Safe futures - self-reliance for 675 Kenyan girls

Hello,

I hope you are well?

It's been an exciting few weeks here. We have welcomed our new cohort of students to Seed of Hope, the first time since January 2020! We also have some new Seed of Hope teachers who are very experienced and excited to be welcoming the new students.  As part of a partnership with Enviral, an ethical brand marketing agency based in Bristol UK, they created a new logo and brand colours for Seed of Hope which has been very welcomed in the communities. You can read more about Seed of Hope below.

Last month we welcomed a new cohort of Seed of Hope students who will be studying; Motor Vehicle Mechanics, Catering and Hospitality, Hair and Beauty, Carpentry and Joinery and Fashion & Fabric Design. We also launched a new short 7 week course to teach business skills, financial literacy and computer skills at all three centres. This has been so popular in Nairobi we have had to create a second class!

We still have students registering to join the courses. After months of disruption from COVID-19 we're delighted so many are returning to education, especially girls.

The students decided they wanted to update their uniforms, from the usual blue shirt, so helped to design some new t-shirts, which match the new brand colour for Seed of Hope and are comfortable for them to learn in.

As part of launching the new courses we decided to refresh the Seed of Hope branding too. Enviral kindly offered to do this for us for free. They created a great new logo and colour scheme which has been used on all the new signage at the centres. The classrooms have also had a long-needed refresh and have been painted in the new bright colours.

We have launched a new Seed of Hope website which is specifically aimed at young people in Kenya to learn more about the courses available to them. If you'd like to read more about the courses we offer you can do so here www.seedofhopekenya.org.

In other news, we have just published our Annual Report and Accounts for 2020 - if you would like to have a look please visit our website here. It was the hardest year we've ever had to face and we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for your unwavering support.

Best wishes

Kirsty
Co-Director 
kirsty@raisingfutureskenya.org.uk
www.raisingfutureskenya.org

In January the students continued with their practical lessons at our Seed of Hope vocational training centres (adhering to COVID-19 guidelines).  All students and staff had refresher training on the safety guidelines when they returned in January. 

Majority of the fashion design students at Seed of Hope Nairobi went for an educational tour in the capital city to learn about the textile industry as well as visiting successful businesses run by individuals in the fashion industry. They got the opportunity to buy different fabrics to use for their end of course project. The girls from the other two centres were also busy finalising their practical projects ready for their end of course assessment. They've also been having lessons on business skills and financial literacy. By the end of January the majority of the students had completed their final projects and were ready to get some practical experience in the workplace on their two month internship placements starting in February. 

The Seed of Hope teachers reached out to lots of local businesses to secure internship placements for the students. We are pleased to inform you that all the graduating students are on internship with one of them getting employed even before graduating!

We had planned for all of the students to return in April for their graduation but sadly Kenya has gone into lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 so all schools are closed again and travel is restricted. We will welcome them back as soon as it is safe to do so to ensure they all get the graduation they deserve after such a challenging year. Hopefully our next enrolment will be able to take place as planned for the new cohort of students joining us in July.

In other news, the ground breaking and construction of a new Graduate Business Hub at Seed of Hope Kitui is underway. The hub will host new short courses such as entrepreneurship, financial literacy and IT skills and a computer essentials courses for both the students and other young people in the community to increase computer literacy and business skills in the community. The Business Hub will also have all of the tools, equipment and computers graduates need to launch their small business. It will provide the perfect stepping stone between learning a skill and setting up a successful business.

On the behalf of Seed of Hope, we would like to sincerely thank you for your generous giving towards this programme despite the hard times we are all facing due to COVID-19. The Seed of Hope programme is making a positive impact in the lives of young girls and their families because we all believed in their potential to thrive and succeed through their different skills and abilities.  Thank you for supporting us.