SPREADING DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND EDUCATION IN KENYAN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES
“Empowering the youth is a noble course as current youth are our future leaders.”
OVERVIEW
In Kenya, young people face adversity and hardships on a daily basis that contribute to poor school attendance, acting out in class, and even abandoning school for better but detrimental opportunities in crime. Leaders at Kesho Kenya knew these students could have so much potential if only their basic needs were met and they were given access to the tools they needed to become active advocates for democracy in their schools and communities. Some needs, like providing access to clean drinking water or providing career training courses, were too great for school administrators to take on themselves. That’s where Kesho Kenya’s SHINE Project and Integrity Clubs come in to provide simple yet effective solutions to help keep young people in school and well on their way to becoming the leaders of tomorrow.
WHAT IS KESHO KENYA?
Kesho Kenya is a youth-centered organization driven by curiosity, creativity, and experimentation in the youth impact space. They work to advance access to education and employment for vulnerable young people living on the Coast of Kenya through a long-term, holistic, and integrated approach. Their areas of intervention are:
Access to education
Literacy support
Enrichment and training
Protection
Academic support
Youth development
Through their programs, they empower young people to become independent thinkers and demand integrity from leaders within their communities. Students learn how to have proactive conversations and be a voice for their communities on issues that affect them. They grow to become leaders and advocates for democratic ideals in their communities. Kesho Kenya also helps young people find employment opportunities and generate additional income to break the cycle of poverty in their families.
KESHO KENYA’S INTEGRITY CLUBS CREATE MEANINGFUL DIALOGUE BETWEEN STUDENTS AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
Kesho Kenya’s SHINE Project (Students acting for Honesty, Integrity, and Equality) empowers students to act with and demand integrity in their school communities. They believe that integrity creates the conditions for people to resist corruption. Through the project, they initiate Integrity Clubs at schools to help students problem solve and communicate effectively with school administrators. After establishing Integrity Clubs, over 45 schools have experienced dramatic changes with their student populations.
One of those schools, the secondary school Sokoko Boys, has a history of student frustration and unrest, sometimes even violence and fire-starting. Volunteers from the SHINE Project established an Integrity Club at the school, and Principal Laban Mwangemi noticed how much it helped his administrators, staff, and students communicate. He commented, “Problems still exist, of course, but when students address the issue, we sit down and discuss it openly with them. We teach our children that there might be a problem, but that in this problem we can also find the solution.”
The students at Sokoko Boys identified that some of the student frustration arose from problems with water shortages. Students had to walk long distances to fetch safe drinking water. Sokoko’s Integrity Club worked together to solve this problem by constructing a borehole. After seeking approval from the principal, the Integrity Club members took the proposal, found the ideal place for drilling, and sought a donor to help them complete the work. Mombasa Women Association bought their idea and agreed to fund the project, and the students found the solution to their problem.
In early 2020 when the global pandemic forced schools to close and ask students to go home, Kesho Kenya had to pivot the look and feel of their Integrity Club initiative. They decided to work with existing youth groups within targeted school communities to introduce the integrity clubs to those communities. Since they began, they’ve reached out to 300 young people in 22 youth groups and discussed challenges facing young people in their communities.
CONCLUSION
If your organization is committed to helping schools and students solve problems in their communities, Damaris, the Project Officer for SHINE, advises that you start by helping young people become active in democracy. “Empowering the youth is a noble course as current youth are our future leaders. If they are molded from a tender age, they grow up to be responsible and accountable leaders. Join hands with us in empowering young people who are courageous, transparent, and development-oriented,” she said.
She had more advice on how to impact young people, including:
Partner with other organizations involved in the same work. That way, you can avoid duplicative efforts and really focus on what matters.
Research issues that affect young people. You can only provide solutions if you really understand the adversity they face.
STAY INFORMED
Want to learn more about Kesho Kenya’s work? You can visit their website or connect with them on Facebook or Twitter.