Educate & Empower 1200 Girls in the Nairobi Slums

What becomes of the girls who went through the Safe Spaces program? Where are they coming from? What is the impact on their life? 

Here is the story of Elizabeth, now 26 years old, raised in the Nairobi slum of Kayole. Her parents divorced when she was seven years old. Together with her younger sister, she was put in her mother’s custody. Her mum used to work in a food processing company but in 2004 the company closed, so her mum lost her job. Life became hard. Elisabeth’s mother started doing casual jobs. Some days, she didn’t get any work so they didn’t eat at all. They had to borrow food from the neighbors. Sometimes, the landlord would lock them out of the house due to rent arrears and they would be forced to sleep out in the cold.

Though Elisabeth loved school, it was hard to concentrate while hungry. She was often sent home for lack of payment of school fees. During her second year of high school, things got worse and Elisabeth dropped out. Elisabeth went with her mother to do casual jobs. Most of the time, they were cleaning people’s houses and clothes. The pay wasn’t much but it helped to survive. 

Elisabeth used to feel very bad seeing girls her age go to school and wear nice clothes. She felt worthless, her self-esteem was very low. She avoided interacting with people. One day, while she was cleaning with her mum, she collapsed and woke up later at a hospital.The doctors explained to her that she was suffering from depression. One lady doctor told Elisabeth about Safe Spaces and how this organization could help her tackle some of the things she was stressing about.

A week after leaving the hospital, Elisabeth visited Safe Spaces. She met with Peninah, who told her about their programs and how Elisabeth could be involved. She started attending the after-school programs, where she was taught about self-esteem, hygiene, peer pressure, public speaking and reproductive health. Elisabeth met girls from different places and could share her challenges and dreams.

In 2009, Safe Spaces enrolled Elisabeth back in secondary school, in 2^ndyear. Elisabeth felt so happy and hopeful. She loved school and was eager to learn.She passed her Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education in 2011 with a plain C grade. In 2012, she received a Safe Spaces scholarship to follow a six months computer course, which she completed successfully. Later that year, she got a job at a supermarket as a cashier. She worked for two years and after saving some money, she ventured into self-employment. She started a wholesale food store in 2015. Her business picked well and nowadays, it’s one of the biggest wholesale shops in Kayole. Elisabeth is planning to open another branch.

Currently, Elisabeth is single but she hopes to start a family in the future. Safe Spaces really turned her life around. Elisabeth’s message to all the Safe Spaces girls is “never give up!”.