PO Box 2883
Winter Haven, FL 33883-2883
Email: kenyarafiki@yahoo.com
 
Education is the key to improving the standard of living for all members of society. Education leads to an improvement in health and nutrition and provides tools for better decision-making at all levels of society. If enough of Kenya's children are allowed to stay in school, change is inevitable.

Our programs to aid education in Kenya provide cross-cultural experiences for the sponsor, the child and their family members and thereby increase tolerance of different cultures. Our students and families benefit in the following ways:

  • As literacy rates increase, family size and infant mortality rates decrease.

  • Each year of formal education translates into a reduction in teenage pregnancies and therefore a reduction in maternal deaths due to birth or abortion.

  • Each additional year a student is in school equates to higher and increased family income.

  • Education results in healthier, better nourished children and families and is a deterant to child labor and commercial sexual exploitation.

One child's story

Julieta works in the scorching heat to dig up the last of 112 holes which will be used to plant trees for forest conservation. For every hole she digs, she is paid 18 Kenyan shillings, or the equivalent of 23 cents. She has been digging holes at the South Horr Mission every holiday since she joined secondary school to raise her school fees for the next term. Julieta lives in the Samburu District which is in the throes of a serious famine and, even though she has not eaten at all for the past two days, she works with a smile on her face. Not every girl has been lucky enough to get this chance.

There are many stories like Julieta's throughout Kenya. Although primary education is now free for all students in Kenya, the secondary schools still charge fees and require uniforms for attendance. Thousands of children come from pastoral communities where family income is limited which means they must not only convince their parents to let them attend school, but they must also work at raising their own fees. In many cases, it's an impossible dream. Hope for Kenya's Kids wants to help.