Safe futures - self-reliance for 675 Kenyan girls

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.