We were delighted to receive an update this morning from Seeds of Hope, the Vision Africa charity that SI Rossendale supports. The project empowers young people, gives them dignity, opportunity and hope so that they may realise their potential.
We were especially interested to read about Karen who is a second year student at Seed of Hope Nairobi who is preparing to graduate in November. She is the first born in the family of five and lives with both parents in one of the slums of Nairobi. Karen completed her primary education but could not proceed to high school since her parents could not affords school fees as her father was jobless and her mother was doing casual work so as to put food on the table. All her siblings are in public school where the government offers free primary education. Karen had lost hope in life since most of her classmates had joined secondary school while she was left at home helping her mother with household chores. One day a neighbour called Linda shared with Karen about Seed of Hope. Linda had just graduated from Seed of Hope’s Home Care Management and was attached in a restaurant in the city.
Karen and her dad visited Seed of Hope Nairobi and she enrolled to undertake dressmaking, fashion and fabric design course. Although she is among the students who has to walk for more than 3 kilometres to get to school, Karen has never missed school and has been very determined to work extra hard so as to be on top of her class. When asked her about her future plans, Karen said “After graduation, I will join Dhamira hub so that I can advance my skills and build my client base before going out and establish my business. Once I start earning from my business and become independent, I want to support my younger siblings so that they can join high school and advance in their education” We believe Karen and all the other girls have the potential to transform their lives and raise the living standards of their families as well as the community around them. We wish them all the best as they prepare to graduate.
You can read the Seeds of Hope news update in full here