Raising Futures Kenya

As promised, I’m back with some photos from my time in Kenya with Raising Futures.

But first, I have a big favour to ask!

Having witnessed first hand the amazing work Raising Futures is doing in Kenya, I decided to fundraise for them by climbing Mt. Kenya in the summer - in its 5199 metres glory. Please help me reach my target of £2750, your support means a lot!

I believe every donation will ensure that children and young people are empowered through access to quality education and facilities.

Donations can be made here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/dora-damian

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The projects that I visited and photographed whist in Kenya are:

- Two specialist schools, Percy Davis and Kirunguru, where Raising Futures supplements the feeding programme, educational resources and a therapy room.

- Three Seed of Hope centres (Nairobi, Kitui and Kariti), where disadvantaged young people are offered free training in vocational skills, life skills and enterprise or job skills. This is to support students who cannot afford the cost of secondary school education.

The vocational training courses include motor mechanics, IT, fashion and dressmaking, hair and beauty, hospitality, carpentry and joinery.

I was so blown away by the young students' resilience, enthusiasm and commitment to learning despite the many barriers they are faced with, such as limited access to clean water and sanitation, lack of learning materials and resources, having to walk really long distances (3+ hours) to get to school. Worse yet, girls are at risk of rape and sexual assault on their way to and from school. Regardless, they turn up to school. Every day.

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Since 2002, Seed of Hope vocational training centres have witnessed more than 1,500 young people graduate with the skills, confidence and experience they need to build secure livelihoods.

Young people have been exposed to high-risk situations including child marriage, child prostitution, familial abuse and extreme poverty. 72% of Seed of Hope’s student population are girls, the majority of whom have not had the opportunity to attend secondary school. 

Students receive training and after the completion of training Seed of Hope facilitates the launch of small businesses for graduates.

In September 2016, a survey of 209 SoH graduates found:

  • 69% had been idle at home before joining Seed of Hope and 20% engaged in casual labour

  • 86% are currently employed or self-employed, 5% in further education or training

  • 59% have no struggle to provide for themselves and their dependants

  • 89% contribute to their family’s needs every month

  • 50% are currently mentoring others in their community (of which 34% are mentoring 10 or more individuals)

  • 21% are currently training others

  • 5% are employing 1 or 2 people in their business

Seed of Hope Nairobi recently acquired a plot of land where they will build a brand new vocational training centre and offices. Presently, students, staff and teachers carry out their work from shipping containers. 

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Any donation you make will help towards building a suitable learning hub, as well as tackling barriers these young students are facing.