Rebecca Magire

A Beneficiary’s Perspective

Rebecca MagireUncategorized

To my sponsors, My name is Alice Mutua from Kitui, Kenya and a student at the University of Nairobi. I have two brothers and three sisters.  My parents depend on what we harvest from our garden and cultivating our neighbors’ lands to pay school levies and cater for the children basic needs.  Growing up in such an environment instills bravery, confidence and competence. However, with very little to go on, joining a university felt like a far fetched dream until I meet Light Up Hope which enabled me to join the University of Nairobi, a world Class University committed to scholarly Excellence to pursue a degree in Arts with a focus on History, Swahili and Psychology. While I love all the classes I take, dream is to specialize in Swahili and become a lecturer in the field as well as become a translator in the same. For girls like me, having an opportunity like this not only changes my life’s projection but that of my family and community at large. Thank you for enabling me to join this university (a sphere of change). is because of you that I’m studying without school fees stress, and I also have somewhere to […]

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A Great Year Ahead!

Rebecca MagireGeneral

Expanding to Kajiado County 2023 has started in a big way for Light Up Hope. We have received funding to expand both our feeding and Woven programs while maintaining the 160 beneficiaries for our High School Program.  Given the massive expansion, the organization saw it necessary to involve both the target community and local government in the selection process of schools to benefit from the program. Indeed, by ensuring full participation, we gave the community an opportunity to own the initiative in the hopes that it will increase the impact of the program. Specifically, the organization formed a County Technical Committee, a team bringing together the Light Up Hope’s Staff and representatives of the two levels of government (National and County level) to work together in ensuring a successful implementation of our Programs in Kajiado County. The CTC consists of, The committee’s first assignment was the selection of the 2023 High School Scholarship beneficiaries where the organization benefitted hugely from the members knowledge of the area and its dynamics In the initial stages, it was the work of the CTC to receive all applications from aspirants and forward the same to LUH staff involved in the selection process. Upon the […]

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How A Mother’s Love, A Team of Dedicated Teachers and LUH Helped A Girl Achieve Her Dream to Join A University

Rebecca MagireUncategorized

KALAA MUTUKU Kalaa, which means a young flower in the Kamba community, was born on 1st March 2002 in a polygamous family of two wives and twelve children. As the third child to the first wife in the family, her name proved appropriate when Kalaa joined school and it became apparent that she was a highly intelligent girl, a much-welcomed trait in the destitute family. Indeed, being a child in a huge and poor family came with a unique set of challenges which adversely affected Kalaa’s educational journey. To begin with, as an alcoholic, the father left the responsibility of providing for the family to his two wives forcing each mother to work to provide for their children. With little education and a limited source of income, Kalaa’s mother could barely manage to avail enough food for her five children with seasonal droughts experienced in the village always placing the family at a great risk of starvation. As a result, education for Kalaa and her siblings became a luxury the family could barely afford. However, despite the many challenges Kalaa faced at home, she managed to perform very well in her Primary education national exam and scored a B+ which […]

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Dear Tuungane Community Foundation,

Rebecca MagireUncategorized

My name is Juliet Muthoni Wambui, the last-born daughter to Jane Wambui. I am a student in Nyandarua High, currently in form two. My mother is a single parent who has done everything in her power to educate me and my older sister. As a tea vendor on the beautiful market of Kenol, her meagre income has never been enough to cater to our food, clothing, housing and educational needs but somehow my mother always ensured my sister and I remained in school at all times. However, 2020 was an especially hard year for me and my family. In addition to the pandemic that restricted my mother’s income, she fell seriously ill leaving us with little to no funds to even pay for our rent.  In previous years, my sister and I have always helped our mother in her business during school holidays. We would often cook the tea and clean her utensils as she left to deliver the drink to her customers. But with her illness, we could not deliver the tea as we ourselves had never interacted with her customers. When the time came for me to join form one, I remember how my mother tried to borrow […]

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From the Streets to Class-a LIFT success story

Rebecca MagireUncategorized

Brian Scott, one of our LIFT beneficiaries in a young man who has faced significant challenges his young life. When his mother, Gladys, got married to Joseph Scott, Brian hoped he had found a safe place to call home and a father to fill in the gaps that his biological dad had left. However, the dynamics of a blended family did not favor the young boy who would eventually find himself at the receiving end of his step-father’s anger. As the situation escalated to physical and psychological abuse, Gladys was left between choosing his son and her husband. When the situation at home did not improve, Brian Scott ran away from home and became a street child for over a month before his mother tracked him down and arranged for him to live with one of his aunties. The initial arrangement was that both Brian’s parents would contribute towards the upkeep of the boy while he lived at his auntie’s place. However, the plans did not work and Brian found himself back at the streets of Korokocho market. At this point, Brian’s teachers started spotting him at dump sites and called the organization in an attempt to salvage the young […]

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