Help Kenyan Girls Qualify for Secondary School

Well...

It is that time of year again. 

End of year exams will happen at the end of Feburary. 

This is an area where we are so proud to have partnered with ROF on: they spend the time and resources to ensure their girls are ready for the test. 

Last year, every single girl not only passed but matriculated into the next level of school.

Let me repeat that: Every single girl matriculated. 

This is something that schools elsewhere globally can only dream of. 

We know that the team at ROF will have the same high expectations this year, and we have no doubt that the girls can get there. 

Any donations from this project will go to helping these girls with their studies and preping for not only this year's final exams, but future years' exams as well. 

Great job team ROF and good luck to all the girls. 

Hello from the Sunflower Foundation!

We are excited to welcome new members to our newsletter. With all the new people interested and with new projects on the horizon, it is amazing to see the growth and impact of the foundation. 

This month we want to highlight the Riley Orton Foundation (ROF), located in the slums of Kisumu, Kenya, which have been a long-term partner of Touch Foundation. David, the founder of ROF,  and his team are tenacious in their efforts and creative in their ideas to make a positive impact on girls' lives. 

The ROF’s mission is to alleviate generational poverty amongst the most disadvantaged and marginalized rural girls. They deliver holistic programming focused on education, health & wellness, economic empowerment, and life skills training in order to provide rural girls and their families with the agency to make sustainable changes.

We have funded (thanks to all of our supporters ) the literacy garden that enables the girls at the school to read, write and perform in their own space without judgment or unwanted attention. We have featured some of their amazing work in previous newsletters. The creative minds of kids cut across language and culture.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to support the operating expenses of ROF to help the teachers and girls.  This decision was not taken lightly as our funding is historically project-based, however, it played a critical role in the school remaining open in the midst of lockdowns and instability in Kenya. The Malala Fund found that due to COVID-19, more than 20 million girls (from pre-primary to upper secondary) are at risk of dropping out and may never return to school. We did not want this to happen at the ROF school!

With the new school year starting this August, our funds were used to help provide uniforms, shoes, and underwear for over 500 students at the school. The uniforms were important as the Kenyan government supported the tuition of students but their aid stops there. All other costs associated with going to school had to be provided either by the student or the school. Many girls at ROF school cannot afford their uniforms (and shoes and underwear) and would quit going to school if these were not provided.

With pride in our hearts, 100% of the girls from primary school were enrolled in secondary school. This is a truly incredible achievement and almost close to twice as high as the national average in Kenya. 

Our mission is to get girls to school and to keep them there. 

The Riley Orton Foundation is our featured project and you can support their girls staying in school by making a donation here. 

Until next time,

Team Sunflower