a week or more and miss crucial school days  thus adversely affecting their test scores. Some girls are forced to engage in transactional sex for sanitary pads which they buy with money obtained from motorcycle taxi operators in exchange for sex. Unfortunately, this has always led to early pregnancies and school dropouts in our community making girls not to finish school. 

With your support,  we are #BreakingBarriers to girls’ education through provision of school uniforms, high school scholarships, menstrual hygiene supplies  and mentorship. We are committed to providing girls with menstrual hygiene supplies and underwear to ensure that they go through their periods in dignity. Our sexual and reproductive health sessions and mentorship also ensure that our girls are well equipped with the right knowledge and attitudes to protect themselves and avoid early pregnancy. 

This month, we are sending 45 girls to high school by giving them scholarships that cost $120 to $150 annually. Some of these girls joined Akili prep School in 2012 when they were barely 4 years old. We are excited to see them grow into empowered young women and we are honored to give them a platform to support their dreams. We are also giving over 2000 students school uniforms, sanitary pads, underwear and offering mentorship sessions to give them the agency they need to reach their fullest potential. 

Together with you, we are enabling these girls to work their way out of  poverty and into a more stable living environment. As we remove these inhibitory costs of school fees, school uniforms, means of transport to school, menstrual hygiene products and food, we are gradually breaking the systemic barriers of poverty, early marriage and pregnancy, gender-based violence, and traditional practices and attitudes about the status and role of women that often hold girls and women back from  accessing quality education and succeeding in life. By removing these barriers, we are enabling all our girls to complete secondary education and transition to higher education where they continue to develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the future.

We can’t wait to see how they will use their education and agency to grow their futures . In 50 years, our community will be different because our work helps to achieve  gender equality in education, including STEM education hence reducing the gender and skills  gap in STEM areas as will be demonstrated by the increased employment and productivity for women in our community. Women will no longer be living in poverty, instead, there’ll be improved economic growth as women earn higher wages from employment and support their families and communities.

Women in our community will be leaders in Kenya and beyond because our work enables them to gain self efficacy, positive gender attitudes, self governance skills and leadership skills  that empowers them to actively participate in development and decision making in the society.

Since our work applies a gender lense by involving boys in girls’ empowerment, we look forward to a more stable and resilient community in 2050, where both boys and girls have equal opportunity to fulfill their potential.

The boys and men of 2050 will ensure that all girls and women are safe at school, work and in the community and have all the resources they need to realize their dreams, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families. Riley Orton Foundation Org foresees a future where there will be no area where women and girls are underrepresented, because their potential is unlimited. 

Thank you very much for partnering with us and giving to enable underprivileged girls thrive.

Dear Friends,

We are excited to share with you that all the Akili Girls excelled in the recently concluded Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations (KCPE). The 15 girls scored 263 to 350 marks out of the possible 500 and are preparing to join high school in the first week of May 2022. The Akili school teachers and staff did the best they could to mentor the girls and help with revision. We are so grateful for your kindness and generous gifts that ensured that we provided all the school supplies, food, menstrual hygiene products and paid staff salaries to keep all the girls in school. Your support ensured that learning was not interrupted by students being sent home to get fees and other supplies. 

We cannot wait to transition these 15 wonderful girls to high school and bring our total number of students  in the scholarship program to 30. By the end of the year, we will be sponsoring 45 girls since 15 more will graduate in November 2022. 

We remain committed as ever to transition girls to secondary school and increase their chances of succeeding in life. In Kanyawegi village, just like in many parts of the world, poverty prevents many marginalized girls from accessing secondary education. This has been exacerbated by the adverse impact of COVID 19 on household incomes in Kenya. 

By partnering with you, we have succeeded in keeping over 50 girls in school at the Akili school campus and at our partner schools through provision of school fees, school uniforms, stationery, menstrual hygiene supplies and staff salaries.  This has played a big role in reducing the financial burden of parents; freeing them to commit the limited resources they have to purchase books, pay school fees for other siblings and feeding their families

We have seen great transformation in our students who have joined high school in the past 2 years. They are more confident and aware of what they want to be in life and are working hard to achieve their dreams. We believe that as we send more disadvantaged girls to school, diseases like HIV/AIDs among girls will reduce. The girls will stay in school and escape early marriages and early sexual debut, transactional sex for food and lifts to school as well as gender based violence. $150 sponsors a girl for one year. Any amount of $10 or more goes a long way in keeping the girls in school.

Thank you very much for being part of this wonderful story of transformation of the lives of needy girls in our community. May God richly bless you and your families.