KE 11 – EDUCATION FOR A BETTER FUTURE

The project is carried out in Langata (Nairobi). Langata is a residential area of Nairobi, southwest of the city, where there are large spaces and a lot of greenery between the houses. Over time, several small slums have formed quite hidden where entire families live looking for daily work in wealthy homes.

For these families it is difficult to cope with the cost of living and children tend not to follow school continuously because parents often cannot pay school fees to meet other urgent expenses. The situation is such that children and adolescents come to drop out of school to look for ways to survive becoming vulnerable to local gangs.

Early school dropping is a widespread problem in Kenya, and mainly affects families from the poorest classes. The drop-out of school is due to the difficulty of parents to support school fees continuously. The fact that often the parents themselves have not completed the cycle of education leads to discouragement from following their children until the completion of their studies.

In Langata we know several families who live in small slums in the area, and we want to help 7 young people to complete secondary school and technical school to have a better chance of finding a decent job. The project is therefore to accompany these adolescents to complete their studies but also to give relief to these families who support themselves with occasional jobs.

• Accompany 5 teenagers to complete secondary school
• Accompany 2 teenagers to complete technical school
• Contribute to the reduction of secondary school drop-outs thus raising the educational level of the area
• Increase the chances of paid work to give greater stability to the economic situation of the family

Direct: 7 secondary school students (4 girls and 3 boys)

Indirect: their families  

Referent sister of the project: Sr. Zita Mazzucco