Blog
Success Story – Roseline Akoth!
Roseline is 24 years old and is a qualified nurse working at a Mission Hospital in western Kenya. Roseline was born in the village of Kagan in Homa Bay County, western Kenya. Roseline grew up with her mother, father and five siblings. She is the fourth born out of the six children in the family. Due to her father, who provided the majority of the income to the family, falling ill and being unable to work, Roseline’s family was pushed into a difficult situation: “My oldest sister was forced to drop out of school due to a lack of fees,…
Read moreThis woman in rural Kenya is supporting her family thanks to this simple intervention…
Linet Akinyi, a resident of Ndhiwa, rural Western Kenya, a widow and a mother of 6 children (3 boys and 3 girls) has been the sole bread winner in her family since the death of her husband six years ago. Life was not easy for Linet. A typical woman-led farming family, Linet exclusively depends on farming produce for income for school fees for her children, food and other basic commodities. Three years ago her three daughters and three boys would occasionally go to school and some days completely stay away because of lack of food, lack of school fees and lack of…
Read moreReport – School Related Gender Based Violence in Ndhiwa
In December 2015 our application to Comic Relief for funding for a research and intervention project looking into the root causes of School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) in Ndhiwa, was successful. We were delighted to receive £10,000 to design and implement a research and intervention project to identify and address the root causes that lead vulnerable girls in Ndhiwa into high risk situations. Our ultimate goal was to provide girls with safety from violence and all forms of abuse, particularly in and around school. The aims of the project were: • to establish thorough and reliable information about the causes and extent…
Read moreInvolving boys and men in the gender equality solution to poverty
Guest blog by Nessy Rayner Kofi Annan, the seventeenth serving secretary general for the United Nations, a highly thought of male figure inside and outside of Africa, reportedly said, ‘There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women’. The struggle for women to gain equality all around the world is a constant battle, with both men and women ready to stand up and fight for equal rights for both genders. Through recent uprisings of campaigns like the HeforShe campaign, led by the United Nations, it’s apparent that boys and men are vital in the fight against inequality….
Read morePodcast – How our Water Works for Girls project is changing lives
Water Works for Girls Team Kenya, in partnership with Tag International Development and with the generous support of the Jochnick Foundation, have implemented a project to leverage water to improve education for girls in Ndhiwa through better health and hygiene, upgraded nutrition and psychosocial support for girls and women. We have introduced a pioneering rainwater harvesting system into schools in Ndhiwa to provide clean and safe water for children to drink and use for hand- washing. The overall objective is to ensure a physically and emotionally healthy and supportive learning environment for the children, along with improved economic stability for families so that children,…
Read moreOctober 11th can only mean one thing…
On March 8th each year, people around the world mark International Women’s Day, where the achievements of women and progress toward true gender equality are recognised and celebrated. In 2011, the UN resolved that the same level of international observance as IWD should be granted to young and adolescent girls. Statistically the most vulnerable group of people on the planet, girls in developing countries are disproportionately affected by Gender-Based Violence, child marriage and lack of access to education. As such, on October 11th 2012, International Day of the Girl Child was born – and has been celebrated every year since….
Read moreEco-tourism with a difference at Karibuni Eco Cottages
When you’re flicking through the gorgeous, glossy pages of a travel magazine, browsing Trip Advisor, or reading travel blogs online, the words ‘green’, ‘eco’ and ‘sustainable’ are scattered everywhere like daisies on a lawn. But I’ve realised choosing an eco holiday isn’t always as simple as that. Some places just offer a ‘greenwash’ over a standard trip, with a few sustainable whistles and bells to quiet the guilt. But others, like the Karibuni Eco-Cottages in Kenya, do offer something rather more than just recyclables. I’m based in Tideswell, in a very rural part of the Peak District in the UK,…
Read moreCool runnings
Our brilliant fundraiser, Kim, is dusting off her running shoes to take part in the Great North Run on 11 September – and every penny she raises will go towards educating girls in Ndhiwa. We are so grateful to Kim and all our other GNR runners for taking on this challenge, and so we caught up with her to have a chat about the blood, sweat and tears as she gets ready to join the starting line… Nice to meet you, Kim! Tell us a bit about yourself! I’m a nearing 30, chocoholic diabetic who spends her weekdays trying to…
Read moreAnnual Review 2015
Our Annual Review 2015 is out! You can read it here: Team Kenya – Annual Review. Below is a message from our Founder and Chair of Trustees, Valerie Wilson, on how 2015 was a year of exciting growth and change for Team Kenya. It has been an exciting and important year for Team Kenya. After an extensive period of refection, including consultations in both the UK and Kenya, Team Kenya and NCEDP both launched new ambitious five year strategic plans for 2015-2020. Our strategy draws on our learning and experience, we have set ourselves five main goals to enable us to…
Read more£10,000 donation from The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust to fund girl-friendly schools in rural Kenya
We are delighted to announce that our recent funding application to The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust was successful! We are absolutely thrilled to have received a generous donation of £10,000 towards our work with girls in rural Kenya. What will this grant pay for? We plan to develop and expand our Success for Girls in Schools programme through promoting Girl Friendly Schools and increasing parental and community support for, and awareness of, girls’ education, gender equality and children’s rights. Project aims: Increase recruitment, retention, and performance of girls in school Improve the quality of primary education Prevent and reduce School Related Gender Based…
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