The Next Chapter Has Begun!

…  and we’re on our way to making a significant difference for 17,000 children in Kenya’s North Rift Valley!   World Vision is expanding the Kenya Child Protection and Education Program to 5 areas in the North Rift Valley of Kenya, with a goal to significantly reduce the incidence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and/or Early Marriage which are prevalent.  Because education is at the core of this transformation, World Vision has decided to forward fund all the money necessary to begin all primary and secondary school classroom and facility construction.   That’s over $2 million dollars!  As a result, ground is being broken right now, in July and August in Marich Pass, Sook, Lokori, and Kalapata.  The construction for the early childhood development centers in Matete will begin in FY 2014.   (See charts below for areas and construction plans)

Program Summary:

The Kenya Child Protection and Education Program is about transformation and hope for  17,000 children in Kenya’s North Rift Valley.  Education is at the center of this transformation. Through the program 38 classrooms, 5 dormitories, 4 libraries, 8 teacher/staff houses, 1 science lab, 5 dining halls, 12 latrines, 3 admin blocks and 1 leadership hall will be built to expand access to quality education from early childhood development through secondary school and equip government ministries, parents, civil society groups, local and international organizations.   The education component will be complimented by extensive systems work to transform attitudes and practices to reduce the incidence of FGM and early marriage, improve girl-child completion rates for primary and secondary school and expand restorative care when children have been abused, and community members to fulfill obligations to keep children safe and cared for.   In cases where girls have already been sexually abused, our interventions will create access to psychosocial support for them to recover. The program also will help children receive legal services to support them following serious cases of child abuse. The Kenya Child Protection Program will invest in school dormitories to provide safe access to school for girls highly vulnerable to abuse in their home environment.  At the core, the program’s aim is to transform communities and build a protective environment for children so the practices of female genital mutilation and early marriage are prevented and abused children are restored to family and community life.

Funding needed (total):  $4.8 million over 4 years

Below is a chart of the construction plans, by area and school:

Along with several other donors, I will be visiting Marich Pass, Sook, and Matete August 4-9^th!  I will be posting my trip reports and experiences throughout August.

If you’d like to read, in detail, the program proposal, you’ll find it here:  http://sdrv.ms/MtQ099   (There’s a 17 page detailed proposal and a 2 page executive summary)

If you’d like to join to make a difference, please consider making a donation at the following site:  www.kenyagirls.seeyourimpact.org.  Or, if you work at Microsoft, you may use the tool at http://give.  Please designate World Vision International as the charity, and type “Kenya Girls” in the Purpose field.

I look forward to updating you on my travels with my next post from Kenya!