Vocational training for young people in Kenya

Dear Friends,

We are filled with gratitude as we share this report with you, our community of supporters that believes young people in Kenya deserve the opportunity to build safe, sustainable futures. 

Your regular gift is allowing our in-country partner, Growings Seeds, to expand its reach and deepen its impact.

In the marginalised communities we operate, young people are facing poverty, exploitation and inequality. They are bursting with potential, but face unfair and significant barriers to fulfilling it. The local experts in Kenya have been working so hard to support each and every student to gain the skills and confidence they need to set up their own business or secure a safe, fairly paid job. 

It’s because of your generosity that they can do that.

Our Impact in Numbers 

So far this year, we have been able to support 929 students across our Seed of Hope centres:

• 68% of these students are women and girls
• 19% are young mothers. 

The team in Kenya have so far supplied an incredible:

• 50,341 nutritious daily lunches, so students can concentrate in class
• 767 childcare vouchers, so young mothers can attend every day, safe in the knowledge that their child is being looked after
• 1,940 individual counselling sessions, to help young people come to terms with the trauma of experiencing poverty and/or exploitation

Esther’s Story: The Beautiful Cycle of Mentorship

The ultimate proof of our programme's success lies in the long-term journeys of our graduates. Nine months after finishing their courses, 88% of graduates are in employment or self-employment. 

But what happens years down the line? 

Growing Seeds’ leaders, Mary Mwangi and Florence Olwenge, recently sent us photos of Esther, a graduate who studied Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy at Seed of Hope Kangweni, all the way back in 2015.

What makes Esther’s journey so extraordinary is that she has never truly "left" the Seed of Hope family. Over the past decade, she has regularly returned to the Kangweni centre to mentor and inspire current students, sharing the real-world skills and professional confidence she has built. 

Even though Esther works a full-time job as a professional trainer at another local technical college, she prioritises finding the time to give back to the programme that gave her a start. You can see in the lovely photos (attached) that Esther takes pride in demonstrating her skills with current students.

Seeing a former student become a professional educator and mentor is the ultimate "full-circle" success. In Nairobi, our current Hair and Beauty teacher, Rhoda, is also a former Seed of Hope student. After building her own career, she returned to guide the next generation of students through the same classroom where she once sat.

Dive deeper into your impact

Thank you for standing alongside these remarkable young people and for helping them plant their seeds of hope, healing, and long-term self-reliance.

We recently published our Annual Report for 2025. You’ll find an amazing overview of what we were able to achieve together last year, as well as what we are aiming to achieve in the coming years, including strategic plans for shifting power to our local partner in Kenya. You can find our report, here: https://www.raisingfutureskenya.org.uk/ourimpact/#annual-reports

With love and gratitude,

Keely and all at Raising Futures Kenya