Tag Archives: Shining Hope for Communities

Want to Spend the Summer in Kibera?

Photo Credit: Kibera School for Girls

Applications are now open to live, work and learn at the Kibera School for Girls. Photo Credit: Kibera School for Girls

Can you imagine a more rewarding summer than spending it with the wonderful young ladies at the Kibera School for Girls? Once again, our partner school in Kenya is inviting college students to apply for the opportunity to teach and learn from the KSG community.

Since the Summer Institute’s beginning, the program has served as an incredible opportunity to connect civic-minded and engaged college students with girls who attend the Kibera Schools for Girls. Not only do participants assist with tutoring and mentoring, but they’ll be called upon to bring their passions to the classroom by exploring workshop topics of their own choice with the young girls. Weekends are spent exploring Nairobi and surrounding areas with other Kenyan and American college students.

The work is challenging, deeply meaningful and impactful and we at She’s the First are sure it will be as much of an opportunity to teach as it is to learn. If you are an undergraduate or recent graduate who is open to expanding your comfort zone and committed to women’s empowerment and education, please consider applying!

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but ultimately due by March 1, 2013. Applying early is highly encouraged. For more information on the application process, please visit here.

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Kibera School Takes First Place in National Poetry Competition

Teacher (and poet!) Julia Alubala and her award-winning students!

I’ve never been prouder of the young students at the Kibera School for Girls at Shining Hope for Communities in Kenya – and that’s quite a statement! Earlier this month, the pre-K class was honored with the first place title for their performance in Kenya’s National Poetry competition for their stirring recital of “Wings to Fly.” Their performance will be broadcast on national television and the girls will perform at the State House in front of President Kibaki. The poem, written by their teacher Julia Alubala, is one of inspiration and hope – it tells of the girls’ desire to soar above poverty and hunger into a better life filled with learning and love.

In light of the girls’ phenomenal performance, KSG’s Headmistress Anne Olwande said, “State house, here we come, next time White House! Nothing can be our limit, not even the sky. The power of positive thinking!” Twenty-four young girls took part in the national level of the competition, with 12 from pre-K and kindergarten in the winning group. Twelve others from grades 1-3 were awarded 8th place in the national competition.

Watch the video below and it’s quite clear that the girls’ performance is deserving of national (and now international!) accolades. I guarantee their rendition will leave you with goose bumps. Send your congratulations to the girls and Teacher Julia by leaving a comment on their Facebook page!

“We want to fly
give us the wings
Give us love, hope, education
and proper direction
and we will fly high like a butterfly”

To see a video of the girls’ powerful performance “Wings to Fly”, click here.

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A Celebration of Firsts from the Kibera School for Girls

Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner, now newlyweds, walk with students in Kibera, Kenya

Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner walk with students in Kibera, Kenya

I feel like my fingers can hardly keep up with the exciting news I have to share with you, She’s the First readers!  Jessica Posner and Kennedy Odede, co-founders of our partner school, the Kibera School for Girls, and nonprofit Shining Hope for Communities, recently tied the knot! Can you think of another couple that radiates such goodness in this world? On behalf of everyone at She’s the First, we send our deepest congratulations to a world-shaking, life-changing couple.

The newlyweds met when Jessica Posner, a student at Wesleyan University, packed up and moved to the Kibera Slum in Kenya. At the time, Jessica was one of the first outsiders to live in Kibera, a region of Kenya suffering from extreme poverty and Africa’s largest slum. Before her arrival, Kennedy had earned the reputation of “mayor” in Kibera because of his work in establishing a community-run organization that offered AIDS education, female empowerment, health and sanitation, soccer, microfinance and theatre programs. As fate would have it, the two crossed paths and co-founded Shining Hope for Communities as Kennedy pursued his dreams of earning a degree at Wesleyan University himself. (This leads me to an entirely new first for Kennedy, but I’ll keep you in suspense until the end of this post!)

Under their guidance and leadership, Shining Hope for Communities has grown to offer the Kibera School for Girls, The Johanna Justin-Jinich Community Clinic, Shining Hope Community Center, and multiple other community services and women’s empowerment programs.  To learn more about the incredible work of Shining Hope, visit here.

As for the other incredible “first” from Shining Hope for Communities, Kennedy became the first person from Kibera to move his graduation tassel from one side to the other.  In honor of overcoming significant challenges, filling others with Hope, and being a mentor and leader to all in his home community, Kennedy delivered the Senior Class Welcome during Wesleyan University’s 180th Commencement Ceremony on May 27. A graduate of the Class of 2012, Kennedy shared his message of hope as he addressed his fellow graduates.  In his speech, he declared his wish to return to Wesleyan 13 years from now to watch his young students at the Kibera School for Girls walk across the stage and receive their own Wesleyan diplomas. In closing, he asked his peers to join him in saying,

“Today I promise to use my Wesleyan education to champion hope throughout the world.”

How will you join Kennedy in this vision? How do you use education to champion hope? Share your thoughts and congratulations with the newlyweds on Twitter or in the comment section below!

For a full transcript of Kennedy’s Senior Class Welcome, click here.

Kennedy Odede delivers Senior Class Welcome to the Class of 2012 at Wesleyan University

Kennedy Odede delivers Senior Class Welcome to the Class of 2012 at Wesleyan University

 

 

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All Fun and Games in Ethiopia and Kenya

The endless talents of the students at the Kibera School for Girls!

The endless talents of the students at the Kibera School for Girls!

As summer approaches and finals are behind us, it’s time to close the books for a bit and think about fun! I wrote to the Kibera School for Girls in Kenya and the Selamta Family Project in Ethiopia to learn more about playtime halfway across the world. In elementary school, my recess usually consisted of hopscotch, foursquare (the kind with a ball and chalk boxes – not a cell phone check-in!), and funnel ball. However, after learning about the schools’ playtime activities like Circus Camp, yoga classes, Ethiopian and hip hop dancing, I’m blown away by incredible ways these girls fill their day.

At the Kibera School, the girls play outside for 30-40 minutes every day after lunch. Typically, the younger girls dance their way through recess, while the older girls jump rope, read, or talk with friends. However, for two weeks recently, the young girls were entertained by the Africa Yoga Project, a performing arts organization that led the girls in yoga, drumming, singing, sign language, face paint, and hula hooping classes! The girls rotated through the different sessions the first week, and then chose their favorite activities to do the second week. At the culmination of Circus Camp, the girls hosted an incredible show for all of the KSG families.

In Ethiopia, the students at the Selamta Family Project also have time each day to relax and play. Though all of the students have break-time during the school day, they usually also play after school before helping out at home or starting homework. Like the girls at Kibera, the students enjoy jumping rope, painting and drawing, and doing gymnastics, but they also love to play card games (especially Uno!) and futbol, or practice their hip hop or traditional Ethiopian dance moves. Some girls spend their recess trying out new hair braiding styles. One of their favorite special events is Selamta Idol!

Both the Kibera School for Girls and the Selamta Family Project believe that all children have the right to play. In writing this blog, I learned that playtime is more than just a fun break in the day, it’s actually a right protected by the United Nations. Article 31 of the UN Convention asserts, “every child has the right to rest an leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities . . .and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.” Whether they’re working hard at reading new books or solving math problems, it’s clear the girls at the She’s the First partner schools fill their day with lots of learning and lots of joy!

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Hope for Water at the Kibera School for Girls

Community members at the Clean Water Project in Kibera

Community members at the Clean Water Project in Kibera

Did you celebrate World Water Day on March 22nd? Children worldwide, especially young girls, suffer at the hands of unclean water. When water isn’t easily accessible, education also becomes less obtainable. Girls are typically the ones responsible for walking miles each day to fetch water for their families, thus taking them out of school and often placing them in harm’s way. Given these circumstances, it’s no surprise that the She’s the First partner schools I work with pour so much effort into bringing water points closer to their schools and communities.

At Shining Hope for Communities, home to our partner, the Kibera School for Girls, Kibera residents pay up to ten times more for water than those in the capital city of Nairobi. Kibera residents’ unclean water supply takes a disastrous toll on the city’s health. However, we can’t forget that hope is right in Shining Hope for Communities’ name!  Shining Hope is rejuvenating its community by providing Kibera’s largest single water point.

The Clean Water Project is in its pilot phase, but already provides 12,000 people per day with clean water. How does this impact the community? The Justin-Jinich Community Clinic is now better poised to prevent and treat waterborne, infectious diseases. Shining Hope sells clean water below the market price so no family is cutoff from access to clean water. In addition, the water tower profits will be used to help fund the Kibera School for Girls.

Shining Hope for Communities’ Clean Water Project unites the Kibera community in developing a sustainable model to ensure that this basic human right—access to clean water—is met. In collaboration with The Safe Water Network, Newman’s Own Foundation, Nairobi City Council and David Engineering Ltd., this truly is a community-based project. There’s an inextricable link between access to clean water and girls’ education. Shining Hope for Communities proves that by bringing water to a community, the ripple effects are tremendous!

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US Ambassador Visits Kibera School for Girls

Ribbon Cutting 

 

Ribbon cutting for the new Kibera School for Girls with Margaret Patricelli, Judy Gration, Bob Forrester, Jessica Posner, Kennedy Odede, and Ambassador Scott Gration (from left)

As we welcomed in the new year, the Kibera School for Girls welcomed an ambassador! Earlier this month, the school celebrated the arrival of Scott Gration, US Ambassador to Kenya, and his wife Mrs. Judy Gration.  The Ambassador and his wife joined Kibera’s students in honoring Newman’s Own Foundation, a major supporter of the school since 2009.  The Newman’s Own Foundation is instrumental in funding Kibera’s school, clinic, bio-latrine, and Clean Water Project.  Bob Forrestor, the foundation’s president, joined the Ambassador and Mrs. Gration in cutting the ribbon for Kibera’s newest clean water tower and school building.  Katherine Kitfield Bascom, Shining Hope’s Associate Managing Director, reported, “Our new school building is providing our students the space they need: larger classrooms, art studios, a hall for performances and parent meetings, and more. The clean water tower kiosk has started selling water, and we are thrilled to report that it’s been quite busy every day!”

Judging by what I read about the girls on Kibera’s Meet the Students page, I had a feeling they’d have no trouble impressing the US Ambassador and his wife with their bright personalities.  The 2nd and 3rd grade classes shined on stage as they performed their play, “Lack of Education.”  The story chronicles two parents who feel education has no place in their lives.  Everything changes when they meet a student from the Kibera School for Girls who kindly offers to read a letter for them.  They’re amazed by what this young girl can do and need no further convincing to enroll in Kibera’s Parent Education classes.  Bascom commented, “The girls are amazing actresses – loud voices with very exaggerated character development.”

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Shining the Spotlight on Shining Hope

 

Shining Hope for Communities

Smiling students at Shining Hope for Communities

It was the Girl Effect that brought me to She’s the First.  In a matter of minutes, they had me hooked. Three years later, it’s this video that keeps me coming back for more. Reinforcing with every second, every pound of the piano keys, every word that flashes across my screen, that my passion for what She’s the First is doing grows.  If you haven’t seen it yet, or just need your daily dose of inspiration, watch here, then read on to see how this powerful video is continuing to make waves for girls’ education.

Shining Hope for Communities, one of our directory schools planted in the Kibera slum of Kenya, received the incredible honor of winning the Girl Effect Challenge!  In addition to the tremendous coverage this brings to Shining Hope, this distinction also comes with a prize of over $25K!

Now, Shining Hope has the opportunity to double this prize, but needs some Facebook love to make it happen.  They’re in the running for the CHASE Community Giving award, and simply by voting on Facebook before Tuesday, November 22nd, you can help secure Shining Hope’s spot as a Top 100 finalist.  With this honor comes another $25,000!

Katherine Bascom, Shining Hope’s Projects Manager imagines how huge of an impact $50,000 would have on the girls living in Kibera.  She writes, “How many more girls we could educate, how many more sanitary toilets we could build to prevent waterborne illness and disease, how many more lives we could save in our clinic by hiring more nurses and community health workers.”

So quick, get on Facebook; spread the word and vote!  Katherine says, ”The Girl Effect Challenge has shown us how powerful our community is and what is possible when we join together.” Let’s spark a girl effect of our own.  Rally the She’s the First troops, guys and girls alike, and let’s make this big prize happen for Shining Hope!

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Meet the Students of Kibera School for Girls in Kenya!

 

Pre-K students at the Kibera School for Girls

Pre-K students at the Kibera School for Girls in Kenya

While it’s always exciting to share with you the fun field trips and activities of the busy students at the Kibera School for Girls in Kenya, I’m so pleased that I can now introduce you to each and every one of the school’s students!  Just a few days ago, Shining Hope for Communities added a wonderful new addition to their website – an online photo gallery that profiles each student with an adorable photo and a brief biography.  By browsing through the gallery, you’ll meet Grace, a Pre-K student who has big dreams of being a pilot and collapses in giggles on a daily basis. You’ll also meet Christian, a first grader whose love of reading is only outdone by her love of her classmates and teachers.  You’ll learn who was the first Pre-K student to read the word “strawberry” (Elizabeth!) and whose favorite book is Clifford (Lillian!).  These are the shining star students of the Shining Hope for Communities’ Kibera School for Girls!

 

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Kristof & Wilde Visit the Kibera School for Girls!

Kristof and Wilde visited Shining Hope for Communities while shooting the Half the Sky documentary

Kristof and Wilde visited Shining Hope for Communities while shooting the Half the Sky documentary. Photo from @NickKristof

Our friends at the Kibera School for Girls were visited by Nicholas Kristof and Olivia Wilde this week!  Kristof, an op-ed journalist for The New York Times and champion of girls’ education, is currently in Kenya working on the PBS documentary of his book, Half the Sky.  He co-wrote the internationally acclaimed book with his wife, Sheryl Wu Dunn.  Since September 4th, Kristof and Wilde have traveled through Kibera interviewing female entrepreneurs and, as Wilde tweeted, “starting spontaneous dance parties.”  More than 1,000 Facebook fans expressed excitement for their visit and showered the Kibera School for Girls with support. Kristof tweeted that despite the fact that malnourishment and worms are rampant in the Kibera slum, the girls at the Kibera School radiated hope.  Wilde added that the school was “extraordinary” and that the girls were “fantastic!”

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Sunny Times at the Kibera School for Girls

Love from the Kibera School for Girls!

Since the new term began in January, the students at the Kibera School for Girls have enjoyed their new classes, art projects with their parents, and their first celebration of Valentine’s Day!  Valentine’s Day was a huge success, complete with homemade cards and delicious treats. The festivities continued in March as parents were invited to join their daughters for a day filled with arts and crafts.

The girls are fascinated by the Meteorlogical Center!

The students at the Kibera School for Girls also had a whirlwind adventure at the Kenya Meteorological Society! A few weeks ago the girls had the opportunity to truly immerse themselves in their most recent science unit on weather. After spending a month learning about cloud formations, temperature, and how to track weather changes, the young girls were fascinated by the hands-on experience with professional weather instruments. To keep up with the girls at the Kibera School, you can read more about their activities by following the Shining Hope for Communities blog.

 

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Partner Spotlight: Kibera School for Girls, Kenya

This photo says it all!

Shining Hope for Communities, one of our two Kenya partners, is a phenomenal testament to She’s the First’s celebration of “firsts.” In 2007, Jessica Posner, Shining Hope’s co-founder, became the first non-native to live in Kenya’s Kibera slum, the largest slum in Africa.  Shining Hope’s Johanna Justin-Jinich Community Clinic is the first and only free health clinic in Kibera to focus on women’s health.  Lastly, the nonprofit’s Kibera School for Girls, a She’s the First partner school, is the region’s first tuition-free school for girls.

Currently, the Kibera School for Girls (KSG) has 67 girls enrolled in pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade.  KSG will expand to provide an education for 570 students in grades pre-kindergarten through 8th.  Assistant teachers were recently hired to ensure that all girls receive hands-on, individualized attention.  Thanks to the assistance of a visiting teacher from NYC’s Chapin School, KSG teachers designed student-centered curriculum.  Shining Hope for Communities recently added “Margaret’s Safe Place,” a boarding facility for KSG’s most vulnerable students.

In the words of Helen Mbithe, a member of KSG’s Parent Board, “The Kibera School for Girls is special in many ways.  It is the only free school for girls that I have even heard of in Kenya. But there is something more.  At the school there is also a center for the community with needed resources like computers, books, health education sessions, and vegetable garden open to all community members…My husband now says that good treats come with educating girl children, and because he is the last person I could ever think to say this, I can say that this idea will change lives in many ways in my struggling home community.”

Eunice, one of KSG's smiling students

Our Aspire blog readers may remember Jessica from this blog post, following her nomination for the nationally acclaimed DoSomething Awards. She’s the First is honored that two of our partner schools were founded by DoSomething Award winners!  Both Jessica and Maggie Doyne, founder of the Kopila Valley Children’s Home, were awarded $100,000 for their incredible dedication to improving the lives of children around the world.

Sponsorship for The Kibera School for Girl’s education program ranges from $30  a month and from $360 a year.  If you can’t cover the full year amount, other She’s the First fundraisers will make up the difference and you’ll support her together! See the directory for more details.

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