Education Kenya Project #15530

Educate 159 orphaned secondary students in Kenya

by UMOJA PARTNERSHIP, INC.

Project Report | Aug 8, 2014
Meet Everlyn, a non-traditional student

By Ellen Daniels-Howell | Project Leader

Everlyn

Many of the students supported by the Global Interfaith Partnership are unable to complete their primary and secondary education in the traditional 12 years. Their schooling is disrupted by family illnesses and deaths, the many challenges of extreme poverty, and, for many girls, cultural pressures to drop out of school after 8th grade, usually to marry young and have children.

It is rare for a student to return to school after dropping out. However, hear Everlyn's remarkable story:

"My name is Everlyn. My father died in 2002 leaving my mother as a single parent to nine children.

"When I was 14 and had completed 8th grade I got married and had two children, Gregory and Donald. My husband died in 2008 while he was still very young, so, like my mom, I was left alone to raise my children.

"My boys were enrolled in the [Global Interfaith Partnership] school lunch program in 2009. At that time a member of the staff approached me and proposed that in addition to supporting my children [Global Interfaith Partnership] would support me if I went back to school.

"I jumped at the opportunity!

i am currently in my final year of high school and an active participant in the journalism club and the Christian Union Club in addition to fulfilling my duties as a mother. Sometimes students tease me because I am much older than them and because I am in the same grade as my younger brother, but I know that God has made a way for me to continue my education.

"My dream is to become a high school physics teacher when I complete school, and I am so thankful for the new beginning and second opportunity I have been given."

Everlyn now is in her final year of high school, and will take the national exam in November. Your financial support has made Everlyn's dream possible, and we are confident some day she will become a teacher. We thank you for your generosity!

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May 22, 2014
Why send girls to boarding school?

By Ellen Daniels-Howell | Project Leader

Ojolla Girls Secondary School students

Often we are asked why we give the girl students the option of attending boarding school since it is more costly than a traditional day school. We asked one of our former students, Judith, for her thoughts about why boarding school is important for girls:

"Day school entails so many risks which affect the lives of scholars. It’s with perseverance, hope, determination, together with luck that students manage to go through day school and come out successful. The challenges affect both boys and girls but the most affected ones are girls. Girl child performance has been reported to be poor in day school compared to boys as a result of the many challenges a girl encounters, which she doesn’t have control over.

As a girl who went through day school the thought of always being insecure was always on my mind. There were times when rape cases would be a major issue and this would be at dawn when girls would be going to school or late in the evening when they would be from school. But that was not the only fear. There were times when attacks would erupt and girls would be attacked and kidnapped on their way to or from school. This was not only a threat to girls but to boys who had to provide security for the girls.

Sexual harassment is the major issue when it comes to day schoolers. The different kinds of people a girl meets every day form home or from school always have the thought of taking advantage of the innocent hearts and making them drop out of school, the reason being that they have left the girls pregnant and therefore the girls can’t continue learning. This is a great worry to both teachers and guardians because it affects even bright girls and affects their future. Owing to the fact that the girls are always vulnerable, the men lure the girls with things that they know the girls need urgently ad once trapped, a girl has no otherwise but to do as the man requires in return for what she has been receiving from him.

In the case of child headed households, the thought of being insecure at home and the thought of not having food affects their concentration in school and in the end they perform poorly. It is them who have to look for food for their siblings and this has to be done within a short time before it’s dark, because the students leave school very late and in most cases they end up sleeping hungry.

A lot of time is wasted by a girl in day school as a result of walking to and from school and household chores and when the time for studying comes a girl is always too tired to study. Sometimes there is a no kerosene for their lamps and they end up not even doing their homework. The best place for girls is boarding schools, which enables them to do well in their studies, and reduces their chances of dropping out of school!"

Students can't do well in school when they are worried about their health and safety. We thank you for your support which allows us to provide a safe and secure environment in which our students can learn!

Links:

Global Interfaith Partnership

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Feb 25, 2014
A word of thanks from Tobias

By Ellen Daniels-Howell | Project Leader

Tobias in front of his school

The new school year has begun in Kenya and the students are hard at work after their holiday break. Below is a note recently received from one of our students who recently completed secondary school. His words speak eloquently of the way your support has changed his lfe and the life of other students just like him. We deeply appreciate your help in making sure these gifted students get the education needed to become leaders in their communities!

Hi! I am Tobias, one of the Umoja Project bona fide students. I am a total orphan from a family of 3; I am hardworking and promising student. This has never inflicted any fear in me about my future academic progress from when I was absorbed by the Project after my primary school education. Umoja Project has accorded me financial, social and material support during my high school education to the point that I could recognize myself as any other student within the school and in the academic field regardless of my status. Umoja Project has played a vital role in my academic life and has brought back the lost hope which I thought could never be. When I passed my final examination in primary school, the Project absorbed me and from then I was very much confident of completing my high school education. By so doing, I worked much harder to ensure that I got the best grades I could, since it was the best way of showing my great gratitude to the Project for its support. When it came to the one and only final national examination in high school, I could not cease doing much better to pass it and qualify to the university,

It is my sincere request that God may continue opening your hearts and may He provide for your needs, preserve you each day as you proceed with the good works.

I do promise never to let you down at any particular point and I will work much harder and compete favorably with other students at the university to deliver beyond any other person's expectations.

May God bless you, may God bless Umoja Project. Long live Umoja Project.

Yours sincerely,

Tobias

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