Education Kenya Project #26704

Empower Kenyan Girls through Education

by Action Two Africa

Project Report | Aug 20, 2018
The Fight Against Stigma

By Samuel Carlson | Assistant Project Leader

Numbers and statistics are great, but today, I want to tell you a story.

When Christina and I were in Kenya, working in the Kiambiu slum, the issue of HIV and AIDS came up a lot. It was my understanding that they were the cause of hundreds of thousands of deaths in Africa each year. But one day, while talking to Ruth, an HIV positive woman living in the community, she corrected my misunderstanding. “HIV doesn’t kill people, and neither does AIDS.” she said matter-of-factly. “What do you mean?” I asked “If HIV and AIDS aren’t killing people, then what is?” She looked me right in the eye and replied, “Stigma.”

Ruth found out she was HIV positive 10 years earlier and since then had come to accept her status. She took antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) every day to keep her immune system strong, and for 10 years, she remained fairly healthy. But in the years since she started disclosing her status to people, discrimination plagued her life.

First it was her family. She told them about her newly discovered status, and they rejected her, kicking her and her three boys out of the house. Then her neighbors. She informed them that she was HIV positive, and they stopped letting their children come to her house and play with her kids. Then her community. She began to advocate against HIV/AIDS stigma, freely divulging her status, and suddenly she was being harassed in public, humiliated by old friends, and shunned by everyone she knew.

It's precisely these reactions that keep hundreds and thousands of people from getting tested each year. The fear of humiliation, isolation, harassment, and rejection. Some people kill themselves after they find out they have HIV. It’s too much for them to bear. Others simply deny it, pretending they don’t know and refusing to alter their lifestyle. Hundreds of clinics in Kenya, and dozens surrounding Kiambiu offer ARVs for free to HIV positive men and women. And yet many people still refuse to get them. Refuse to take them. Pretend like they aren’t there.

The lack of education surrounding this disease is exactly what makes it so deadly. Thousands of people are living prosperous lives while still dealing with the reality that they are HIV positive. Thousands more are dying because they are too scared to admit the truth to themselves.

But there is hope. Ruth told me another story, about a time she talked a man out of ending his own life after finding out he was HIV positive. She cleared up some misconceptions he had about his condition, and then started coaching him back toward the road of stability and hope.

This is just a fraction of what education does for a community. It allows women like Ruth to combat, not just the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS, but the even deadlier factor that continues to wreak havoc on Kiambiu and other communities like it: stigma.

“Young people must have access to information, HIV testing and treatment free of stigma and discrimination." -Jantine Jacobi (UNAIDS Country Director, Kenya)

Links:

"Stigma Kills" Documentary

Permalink

May 21, 2018
Powerful Voices

By Christina Carlson | Project Leader

Humphrey meeting with Jackline on a school visit.

Women are powerful, and we have the desire and drive to improve the world around us, but sometimes our voices and actions go unheard or are never developed because of a lack of opportunity. Sometimes that opportunity is taken away because of culture, sometimes because of socioeconomic status, and sometimes because of a lack of education.

At Action Two Africa, we believe that strong women’s voices ought to be heard. We want to encourage them, and help them develop those voices and use them to change their communities. Part of how we do that is by helping them attain an education, which allows them to be agents of change in their communities regarding issues relating to access to education, rights, and opportunities.

One of the voices we want you to hear is Jackline’s. A few years ago Jackline’s father passed away. She and her four siblings had to move in with their grandfather and his eight children. The 14 of them lived in a two bedroom home with dirt floors. They ate one meal a day and shared a pit toilet with their other neighbors. They knew there was no way they would be able to pay for Jackline’s school fees, so her grandfather reached out to Action Two Africa for help. Jackline was enrolled in our Child Sponsorship Program, and is currently thriving in school. She recognizes the importance of her education and knows that it will open doors to allow her to create positive change for others in her community. “I have realized that I can do my very best in school, and that I have the potential to have a bright future,” she says, “when I finish secondary school, I want to go to college, so that I can become an important person in my community who can help others and make changes.”

Much like Jackline, there are many other young women wanting the opportunity to get a quality education so that they can create change within their communities. Only a few barriers exist to this education, but being able to afford tuition is one of the biggest of them. Everyone who contributes to what we are doing here at Action Two Africa is helping young women, like Jackline, have their powerful voices can be heard. These women are agents of chance, and if this one small barrier is removed, their voices will make a lasting impression on their lives, their communities, and the entire world.

Permalink

Feb 22, 2018
Education Equals a Brighter Future

By Christina Carlson | Project Leader

What does education really do for young women in Kenya?

While education is important for everyone, it is an essential area of empowerment for young women in Kiambiu, Kenya.

Education provides stability. Being in school helps to provide a consistent schedule, stable meals and housing, and the chance to grow and flourish in a healthy environment amongst a community of peers.

Education provides protection from human trafficking and sex work. Human trafficking is rampant in countries around the globe, and this does not exclude Kenya. Young women in Kenya are vulnerable to being illegally transported for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labour. If a young woman is in school, this helps to keep them off the streets.

It provides a future to help stop the cycle of poverty. Education equips young women to prosper economically, and empowers young women to have a positive impact within their family and community.

It provides hope.

It promotes self-worth and confidence. Even with odds stacked against them, the young women in our Child Sponsorship Program are powerful, full of drive to get an education, and desire to make a difference within their community. After all, knowledge is power, and with an education, young women can unlock countless opportunities that can positively shape their future. For example, meet Nancy. Nancy first became a part of our program in 2014, and after graduating in 2016, she went on to college. Currently, she is going to school for Lab Technology, and is one of four young women in our Child Sponsorship Program who has graduated and gone on to college!

Ultimately, education empowers young women to grow and flourish. While Nancy is just one of the many girls in our program who has graduated high school and has moved on to higher education, we hope with your continued support, we are able to continue to give these young women hope, and a brighter future.

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.