WISER produces the highest education outcomes for the hardest to reach girls in rural Kenya. Nairobi is the tech capital of East Africa, yet few girls are trained in STEM. Over 30% of our students are AIDS orphans and most are the first in their family to go to secondary school, but our girls become nationally competitive for universities and 60% join careers in STEM. This project will support STEM and computer clubs, laboratories, and science fair opportunities to 60 girls.
In our area only 8% of girls complete secondary school and 70% become child brides. 80% of girls experience gender-based violence and the area has the highest maternal mortality rate. HIV infection is 400% higher in girls than male peers. Girls have little autonomy or hope for independence. Yet Kenya is called The Silicon Savannah and has a rapidly growing tech sector. Getting vulnerable girls into STEM careers provides them with economic independence, and safety as well as improved health.
WISER currently provides all girls with access to robotics and engineering clubs, two university-quality science labs where faculty teach using hands-on STEM learning, and a computer lab. We are the only school in a community of 35,000 in a rural area to have these facilities and to actively recruit girls into STEM fields. We also connect our students with female professionals in STEM as role models and mentors. We are building a STEM pipeline starting with 14 years old girls.
Nationally only 30% of girls pursue ICT or STEM courses of study, compared to 60% of WISER's alumni. The STEM and ICT sectors in Kenya are rapidly expanding and careers in these provide greater job availability and a higher salary. This project will increase the number of women in STEM and ICT, provide new female role models to girls in poor, rural areas, and increase the financial earning power of young women. Economic independence for women reduces HIV risk and infant mortality.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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