Gender Equality Kenya Project #3807

Safe futures - self-reliance for 675 Kenyan girls

by Raising Futures Kenya

Project Report | Oct 2, 2013
Be The Spark for Seed of Hope

By Kirsty | Project Leader

Stitching a Hat

Seed of Hope students are back in class after a month long holiday. For some of them, the holiday time was used to sit their Government Trade exams which will help them if they choose to seek employment after graduating.

For our second year students, graduation is getting close with the first ceremony on the 24^th October at our centre in Kisii, quickly followed by the Nairobi graduation the following day and ceremonies in Kitui and Kariti within the next couple of weeks. The students are busy putting the finishing touches to their final project. They have designed a collection of clothes and produced one item which they will wear to the graduation ceremony. At our Nairobi centre this week, students have also been putting their craft skills to use making jewellery to accessorise their outfit.

Last week, we had a visitor at Seed of Hope Nairobi who spent a couple of hours with a group of second year students. In this short time, she showed the girls how to cut and stitch sunhats for babies. It was amazing to see them quickly pick up this new skill and to see the pride in their work. It was also great to see them interact with the visitor as they would not have had the confidence to do that when they first joined Seed of Hope.

In fact, I was reminded of the recent report for one student, Nereah, which said “She was very shy and would even miss school because of avoiding questions from the teachers or any activity that needed participation of all students. Nowadays, she's one of the celebrities in the school, she is really outgoing." Looking at the picture of the girls modelling their hats last week, I don’t think any of them look shy! The self-confidence that they have gained in their time at Seed of Hope will go a long way to help them in the future.

Your donations have helped them on that journey. Thanks to all our friends at GlobalGiving who have supported Nereah and all the other students at Seed of Hope.

This year, we have been running a campaign called Be The Spark. This asks everyone to find a way to support our work....using their time money or skills. We are looking for staff to improve their projects, local communities to assist and all of our friends to do one thing to help.

Wednesday the 9th October is GlobalGiving's Bonus Day for Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Donations made that day will be matched with 30% until the matching fund of $25,000 is exhausted.

Can you Be The Spark? Tell a friend about the GlobalGiving Bonus Day and ask them to donate on 9th October to make a BIG difference to the lives of our little ones.

Confident Models

Links:

Info about Be The Spark

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Jul 22, 2013
Report Card for Term 2

By Kirsty | Project Leader

Kangwetex

Term 2 has been another good one for Seed of Hope.

Our second year students are very busy at the moment. Some of them have registered to sit their Grade 2 Directorate of Industrial Training exams and will be tested in August. All of the second years are now preparing for their final projects at Seed of Hope. This involves designing and creating outfits for the graduation ceremony. Students in Nairobi have been fortunate this year to have a volunteer from the UK working with them as they go through this process. Esther has helped them use iPads donated by fashion brand ASOS to research different designs. She has also helped them with their sketching and as a model herself, she has given them training in how to walk on the runway and model their outfits.

At our centre in Kitui, the students have been working on a project called Kangwatex. This is a small business to help raise funds for the centre and involves the production of crocheted items including ponchos, blankets and table mats. The students help to produce the items which are then sold in the local community. This gives them practical experience in craft work as well as an example of how to run a business, in preparation for them starting up their own businesses after graduation.

In Nairobi we are looking forward to the relaunch of the Crafted fashion label. Thanks to our partnership with ASOS, a new Business Development Manager has been recruited and will start work next month. By growing the Crafted business, we will have an outlet for products created by our graduates.

Seed of Hope Centres will close for a holiday in the month of August then it's back to work and preparing for the exciting graduation ceremonies which will take place in October and November.

Thanks to everyone who has supported Seed of Hope through GlobalGiving. We really appreciate all that you have done to give our girls a brighter future.

Sketching Designs

Craft Class in Nairobi

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Apr 24, 2013
Looking Back and Forward

By Kirsty | Project Leader

Home Care Management Students

With over 1,000 graduates from the Seed of Hope programme, we decided it was time to do another impact assessment to see how the girls are doing and whether or not their lives have been changed.

Over 200 girls were interviewed from all four of our centres in Kisii, Kitui, Muranga and Nairobi including recent graduates and those who have graduated over the last ten years. The results were very encouraging. We are still waiting for the full report but some highlights include:

- 68% were idle at home before joining Seed of Hope

- 79.3% are now employed or self-employed (69% of these are in line with the coursework at Seed of Hope)

- 93% struggled with access to education

- 78.9% say greatest achievement is starting a business, getting a job or going back to school

- 96.5% say they have been empowered

- 69% are supporting their family (on average those supporting family support 3 family members)

These figures are very encouraging and we will now take time to see how we can use this research to improve the Seed of Hope programme.

One of the things that a number of the earlier graduates recommended was diversifying the vocational training courses on offer. We have already done this at some centres with the introduction of Hair and Beauty Therapy courses and Basic Computer Training. At our Nairobi centre, we have recently added Home Care Management to the syllabus. This is a shorter course at just six months but will give students the knowledge and skills required to obtain employment as home helps or in the catering and hospitality industry. Part of the course will be to empower students to know their rights as employees as well as what will be expected of them in the world of work.

The first group of students are enjoying the course and working very hard. Their studies include lessons on child care, practical cookery, first aid, nutrition and how to clean and manage a home. They have taken on the Seed of Hope building as their home and the staff and students are enjoying an improved environment as well as some delicious food.

We look forward to introducing new courses at some of our other centres to widen the choices available to youths who are unable to access secondary education.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Seed of Hope through Global Giving. Your donations are very much appreciated by all involved in the programme.

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