Education Brings Renewed Hope for Kids in Kenya!

Education Needs are Growing…and So Are We!

In December, the school year ended with 13 students sponsored through Olalo of Hope-Kenya graduating and moving on to the next phase of their lives.  Several of those students are moving on to University, two of them have been signed to professional soccer clubs in Kenya.

Congratulations to all our graduating students!

We want to Thank You for supporting their dreams of a better life through the gift of an education which you helped to support.

Over the past months, Olalo had been receiving many applications from future teachers, nurses and engineers who needed financial support to pay for their high school fees, books and supplies. Funds allowed us to add students to replace those who had just graduated…thirty students are currently supported through Olalo.

In March, Olalo met with current students and their parents to discuss the upcoming school year and the expectation placed on the students…study hard, have good attendance and to ask for help if they needed help with their studies.

Parents were appreciative to know the expectations and extremely thankful for this opportunity for their children. 

During a recent Vision Clinic in Oyugis, which Olalo partnered with in April, two of the clinic workers were so moved by those current and past students they met, that they each decided to sponsor a student’s education.  While many sponsors never get the opportunity to meet their student in person, these new sponsors met their students as Olalo told them the news that they would be sponsored for their education.  What a sweet moment that was!

In the meantime, we have 25 applications from students still waiting to see if they can continue with school now in 2018. 

One of those students is Brian.

Brian is just beginning high school; he is 13 years old. He has no money and no one to support him.  Brian’s neighbor told us that each evening she hears him outside his home crying and in distress. 

Brian is currently attending school two days a week.  The other three days he is working at a local carpentry shop to earn the money to pay for those two days a week at school.  It’s getting harder each day to continue and he is falling behind in studies and having enough money to keep him in school…even at only two days a week.

This is the resolve so many children have in Kenya today.  They know education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty and do incredible things to get an education. Olalo would LOVE to tell Brian that his school fees are covered and allow this 13-year-old to just be a kid, go to school, study hard and fulfill his dreams.

We are also aware of at least 30 soon coming applications for assistance for beginning high school in January.  So, while we are growing and adding more students….so is the need of many others.

It is with a grateful heart that we thank you to all who have donated to the education project of Olalo of Hope-Kenya, to allow kids to attend school and work to make a future for themselves.  We need you...and the kids need you!

Thank You for your support!

Merry Broughal
Olalo of Hope-Kenya

At Olalo of Hope-Kenya, our education Sponsors and the Students they support are dedicated and hard-working!
Rock Stars!

According to a 2016 report in the Daily Nation out of Kenya, over 58% of students attending Secondary School (high school), drop out of school prior to completing their four years of school and taking the national exams.

In 2017 we had only 1 student leave school and pursue other avenues.  At the end of the year, our graduating students are aspiring doctors, lawyers, a surgeon and police officer.  Lofty goals of now young adults who at one time wondered if they would even get the opportunity to attend school.

But it was all made possible by you, our dedicated sponsors, who saw the need to impact lives and offer hope of a better future for families and communities by sponsoring the education of kids who dared to dream of a better life and leave behind a life drenched in poverty.  

Thank you for your continued support and your continued offer of hope to the kids in Kenya.

New applications for the 2018 school year have been pouring in from aspiring teachers, pilots, doctors, lawyer, an actor, nurses, neuro surgeon and engineers…more kids dreaming of what someday they could become, but first they need to get through Secondary School- high school - that's if someone would help support their education costs.

Studies say more than any other avenue of support, paying for someone’s education has an amazing impact on that student.  It is more valued than any other form of assistance.

Maybe this is the reason we see so little attrition of students in our education program. Kids are grateful to attend school without the worry of being sent home because the money for tuition and fees is gone. They know they have people from around the world that are supporting their education and rooting them on to succeed.

Your partnership with Olalo in providing for their education is impacting and changing their lives; what is better than that?

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Merry