Education for all Children
For many years now, KCEF has enabled capable graduates of our partner primary schools to attend secondary school and university. Without our support, secondary school would be a big reach and university would be a completely impossible dream. With our support, these students gain the tools to find good jobs and begin to make a difference in their families and communities.
A key part of this is our partnership with Education for all Children (EFAC). Together with EFAC, we currently support 76 young women and men through eight years of secondary and university education. So much more than “just a scholarship,” EFAC also provides:
- Annual week-long workshops
- Coaching and mentoring
- Provision of computers for university students
- Job preparation training and resources
- Emphasis on community service or “giving back”
We have been so impressed to meet with the EFAC students and hear their stories. They truly are “the cream of the crop.” And, as they have been helped so much by KCEF/EFAC, they are committed to reaching out and helping younger children. During school breaks, they participate in visits to children’s homes, community clean up projects, visits back to their primary schools and so much more.
Last July, three of us from KCEF were able to visit Upper Hill Boys Secondary School and hear from eight of our sponsored students there. At first, their stories all sounded quite similar—coming from slum backgrounds, difficult family situations, with very little hope for the future. But when KCEF/EFAC came into their lives, the individuals they were created to be began to emerge. They began to form their own particular aspirations and to have their own individual dreams for their futures and for their part in the future of Kenya.
On our last day in Nairobi, we visited Karem Primary School, a partner of ours with 175 students. Much to our surprise, we met three young Karem graduates there; three young men we are sponsoring through EFAC. Each of them had finished secondary school. Each day, on their own initiative, while waiting the long, nerve wracking wait for university placement, they returned to Karem to help teach and encourage younger students. They are ultimate volunteers who, having received so much, feel responsible to give back.
Pictured with school founders and leaders, Irene and Kariuki Waweru, are: —Alex Silas, now studying Graphic Design at Nairobi University —Stephen Koigi, Information Technology at Embu University —Kelvin Mwangi, Information Technology at Muranga University.
On a personal note, I had been the “KCEF correspondent” for Kelvin for many years, exchanging many letters with him but never meeting. What a privilege to meet him in person, hear his story, and encourage him. As he moves on to university, Kelvin hopes to start his own IT business and employ fellow graduates of Karem School.
Craig Hammon and Kelvin Mwangi
Your support for KCEF is an investment in young people like these. Students who are “giving back” now—and who will continue to do so in the future. A wise investment, paying rich dividends.
Thank you on behalf of the students you see above and over 2000 others!
Craig Hammon, KCEF Board Chair
hammoncraig@gmail.com
978 764 8890