Kenya Education Fund

Partner Spotlight: Kenya Education Fund Shares a Special Letter

I’m back with my next quarterly research report, on one of our Africa partners, the Kenya Education Fund. You last read about what a great job the Kenya Education Fund (KEF) is doing in connecting their graduates through Facebook (as posted by Tammy Tibbetts here). The KEF has 471 students on four-year scholarships at more than 200 high schools across Kenya. 228 of these students are girls. She’s the First currently supports girls’ sponsorships at KEF with some of the proceeds that Asha Patel Designs donates from sales of our identity bracelet.

a photo from the fall weekend workshop, by Dominic Muasya

In September and October, the KEF held three weekend-long mentoring workshops for about 120 students from the Narok, Meru, and Isiolo regions of Kenya.  These workshops are designed to bring together KEF students from different schools so they learn study tips, build friendships, and attend lectures from notable Kenyan professionals.

Among the highlights at KEF this year is the amazing story of Fatuma Omar Ismael, a Somali Refugee who recently gained entry to one of Kenya’s best high schools. Fatuma, who attended primary school in the refugee camp, was the highest female performer on the school exit exam in Kenya’s entire Northeastern Province, and she is now a grade 10 student at the prestigious Kenya High School in Nairobi.  Without KEF sponsorship, she would have had no choice but continue her schooling in the refugee camps, with limited resources and tremendous domestic responsibility.

Click on to read a letter Fatuma wrote to her sponsors in the US (she has consented to its publication): Continue reading →

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How Facebook Unites Sponsored Students in Kenya

the Kenya Education Fund uses Facebook to stay in touch with alumni and students spread across 200 schools in Kenya

Yesterday in New York City, we met up with Bradley Broder, Executive Director of  the Kenya Education Fund (KEF), a partner of She’s the First (see all our partners here). Brad will visit Kenya again in December. On this trip, he will be working on a film, showing the impact of education on his students, and he will also meet with the Kenyan staff who serve as KEF’s liaisons. Since the sponsored students are spread out across 200 high schools in 18 regions of Kenya, the liaisons do periodic site visits to local schools, making sure the students’ needs are met.

Another way KEF stays in touch with students sprawled across Kenya, Brad told us, is through Facebook! Rachel Silver, who works with Brad on Donor Relations for KEF, filled us in on how this works.

When did you create the KEF group on Facebook?
We created the KEF Student and Alum page in the Summer of 2010. The Kenya Education Fund has had a general presence on Facebook for several years now, but we decided that we wanted to designate a unique forum where our students and alumni from across Kenya could communicate with each other and with us.

How many members are there?
Currently we have 22 members. However, 150 KEF students will graduate at the end of this calendar year. We will formally invite all of them to join in the materials they receive from us upon completion of our scholarship. We are also in the process of reaching out to past alumni and current students who have internet access. I anticipate that our group will grow rapidly. We receive requests to join fairly frequently.

What kind of discussions do you see going on?
Because our page is relatively new, most discussions are simple conversations welcoming new members to the group, as well as commentary around the usefulness of this forum. Once we have a more established base, we at the KEF offices will frequently share news and updates with our students and alumni through this group, as well as opportunities that we hear about. Mostly, we also hope that it becomes a venue in which students can keep in touch with, or, if they are from different regions, get to know one another. Finally, we are working to keep in better touch with graduates as their educational and professional careers grow and change. We believe that this group will help us better facilitate this.

What comments have you heard from students about Facebook or social media, if any? Is it a big part of their life when they have Internet access to use it?
 Kenyan students who have Internet access seem to be enthusiastically embracing social media, including Facebook and yahoo messenger. There is a significant community of Kenyan youth on Facebook, especially centered around urban areas, and it is ever expanding as access to internet expands. In addition to its regular features, Facebook has become a particularly unique venue to share opinions on and ideas about new stories and current events in the US and Kenya.

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Follow KEF on Facebook! Click here to ‘Like’ them.

Also, remember that KEF receives a part of the proceeds from our She’s the First bracelets made by Asha Patel Designs!

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Vote Jessica Posner to Win the DoSomething Award!

Jess Posner, nominee for the DoSomething $100,000 Award -- let's help her win for girls in Kenya! Vote every day at http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/do_something_awards/2010/the-do-something-award!

Jess Posner, nominee for the DoSomething $100,000 Award -- let's help her win for girls in Kenya! Vote every day at http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/do_something_awards/2010/the-do-something-award!

On July 19th, five young humanitarians will have the chance to win Do Something’s $100,000 grand prize — and one of them is a She’s the First network member!  The five finalists, all 25 and under, will be honored with celebrities who are dedicated to leaving the world better than they found it.  The finalists’ projects range from establishing high school theatre programs for individuals with disabilities to launching million-dollar sustainable investment campaigns for their community.  One finalist, orphaned by the horrific Rwandan genocide, founded a human rights education program and is now building a community center in Rwanda.  Additionally, among the finalists is a “male first!”  Wilfredo Perez Jr., is the first high school graduate in his family.  Before attending medical school, Perez started a Public Health and Education Program to provide medical training to Haitians.

She’s the First is thrilled to announce that the founder of one of our network’s schools is a Do Something Award finalist!  Jessica Posner, 23, founded the Kibera School for Girls and the Shining Hope Community Center. Let’s help her win so she can continue educating girls in Kenya!

While studying abroad in Nairobi, Kenya in 2007, Jessica told her mentor, Kenny Odede, that she wanted to live in the Kibera slum.  He told her that she’d never survive without running water or a toilet.  She knew she’d prove him wrong and became the first outsider to live in Kibera.  Since returning to Kibera in 2008, Jessica’s school and community center have served over 5,700 residents.  The Shining Hope Community Center includes the first and only free health clinic in Kibera, The Women’s Microfinance Empowerment Workshop, a library, and youth center.

Jessica was moved to build a school after seeing a five-year-old girl rummaging through trash in Kibera.  When Jessica asked why she wasn’t in school, the little girl responded, “school is a dream and dreams don’t come true.”  By voting for Jessica at http://www.dosomething.org/programs/awards, you can help ensure that the education no longer remains a hopeless dream for young girls.  Empower them to be the first and vote today — and every day till July 19th!

Don’t forget! Last year’s Do Something Award grand prize winner, Maggie Doyne, is also a member of the She’s the First network.  Using her $100,000 prize, Maggie’s organization, the Kopila Valley Children’s Home, constructed a free open primary school and community center in Nepal that just opened this month!

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