Empower, Engage, Educate in Rural Kenya!

Do you wear glasses?  If so, do you remember the first time words on the board seemed fuzzy or when you couldn't read the book in front of you?  For some of the 17,000 students we serve in Wamunyu, poor vision is a reality.  The closest eye doctor is over an hour away in Machakos town, and for most of our families, the cost of travel to Machakos coupled with the expense of the eye doctors consultation fees is not a possibiity.  As a result, these students suffer academically and often do not advance in school.

As a result of Head Teachers sharing these stories of students not being able to see the board or read, Kenya Connect has begun partnering with award winning Global Vision 2020, a Maryland-based NGO, who has developed the USee innovative method of delivering corrective eyeglasses to impoverished communities.  The USee sytem enables virtually any villager to perform (refractive) vision diagnosis and snap together corrective glasses.  In March Global Vision 2020 Program Director, Catherine Baker, traveled to Wamunyu to train our staff on how to use the USee refractometer.  Our team is now conducting regular eye-screeing with students, teachers, and parents receiving eyeglasses they most desperately need for less than $3.00.  Imagine the lasting impact for a student who can now see in class?

'Since I got my  reading glasses, I has been able to do things on my own like reading newspapers and the Bible. I am glad I can load airtime  and read text measages from my phone. I am filled with joy and appreciation for getting a pair of eyeglasses from global vision 2020'.

Willy T. - A parent beneficiary.

The eyeglass initiative is the latest in breaking down barriers to education.  This, coupled with providing water tanks at our partner schools, installing hand washing stations with our liquid soap program, providing the reusable sanitary pad kits, and holding quarterly deworming and hygiene lessons, is aimed at keeping students healthy and in-school.  

All of these programs are possible because of donors like you!  Gifts made to Kenya Connect ensure that we can continue and expand our robust and well designed initiatives based on community needs.  In an effort to deliver these range of programs, we have grown our staff adding Primma Kioko as our Librarian and Esther Muinde as the Coordinator of Monitoring and Evaluation.  Both Primma and Esther have been trained to perform the vision diagnosis and have helped us move this and other projects forward.

Would you like to help further our work?  Please mark your calendars for July 18, GlobalGiving's next Matching Challenge Day.  Your gift on July 18 will not only provide much needed donations to help us keep program like vision screening going, but may result in matching gifts and bonus points to Kenya Connect.

On behalf of the entire Kenya Connect staff and the community of Wamunyu, we thank you for your past generous support and for helping empower and engage the students in Wamunyu!