Safe futures - self-reliance for 675 Kenyan girls

Seed of Hope like many of our graduates like to say ‘is the place to be’. This is because many of our girls came in hopeless and unsure of what the future holds for them but by the time they graduate, their lives have been transformed and they are better prepared to face the world with confidence through the skills acquired in their course of training. Every year, the month of November is a hive of activity as with preparation for graduations and first year students preparing to sit their end of year external exams. The graduates at Seed of Hope Kitui had a fitting day for their graduation outfits and it was interesting to see the confidence in these girls as they posed for the camera with beautiful gowns. I believe their self-confidence will go a long way to ensure that they are able to market their products once they start up their business. We wish them all the best as they prepare to graduate this week.

After graduation, all graduates are expected to go for 3 months attachment to put their skills in to practise as well as learn from other professionals before they seek employment or establish their own businesses. This has been the norm in all Seed of Hope Centres but not for Ruth, a graduating student at Seed of Hope Nyamache.

Ruth joined Seed of Hope in 2015 after her dreams of joining high school were shattered as her parents could not raise enough money to enable her get admission to a local school that she had wished to join. It was at this point of hopelessness that her mother was informed about Seed of Hope by a neighbour whose daughter had graduated the year before. Ruth’s mother was encouraged to send her daughter to Seed of Hope centre to acquire relevant skills so that she too could become self- reliant in future. The first year came with its challenges for Ruth since she comes from a village which is 8 km away from the Seed of Hope Centre. It was difficult for her to walk this journey every day and she opted to skip some classes twice a week. Her class teacher was concerned and she decided to make a follow up. She visited the family to find out about Ruth’s absenteeism. After hearing about her situation, the teacher decided to offer her accommodation so that she could attend her classes regularly. This made life much easier for Ruth who now concentrated with her studies and became the top student in her class. In her second year, she worked even harder in her class work and impressed her guardian who connected her to a business lady from the locality who became her mentor and later her employer.

In the month of August when Seed of Hope students went for a recess, Dorcas the business lady decided to employ Ruth in her dressmaking shop since she was impressed by the kind of work that she was doing despite the fact she had not graduated.  She now trusts Ruth so much that she leaves her in charge of the business as she goes to town to buy stock or deliver products to her clients. During my recent visit to Seed of Home Nyamache, I visited Ruth in her place of work and found her together with her boss busy making wedding gowns. I asked Dorcas why she decided to employ Ruth before she graduates from her course and this is what she said “I was impressed by her work since I took her in and she has proved to be hardworking, committed and trustworthy person. My clients are happy with her work and that is why I had no problem employing her”. I was inspired by Ruth’s determination to live a better life since she is now earning a living and able to support her family back in to the village. She promised to save part of her salary in the next one year so that she can eventually start her own business and give other girls an opportunity to learn from her.

With the graduation at Nyamache now complete, we are looking forward to more celebrations at the other three centres and hearing more inspirational stories like Ruth’s.

 Thank you for supporting the Seed of Hope Centres! By contributing to this Programme, girls like Ruth are able to acquire skills so that they can be independent and able to raise the living standards of their families. I hope you find this partnership valuable and worthwhile. I would request you to please consider telling your friends and family about our project - share the link on your blogs or social networks, use the tell-a-friend feature on the project page to email your network, or just bring us up in conversation. You know your friends and family best so use your own words - tell them why you chose our project and what it means to you.

Please note that on Giving Tuesday (29^th November) The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match up to $1 million in donations on GlobalGiving with 50%. Matching begins at 00:00:01 EST and ends at 23:59:59 EST on November 29th, 2016 or when matching funds run out.