Only 11% of Kenya's most disadvantaged kids will achieve a High School education. For Kenya's young girls the problem is especially acute. Without an education, they are vulnerable to child marriage, early motherhood and a continued cycle of poverty. The majority of our scholars come from three major backgrounds: urban slums, pastoral villages, and refugee camps. Without an EFAC scholarship, their dreams of finding a path out of poverty may never be realized.
Perhaps the most significant contributor to global poverty and gender inequity is lack of education. EFAC provides scholarships to high school (through university) for talented youth who need a path forward after primary school. We select students based on academic merit, financial need, and leadership potential; our gender ratio is intentionally set at 2/3 girls to 1/3 boys. To date, 98% of our secondary graduates have qualified for tertiary programs vs. only 32% of Kenyan students nationwide.
EFAC scholars live in extreme poverty. We work with primary school teachers and partnering NGOs to identify strong candidates for our program, 8th graders who demonstrate academic talent, leadership potential, and financial need. Our program offers 8 years of scholarships, mentoring and career development to Kenyan students with the brightest minds and the fewest resources. EFAC reaches beyond scholarships to provide necessary comprehensive support for our students, nurturing the whole person.
In Kenya, girls are more likely than boys to drop out of school after primary school. When you keep a girl in school, she will be more likely to marry later, have fewer and healthier children, earn a living, educate her children, and live longer. When given opportunity, EFAC girls break through barriers. They are school prefects and math champions. They are engineers and lawyers. They are mentors and change makers. They are the future of Kenya!
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
