KEEPING AKILI GIRLS IN SCHOOL THROUGH SCHOLARSHIPS

Dear friends,

Happy Easter! Last year, we shared with you Vera’s story and the high expectations she and the other 8th graders at Akili School had as they prepared to sit for the 2022 primary school exit exams. The girls posted an excellent performance in the national exams with a class mean score of 360.7. Vera scored 397 marks and ranked top of her class securing a chance to join Moi Nyabohanse high school which is a national all girls boarding school to continue with her studies and pursue her dream of becoming a neurosurgeon. The least score registered was 323 out of 500 marks. With your support, we transitioned all the 12 girls to high school in January 2023 by paying school fees and providing free school uniforms,shoes and menstrual hygiene supplies.

We provided 45 bicycles to local students as well as our scholarship students who joined day secondary schools to enable them,especially the girls to cycle to school and escape transactional sex for lifts to school; a major cause of early pregnancies and school dropouts among rural girls living around lake Victoria region. Long distances to school continue to be a major barrier affecting students' attendance to school and educational outcomes especially in rural areas. Our school bicycle distribution program where we give buffalo bicycles to rural girls and boys ensures that students reach school in time, do not miss classes /exams and have the confidence to achieve their dreams.

One such beneficiary is Syprose; a scholarship recipient and a current student at ST Marks Obambo Secondary School.She became a beneficiary of the program after managing a total of 347 marks out of a possible 500marks which secured her a spot in a very good National Boarding School [St Theresa’s Tartar High School]. Her parents could not afford to take her to the school that she was selected to join and therefore opted to take her to a local day school. Through ROF’s Scholarship Program she joined St Mark Obambo Secondary School where she got an opportunity to pursue her high school education. We also donated a bicycle to her because she comes from a remote area that is kilometers away from the school and her parents couldn’t afford to cater for transportation costs to school. It was difficult for her to catch up with the morning lessons thus ending up missing almost all of them and also,it was a challenge to accommodate the already covered syllabus resulting in a drop in her academic performance. Since receiving the bicycle and scholarship opportunity, she has been among the top three students in her class and has maintained an average mean grade of B plain . Her goal is to score a mean grade of A plain in the final exam[KCSE], which will enable her to become a doctor, a career she has been yearning for since her childhood.”I have always had the zeal to help people and provide care as directly as I can and the only way to understand how to do this is to become a doctor.’’ she said.

Through your immense support, Syprose and the other girls are able to stay in school without being sent back home for school fees. This has allowed them to concentrate on their studies rather than worrying about tuition fees and school uniforms.

To build on the success of our scholarship program, we continue to hold STEM Leadership and mentorship camps where girls, boys, teachers and mentors convene to mentor the girls and build their leadership skills, inspire them to grow interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and climate entrepreneurship fields while creating networks and links that will help them in their future careers. We held our first Math camp in January where teachers and volunteers met for a week to prepare and were trained as Math game envoys with excitement to support everyone in engaging in thinking through inclusive, fun activities. 37 students from 18 secondary schools across the country were taken through seven themes that integrated technological use in collaborative activities where everyone—including the accompanying teachers—learned through fun activities. The themes included mathematical thinking, data science, programming and robotics, physical activity, treasure hunt, modeling, games and puzzles. The basis of this math camp was to present exciting themes to students on problem solving that will allow them to integrate the concepts into practice and inspire them to pursue careers in STEM subjects.

 High school scholarships cost $200 per year or $20 monthly including school uniforms. We also intend to support the students through college as they start to graduate from high school in 2024.

Thank you so much for your generous donations to support our scholarship program. We are thrilled to have your support. Together, we are creating an empowered community of girls and women with the agency to realize their dreams and support not only themselves but also their families and community at large. THANK YOU!