Support girls' education and end FGM in Kenya

On May 8, following a two-week holiday, our students returned to campus for the second term of the 2023 academic year. At the beginning of this school year in January — which is the first to lift all COVID-19 restrictions and return to the full-length, pre-pandemic calendar — we enrolled 96 new students across KCE I and II, bringing our total enrollment to 352. 

As part of our holistic curriculum, we provide opportunities for students to learn about the environment and climate change. This is an especially relevant topic given that Kenya just finished a historic three-year drought and is now experiencing extreme rains and flooding. In April, our seventh and ninth graders at KCE II set up a mini weather station, complete with a windsock, wind vane, and rain gauge to observe current weather patterns in our area. KCE II students are also learning about sustainable food production through agriculture and gardening activities, growing crops like kale, spinach, and beans to help feed the whole school.

We are also strengthening our students’ career readiness and leadership development. Over the April holiday break, we hosted 46 gap year students in our Network for Excellence (who graduated high school in December but are awaiting college commencement in the fall) and trained them on basic computer literacy skills. We also partnered with another nonprofit, Girls Who Venture, to provide entrepreneurship workshops, in which students practiced researching, planning, and executing small business strategies. Kenya has a high young adult unemployment rate (around 16%), so preparing students to start their own businesses or enter the workforce with marketable skills is paramount to their post-graduation success.

Finally, with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions this year, our students resumed extracurricular activities like sports and field trips. We are proud to share that our athletics teams at KCE I and II are doing exceptionally well: over the spring, several KCE I students moved up to the divisional level in track and field events, while our KCE II volleyball and handball teams went to the sub county level! With travel now permitted, field trips are also reentering the curriculum. The trips are often the first time that students leave the village, so we are excited to make up for lost time. In April, our fifth grade class went to Kisumu City, where they visited the Impala Wildlife Park and Kisumu Museum.

We are so thankful for supporters like you who make these experiences possible. You are providing hundreds of girls with a safe environment to learn, grow, and thrive, creating a pool of changemakers that will ensure every girl has the opportunity to do the same. We look forward to sharing more updates with you in our next report.

Earlier in January, the Kenyan government released scores for their mandated national exams. These exams—the Kenya Certificate for Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education (KCSE)—are critical for the high school and university placement of our eighth and 12th graders, respectively. We are extremely proud of both our KCE I and KCE II students for their outstanding scores this year! On the KCPE, our eighth graders scored comparably to the class of 2021, who achieved the highest exam scores in Kakenya’s Dream history! On the KCSE, 25 of our 12th graders scored high enough to earn automatic admission to university.

Over the December holidays, our community partner, an organization called I’m Worth Defending, put on a week-long self-defense workshop at our KCE I campus. The workshop had a total of 160 participants, which included our students as well as students from other schools in the community. Extracurricular programs like these are especially important over the holidays; research shows that girls in Kenya are at the highest risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) during this time, since the long break from school lets them heal from the illegal procedure without drawing attention. This highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to education that goes beyond mere class attendance. We strive for holistic learning and growth for our girls, which they achieve through life-skills training, health education, and community service.

Finally, let us recognize the outstanding achievement of two of our students: on November 30, two KCE II students attended the National Science & Technology Exhibition of Young Scientists Kenya in Nairobi, where they took home second place in the biology and ecology category. We have a variety of STEM offerings at our schools to help students discover their career interests, which is why our KCE II campus comes equipped with a dedicated science lab—a facility that is rare for rural schools. Congratulations to Ann-Clare and Leah! 

This was the result of their hard work and talent, but they would never have had the opportunity to prove themselves without supporters like you. Thank you for your continued partnership; we look forward to sharing more updates with you in a few months!