Kenya Vulnerable Girls Education Project

Hi, everyone! I have just arrived this morning in Nairobi, Kenya after a somewhat circuitous trip :-). I aLm EXCITED to be here. Tomorrow morning, we head to Lodwar, a town in the northwestern portion of Kenya. We will spend the next to days in “the field” visiting two new communities that will be recipients of the education project, as well as recipients of clean water and food security projects. I have summarized the Kenya Vulnerable Girls Education Project, as well as World Vision’s holistic approach for you below. So, here we go! I suspect my next post won’t be until Thurs/Friday as there’s no internet access where we’re going (and we’ll be traveling on dirt roads, so this is really rural Kenya). Thanks for following this big adventure!

Project Summary: The Kenya Education Project for Vulnerable Girls primarily targets girls in western Kenya who are at risk of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Early Marriage (EM), which typically take place between the ages of 10 and 13 in certain Kenyan sub-cultures. The project will be implemented in 3 or 4 World Vision Area Development Programs (ADPs) in the western Rift Valley region of Kenya. School construction will be a part of this project, and World Vision is in process to finalize the number of locales, primary versus secondary schools, additions / expansions versus new construction, etc. In addition, there will be multiple ways the education project will help these vulnerable girls including mentoring, vocational training, community awareness raising (sensitizing people to the dangers and harm caused by FGM and EM, encouraging alternative rites of passage, promoting the long-term value of education, etc.), and community empowerment (capacity building focused on girls, parents, community partners, etc.).

Holistic Approach – Because WV’s overall mission is to tackle the causes of poverty, we implement projects in conjunction with other complementary projects in order to help transform an entire community over time. In this case, the education project area will be in famine affected regions of Kenya so the other main priorities of the target areas are food security and access to safe water. Therefore this project will be implemented alongside other projects that are focused on these two issues, which means that the beneficiaries of the education project will also benefit from increased food security and access to clean water.

About margoday

Margo Day is a life-long change-maker. She was first introduced to coding as a senior in high school and has paved the way for women in technology ever since. Margo has had a stunning 34-year career in the tech industry, 17 of which were spent as a senior leader at Microsoft, including most recently as Vice President of U.S. Education, where she focused on building up partnerships and breaking down barriers. She has been a steadfast leader and mentor to women and girls throughout her life, and has devoted much of her energy towards achieving gender equality globally. To that end, Margo has spent the past decade fighting to eliminate child marriage and FGM and creating a cycle of advocacy and prosperity for women and girls in Kenya through supporting projects by World Vision and Global Give Back Circle. As a member of the Board of Directors for Global Give Back Circle, and of the National Leadership Council for World Vision, Margo’s dedication to transformational change has been instrumental in funding these programs and advocating for their growth so that they can continue to enact positive change for women and girls throughout Kenya. Having seen what can be done when resources are applied strategically, Margo left her position at Microsoft to co-found the Mekuno Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating the root causes of child marriage and FGM within a generation and empowering girls to thrive in futures they design through quality education, child protection, community transformation, and economic empowerment. Mekuno Project partners with international NGOs who have proven track records of success, supporting them through advocacy, marketing, and fundraising. In her personal time, Margo enjoys backpacking, boating, cycling, scuba diving, skiing, golf, adventure travel and, when it’s rainy outside, attending concerts and theater as well as enjoying a great glass of wine.

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