Everything Under The Sun: Monetary Support For Kenyan Students To Attend High School

Three student beneficiaries - Wamuyu, Nyambura, and Wanjiku.

I think many people realize how important education is; it is what provides the capability to perform basic functions and skills in the world around us. It is that which provide the extra basis upon which to bring creative ideas to fruition. It is that which builds into this information era to understand, think critically, and make decisions in an increasingly complex world.

A gauge of the importance of education is in how valued it is in countries which are just beginning the modernization process. But in many of those nations, education is not free, so ways must be found to help youth from deprived backgrounds to be able to get the required learning.

In central Kenya, the Ahadi Zetu Foundation raises the funds to pay for high school tuition for students who have been orphaned or come from extremely poor families. In addition, the Foundation pays for lunch on school days, uniforms, books, and exams. Teachers in the local school districts work with the Foundation to identify children in need.

Tracy Geist and Wanja Ogongi, both with PhD's in social work, developed this program out of their passion to help youth. They added, "Without the ability to achieve education, these students would be lost to a harsh world of violence and prostitution. One student who was homeless now lives in the gym of the school and cuts the grass. For many of the students the meals at school are the only meals they receive and the school uniform is their only set of clothes. The whole village of Kiangai is being transformed by our mission as evident by the reports we receive from the Head Mistress of the school and our local Kenyan representatives. With better education, opportunities open up."

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in her book, We Should All Be Feminists, said, "We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise, you would threaten the man. Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don't teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are."

Kiangai secondary school, where many sponsored students attend.

What Ms. Adichie discusses is relevant to the reality of many African nations. For, in many African nations, girls are less likely to receive the basic or higher education that boys receive. In many cases, if a family can only afford tuition for one, the male child is generally the recipient, with the female child being uneducated to the point of being illiterate. Ahadi Zetu Foundation changes that equation and provides funds to educate boys and girls in need, allowing girls to be much less reliant on the income capabilities of men.