Celebrating Education in Kenya

Jambo! From students hard at work in Kenya

International Youth Day isn’t just an opportunity to celebrate the incredible things youth are doing here in North America to make a difference. It also provides us with the chance to celebrate the accomplishments of youth around the world who are working hard to improve their future and help break the cycle of poverty in their communities. Therefore, we wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a celebration that took place this year in a small community in Kenya!

This story takes place in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya during the rainy season, when the grass is green, the cows are fat and the people wear smiles.

This year, the Enelerai Primary School, one of the schools built by Free The Children in the Massai Mara , hosted a huge celebration! The event was held to give out secondary school scholarships so that youth can continue their education. The day was joyous, featuring distribution of official high school acceptance letters and financial scholarships, each for four complete years of secondary school. Free The Children’s Kenya Program Director, Robin Wiszowaty, was invited to attend the festivities. Here is what she had to say about this incredible event:

It was an amazing day.

Everyone came out to celebrate: the entire community of Enelerai, the entire community of Motony, the entire community of Emori Joi, all of the parents of each community, all of the teachers from each school, all of the school committees, a couple of local government representatives and a few representatives from the designated high schools!

The front field was flooded was people. The air echoed harmonies of children singing. Mamas and babas (mothers and fathers) wore their best clothes. This siku kuu (special day) served as an incentive for students to see how much their studying every day truly makes a difference, to recognize the opportunities available and to understand how real and practical these opportunities are.

The celebration was also a kickoff for the new year. It was a tribute to all the great work and partnerships ahead of us and to the promise of the future. Plus, it was celebrated in a community atmosphere with the whole area in attendance!

The day was truly “the power of community” meets “possibility” in a very real way. It was a day full of promise for the young students who witnessed their older brothers, sisters, classmates, community members and neighbours stand in front of a crowd larger than 1,500 to receive scholarships and beam with pride.

At the end of the ceremony, they said “Tell everyone at home we greet them all and that we are all happy here in Kenya.” The thing is, they mean it!

With this gift of continued education, the world of opportunity opens up to the community as families here have literally never seen before.

They are all doing their best in Kenya, just like we are all giving our best at home.
Peace out,
Robin

Learn more about Free The Children’s development projects in Kenya
Support Adopt a Village projects to help children in Kenya
Read all about Robin’s many adventures in Kenya

Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network.