Help Kenyan Girls Qualify for Secondary School

Hello Everyone and a happy 2021 from the entire Sunflower Team. 

Even though it is a new year, there are still challenges that we are all facing. That said, we are optimistic that 2021 will swing in a positive direction. 

We are lucky enough to have been in touch with David Otieno, the ED of the Riley Orton Foundation in Kenya. He and his team have moved mountains the past 9 months to keep things ticking over. We are so happy to have a relationship with the organisation and the great work they are doing. 

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From David: 

The 8th graders at Akili school resumed classes on 12 th October 2020 when schools in Kenya reopened for the candidate classes. This marked the beginning of 2nd semester which ends on December 23rd 2020.

The closure of schools in March this year due to COVID-19 pandemic, interrupted learning for millions of students who missed more than six months of formal education.

We have a total of 8 girls in 8th grade and they are all safely back to our campus where they board.

The teachers have been working with the students to cover the syllabus and lead revision sessions as the students prepare for the primary school exit exams scheduled for March 2021 .

Staying at the boarding school has greatly contributed to the safety of the students and given them the much needed time to learn without worrying about COVID 19 or the living conditions at home.

They are getting supported emotionally as well with the teachers and staff available to counsel and talk to them, assist with specific topics, and guide them in their study groups. Our goal is to have all the students scoring at least 70% in all the tests.

As all students prepare to return to school in January 2021, we are conducting interviews/focussed group discussions with girls from rural and urban slums to identify the barriers that may prevent them from returning to school.

Some of the girls are now pregnant or married, some parents have relocated to other towns and villages due to loss of jobs and economic hardships occasioned by the COVID 19 pandemic, while some schools may not meet the government threshold/requirements for reopening of schools.

Such threats to return to school for girls may negate the gains we have made in ensuring gender equality /girls empowerment through education. We hope to use the findings to ensure that all girls in our community return to school and continue learning.

We are also making and giving out school uniforms and free bicycles to students to increase access to education to marginalized girls and boys. We continue to use sports to teach life skills to both girls and boys to ensure that they have the skills to stay safe as schools remain closed.

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As you can tell from David's note, they are doing the very best they can with what the circumstances are. We are so impressed that they have been able to keep the school up and running throughout these tough times. 

What is just as impressive is that they have had 98% attendance rate while achieving 90% of what they set out to teach for the year. Those are incredible numbers when looking at the odds they were facing. 

We look forward to continuing to support such an awesome organization. 

On to a better 2021!

It has been a wild ride these past few months. 

As Covid-19 has swept through the world, it has found it's way to Riley Orton's little corner. 

The money that is normally quite limited in Kisumu has all but dried up. The funding our the foundation has been slashed. 

But yet, the organization continues on. 

The literacy garden is being taken advantage of by the girls in the area as it is a space for them to get away from all their troubles and to just be a kid. 

It gives them a chance to continue their learning, even if schools have been shut down. 

There are social distancing measures put in place to ensure that no one is getting sick. 

We will continue to support these wonderful girls as they become women the best we can. 

The major expansion efforts of the garden have been put on hold. For the time being, though, it is business as usual for the girls to learn. We hope that this can continue, even as Kenya goes deeper into lockdown.

In the meantime, we wish them well and that they continue to stay safe. 

Do you know what is powerful?

Girls that can read!

We continue our support of this wonderful program in Lake Zone Kenya and their Literacy Garden. 

The garden is continuing to grow and the space has really blossomed into an oasis for creativity. 

We had a funding drive in late November and early December and I am thrilled to report that it was a resounding success. This will allow us to continue funding the project and expand access to education for girls in the area. 

In the garden, creativity reigns supreme and we believe that the best is yet to come. 

We look forward to continuing to share with the great strides that the girls have made. 

Watch out world, these girls are coming for you!

Dear Sponsors and Literacy Garden Team

One of the most amazing elements of the literacy garden is that it encourages the girls to be proactive with words. 

We provide a space for them to read and learn, but just as importantly, the space allows them to create. 

Poems. 

Plays. 

Projecting their voice. 

While most of these are designed on the group level, we have found a way for the girls to share their voice with the world: e-publishing. 

Over 10 of our girls have drafted, designed, and created small stories about their lives. This requires the use of many skill sets that we teach: story arch development, the use of technology, translation into English, artistic design, grammar checking, and seeing through a project on a timeframe. 

The result is beautiful stories that give the world a glimpse into the lives of the girls. 

I would encourage you to read this wonderful example of what the girls are creating, Ugali and Fish by Macreen. Use these windows that the girls have opened to understand the impact of your donation. 

Just having a space to call their own is already a remarkable achievement. We are currently in the second phase of building with the next big steps a borehole for water to help beautify the area and a solar tower to help charge the technology. 

We want to continue to support this truly worthy cause and hope to relay on to you the impact of every single donation that you make. 

Thank you for everything, 

Evan Lorendo, Digital Char, Sunflower Foundation

Links:

• Macreen's wonderful story about what she eats

Dear sponsors,
On behalf of Women Without Borders -Kenya,kindly allow us to register our sincere thanks for the efforts you are making to support marginalised girls attend secondary education.Its through your efforts to eliminate poverty levels in women through girl child education.Many young girls get married before the age of 18 due to poverty levels in households.Public primary schools in Kenya are tuition- free,but good education is cost effective,while tuition costs for high schools are substantial. Fewer than 50% of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa will complete high school because they cannot afford these fees.A quality high school in Kenya can cost up to $1500 per child,and with per capital income of $755 mostKenyan families cannot afford the cost to send a child to school.As a result, 84% of Kenyan girls attend primary school,while only 48% enroll in secondary schools.

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1 whyinvest in adolescent girls? United Nations Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative.
https://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/our meetings/PDF/actionareas/why_invest_in_Adolescent_Girls.PDF
2 https://camfed.org/what-we-do/
3 ibd
4http://in.org/millenniumgoals/gender.XHTML.

WWBK is taking the initiative of taking this marginalised girls through primary ,secondary to college.
Barbara one of our girl narrates the story.
My name is Barbara Situma. I come from Misikhu location of Bungoma County Webuye west sub county. I was born in a family of 6. Am the second born.My family is very poor.I sat for Kenya primary examination council last year 2018.This was the time I met Women Without Borders recruiting girls who are unable to complete their education.They assisted me with school supplies and sanitary towels.They really assisted me to go through my exam successfully.I joined Form one St.Patrick's Secondary school.
I thank God that through your efforts am seeing my way through.WWB is facing the challenge of meeting many girls who need to go school but due to lack of funds they can't reach every body.May God bless you donors as you support us through Women

Ripple effects
" There is clear and convincing evidence, amassed over the passed decades,that investing in girls-Specific resources leads to better educated,safer,healthier,and economically powerful adolescent girls.This can contribute to a substantially better future not just for the individual girl,but for their families, communities, and our world".
Educated girls increase their earning potential by 25%,and will reinvest90%of that into her family.Girls who complete education are also 3×less likely to become infected with HIV,and will have children who are 40% more likely to be health and live past the age of 5 years.1% increase in female secondary schools attendance single handedly grows a country's average annual per capital income by 0.3%
Yet financial constraints remain a major barrier to education for women.

Donate as little as you can afford to enable us reach our target."We have aswahili saying that say" kidogo kidogo unajaza Kibaba" it means little by little will fill the port or the container. We believe that you are doing amazing job that you require God's award from Heaven.
Support the women if you love your mother.
By Florence Ndukuyu.
For women.