Hello Donor,
Thank you so much for being such an amazing supporter of SHOFCO!
We are excited to announce that we are moving our donation platform to our own website in order to streamline our operations. We will be closing down our GlobalGiving platform, and we would love to direct you to our other donation platform on our website through which you can make one-time and recurring donations, if you have not done so already.
Unfortunately, we cannot cancel your GlobalGiving donation on your behalf, and if you do not cancel it, your donation will start going to a general fund used by the site for other projects. Global Giving will be sending you an email shortly with instructions on how to cancel your donation. If they do not, please contact us and we will send instructions!
We want to sincerely thank you for your support of our education initiative, and we look foward to working with you in the future! If you need any assistance moving your donations or if you have any questions, we would be happy to help. Please contact me at kaylie@shininghopeforcommunities.org.
With Warm Appreciation,
Kaylie and the SHOFCO Team
Hello Donor,
It has been an exciting few months at SHOFCO, with our work featured in The New York Times and FORBES! Kennedy's thought-provoking op-ed "Terrorism's Fertile Ground" was published in The New York Times, along with Nicholas Kristof's moving op-eds featuring SHOFCO, "In This Rape Case, the Victim was 4" and "How Brave Girls Helped Crack a Taboo". FORBES named Kennedy on their 30 Under 30: Social Entrepreneurs list, which recognizes inspiring young people making a positive impact on their community and the world.
In KSG news, on December 20 the Kibera School for Girls capped the academic year with its annual closing ceremony. Performances included the Luhya dance by Grades 3 and 4, I am Learned a poem by the Pre-K class, We Love Kindergarten another poem by the kindergarten class. The Grade 1 class presented a play with a storyline focused on the theme of child labor while the Grade 2 class delivered two poems entitled I Have Not Existed By Chance and Dreams of Today’s Girl Child.
Kibera School for Girls officially began the 2014 academic year on January 6, including a new pre-k class. Our pioneering students are now in Grade 5.
We want to sincerely thank you for your continued support of our education initiative in Kibera! Your partership means so much.
With Warm Appreciation,
Kaylie Cordingley
Communications and Development Associate
With a student-centered and experience-based curriculum that fosters love of learning, critical thinking skills, and creativity, it comes as no surpsise: KSG students are the national champions of Kenya’s National Music and Elocution Competition!
In late spring and early summer, the girls worked tirelessly to prepare for the district level, where they performed poems and songs in both English and Kiswahili. Afterwards, we were informed that SHOFCO students won the district level, sending 13 of our 15 groups to the regional round. At regionals, two of our poetry entries from our Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes advanced to the national round in Meru, Kenya. Finally, in August, they represented KSG and SHOFCO with outstanding performances of two poems written by their teachers.
Just recently, we received word that these youngest of our students not only won nationals, but also, broke the national record by scoring 95 marks out of 100. This is the second consecutive year that our students have the distinction of national champions--and we couldn't be more proud!
Enjoy this video of the girls performing one of the winning entries composed by Kindergarten teacher, Julia Alubala: “Mom is My Best Friend”.
Many thanks from the entire SHOFCO team--it is your support that makes it possible for our young, creative leaders to thrive!
Shining Hope is so proud to announce that our 4th grade students ranked first in the entire school district!
13 schools in our district reported standardized test results, many of them elite private academies, often attended by upper middle class Kenyans. Our KSG girls finished with an average score of 89/100; the next best average was 80/100. We (and the girls!) couldn't be more excited.
Such success is reminiscent of the commencement address given by our President and Co-founder, Kennedy, as he graduated Wesleyan in 2012:
"My dream is to attend a Wesleyan commencement 13 years from now, and sit where our families are today, to watch a graduate of the Kibera School for Girls accept her Wesleyan diploma, proving, yet again, that it does not matter where you come from—only where you want to go."
It looks like these girls are well on their way! Kennedy isn't the only one with big dreams:
From the Classroom: My Dreams
Tomorrow
To be the cleanest
To understand everything
To come and become the best
Year
To enjoy Christmas
To graduate to the next class
To be the head girl
Life
To be the best woman
To have a master’s degree
To pass all examinations
I’m dreaming to be a chef and a nun because I want to cook for the President. I also want to teach people about God the father.
--Herenia, Grade 4
At times like these, it's easy to see the benefits of your tireless support. Your dedication to Shining Hope and our amazing girls gave them the opportunity to shine--and so they have!
Check out their smarty-pants smiles on our blog and join us in giving an enormous congratulations to our hard-working students and teachers!
Links:
We are extremely grateful that the Kenyan presidential election on March 4th was a largely peaceful event. Our programs were closed for the week, but we have since re-opened and all of the programs are back to their everday buzz! To keep up with news about elections, and the latest stories, follow the Shining Hope for Communities newspaper, The Ghetto Mirror, through their facebook page.
Thank you for your continued support!
all of us at Shining Hope for Communities
Links:
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