Mentoring 16 orphan and needy girls in Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya

November 2014

Dear Friends,

We look back to count our achievements for the year almost coming to the end with humility as we highlight key areas that we have made impact.

1. The girls who are direct beneficiaries of our program  from 2012 to 2013 started mentorship projects in their respective villages.  In January 2014, 13 girls aged 13-14 years joined various high schools.  We have reports that these girls are performing extemporary well in their schools and two of them were actually elected as their class prefects. This leadership is a manifestation of the benefits of the mentorship program.
2. In January this year, we launched a mini-project at the SAWA office where girls come to the office to do practice on areas of their potential careers on Sunday afternoons. For example those interested in journalism, like the 10 year old Catherine W, will write articles, peruse National Newspapers to indentify current themes and practice taking photos using our cameras.  Others would model bank cashiers/tellers and spend time counting dummy notes and balancing accounts.  The demand for participation increased during the course of the year and we opened Saturday afternoons as well to meet the demand.  We are happy to report that 18 girls aged 9 – 22 have benefited from this weekend program.  The program also meant that participants have a better way to spend their free time which could otherwise been spent idling or engaging in behaviors that could even lead to early pregnancies.
3. SAWA partnered with women of the Methodist Church to explore the topic of mentorship. As a result the older women agreed to mentoring the younger girls not only in the church but also in their communities. Other ladies volunteer to help SAWA in mentoring their girls.  This has seen the mentorship program to expand.  A total of 45 women from the church joined the program.
4. During this year too, we became partners with a Children’s Home run by Kenya Connection  Ministries  located in rural Chuka, Tharaka Nithi county.  The home houses 28 children aged between five and twenty, and in extension supports a total of 160 orphan and very needy children and young adults in primary and high schools  within the community.  We have been able to visit the home to mentor the children and talk to them about social life and education issues.
5. One of our first lot mentee, Margaret N got married during the course of the year. Margaret revealed to us that were it not for the mentorship attained at SAWA, she would probably have gotten herself pregnant before deciding on the marriage. But she was able to start her business first, save some money for her own use, then was better able to make a decision on when to get married.  SAWAs mentorship program is bridging a gap that seems to be widening among girls in Kenya today – a situation where girls are getting children when they are actually not prepared which is shattering the dreams for many.

We are preparing for a conference in December where all the direct beneficiaries come together to celebrate their successes, encourage each other in case of things that never worked as planned and chart a way forward for better participation in the project in the coming years.  We are thankful to our supporters who have seen us through this far and continue asking for continued partnership to accomplish bigger plans.

Catherine Kaimenyi

Project Leader