Support girls' education and end FGM in Kenya

Despite the difficulties of the past year, we remain determined to expand the range of services that we offer. Over the past few years, we identified significant gaps in the availability of books and adequate healthcare, and resolved to expand the range of services that we provide beyond the government-mandated curriculum. This past February, we began construction of a Library on our Kakenya Center for Excellence II (KCE II) campus to foster a lifelong love of learning and the pursuit of knowledge. Reading is key to building children’s vocabulary, expanding their imagination, sparking curiosity, and improving critical thinking. We expect the library to be completed next month.

The ongoing COVID pandemic has underscored the importance of health education. Over the course of the past year, the lack of basic healthcare services in the communities where we work has become more apparent than ever. Not being able to see a trustworthy practitioner or receive general health services hinders youths’ ability to access education, in turn, adversely affecting enrollment, attendance rates, and retention. This year, we are beginning construction on a youth-friendly Health Clinic, also located on our KCE II campus, so that our students and other members of our communities can receive objective information as well as reproductive and general health services and care. We anticipate that the center will be accessible to our community in 2022.

We look forward to providing updates on the positive impacts that our new library and health center have on our communities in the years ahead!