Two weeks ago, with a heavy heart, we sent out the postponement notification for our ‘Pathway to Hope’ fundraiser. It featured 7 of the 40 children that the event needed to raise money for in order for them to continue to secondary education.
We are thrilled to tell you that in fact the education of 14 of these children has now been sponsored! We are so thankful to those in our community who have stepped forward to help. I must admit that it was a very happy and emotional day for me when the offers came through. Thank you! What a great start!
Staff at the WkW centre in Kibera are working tirelessly to ensure that the remaining 26 children have the same chance. Especially Ben, the Assistant Director, who has checked every application, visited the homes of each child and interviewed the family.
It would be wonderful if we could help these children now. As the mothers’ thank you letters show, our help completely changes the lives of the children and gives hope to their families.
We are still hoping to host an event early next year, but wouldn’t it be fabulous if we could tell these children now that their education was assured?
If you think you can assist in sponsoring the education of one of the remaining children for just $110 a month, please contact me.
Keep well,
Marguerite Ryan AM
Chairperson - Women for Women in Africa
Thank you from Mercy
Asante sana! Asante sana!
I am Mercy. I am the mother to Isiah. I have just heard that he has found a sponsor to pay for his education. Thank you so much. You may not comprehend what you have done to me and my family! God bless you so much….
Isiah is my second born son. The first one did not have the opportunity that Isaiah has today.
My family is very poor and taking Isiah and paying his school fees is only God working for me through your generous and loving hearts.
I did not know what I would do with him once he completed his class eight. I am a squatter and I do not have a permanent home. Last year, our house got demolished to pave way for a new road, and now we live temporarily on land that we do not know the owner of. We can be sent out any time or any day.
I just want to say thank you to Wanawake Wanawake and to the sponsor of Isiah. May God bless you abundantly! What you have done to my family is more than sufficient and may the blessings of God follow you forever.
I came here as a stranger and now I feel like I am home and you are my friends forever!
Thank you from Emily
My name is Emily. I am 35 years old. Milcah is my first daughter. I gave birth to Milcah when I was only 17 years old. I Had just joined form one in a local secondary school in my village when I got pregnant. It was a case I do not want to remember at all but it is a reality I face every day. When I got Milcah, everyone including my parents rejected me. I came to Nairobi to look for any opportunity to raise my child.
I landed in Kibera and started doing manual jobs. Every morning I woke up to go and look for any job that would put food on our table. For many years, I have suffered with my daughter Milcah and her younger sibling. Life has been so tough and we have lived a very poor life together. She did class 8 and she passed quite well. Her joy was like a sword piercing through my heart because I knew quite well that even with good marks, she was not going to have a secondary education. I could not afford to pay her school fees in high school. I could simply not afford it.
Her step father whom we live with currently takes all his hard-earned money to alcohol. He cares less when it comes to education. She is not his child anyway so he says!
As a mother, I began to walk to different offices knocking on several doors for help. I went to various organizations within Kibera slums which offer education sponsorships to poor children. I went to Government offices also to seek help but nothing came through. It was who you know and how much you can pay to be helped. Hope was gone and for several nights, I cried tears of pain and of hopelessness.
One morning as I was working, a conversation began about this organization called Wanawake kwa Wanawake. I heard that this organization was also helping poor children to go to school. After work, I hurried and searched for this place people were talking about. After one day, I got the place.
I knocked on the gate and the guard allowed me inside. I explained to him what I wanted. He took my documents and kept them. I left behind my contacts written on the documents of my child. This was my last hope. I did not believe that I would be called. I had tried this several times with other organizations and I was never called.
I remember that phone call that morning about 10:00 o’clock in the morning. I was hawking vegetables for money. It was simple and clear “come to the center and bring with you Milcah.” My heart skipped and I thought I was dreaming. It was true……
Now I hear Milcah has got a sponsor. Her education is now assured and very secure! I find it very hard to believe after all these painful pasts! I am more than happy…I am delighted, very excited and grateful.
Some of the Children Available for Sponsorship
Name: Miriam Karimi Kathure Age: 15 Favourite colour: Pink Favourite Food: Ugali and Kales Favourite subject: Math Favourite game: Out door games
Bio
Miriam hails from a very humble background. She went to a very poor public school called Ngei. Her Mother Frida is a casual laborer. She is a widow who struggles to support four children. Miriam is the second born. The father left the family and later died when the child was only 10 years. Recently, when Corona virus struck, she had no any source of income. She was so much in pain and poverty that one church she goes to while acting on humanitarian ground gave her a temporary tin/ corrugated iron house to live in.
Because the Government recently ordered all children who had done national examinations to transit to secondary school without wanting to know how, Frida took that advantage and made Miriam to join school with no fees. She is about to be sent back home because the school cannot keep her without school fees.
Miriam did very well in her exams and the mother-Frida is requesting for education support on behalf of her child from the Organization so that Miriam may see her dreams of getting quality education come to fruition.
Name: Jason Omari
Gender: Male
Age:15
Dream: To be a Civil Engineer
Bio:
Jason is the 2nd born child in a family of 3 Children. Jason has been raised and brought up in Kibera all his life through, he sat for his national examination KCPE this year at Langata West Primary school and scored 323 marks out of the possible 500 marks. His performance was quite good despite the poor background that he lives in. His father died when he was only three years and her mother Jackline is a widow who does menial jobs to get income so as to feed the family.
Recently Jackline sent Jason to a nearby day school. She is not even able to pay any school fees to this boy in the day school let alone in the boarding school. Jackline needs help so that Jason may stay in school and get an education he thirsts for. Given a chance, Jason will report to the boarding school which he was initially selected to join and not day school.
Name: Keren Elizabeth Ochieng Age: 15 years Favourite colour: Red Favourite Food: Rice and Beans Favourite subject: Science and mathematics Hobby: Reading and singing
Bio
Elizabeth hails from a very humble background in Kibera. She is the 1st born in a family of 5 children (all girls) andlives with both parents. The 15-year old girl is always jovial and ever-smiling. She is very intelligent and full of enthusiasm. Her favourite subjects are Mathematics and science. She recently completed her primary education and passed well to join a secondary school.
Elizabeth’s Father, who is the sole breadwinner of the family is a cobbler and her mother is a housewife. The father struggles to sustain this family with all the basic needs and thus live in abject poverty. The pandemic has worsened their situation.
Elizabeth wishes to be a nurse in the future. She has seen the suffering the people of Kibera go through due to diseases and epidemics. She wants to help in researching and discovering drugs to help the people of the community. She can only achieve this by proceeding with her education. However, this does not seem to be the situation. She will not be able to join the secondary school as her family cannot afford a stable meal every day, let alone paying school fees.
WKW is the only place that seems to be offering a glimmer of hope to her sad fate. Her ambitious dream is indeed significant. The sponsorship opportunity will be a great blessing and hope for her and the community at large.
Name: Joram Ochieng Odhiambo
Age: 17
Gender: Male
School: Chianda High School
Dream: Teaching
Hobbies: Soccer.
Bio
Joram is a boy who has been forced to experience abject poverty as a child by life unfortunate circumstances. His father died when he was still very young. His mother who is mentally challenged disappeared from home and abandoned him never to return again.
Joram stays with the grandmother who is old and vulnerable as well. Despite poor background and desperate living conditions, Joram did very well in Kenya certificate of primary education (KCPE) examination and scored 365 out of 500 marks. Joram hopes to get secondary education but his grandmother is unable to find school fee required.
This has caused anxiety and lack of hope because Joram knows very well that soon he will go back home forever and his education will certainly end if anybody does not come forward to support his him.
Joram desires to help the poor and vulnerable people in future by being a good teacher. The support towards his education will better his life, family and the society at large
