FROM OUR FOUNDER, KELLY SHAUGHNESSY
From the beginning, it has been my passion to create poverty alleviation efforts which prioritize mental and emotional health in conjunction with physical and educational needs.
In 2012 we started by working with students in primary and secondary schools, providing school sponsorship and family interventions. With time, we realized the importance of instilling mentorship and post-secondary opportunities for our students to make a successful transition to independent adulthood. With that realization, our university program was created with a robust mental health counseling and mentorship component. Since then we have demonstrated success with students who have transitioned through our programs from a young age and are now in the Kenyan job market as businesspeople and professionals.
In 2022 we recognized the way climate change is increasing poverty and stress on the people of Kenya and our largest current initiative involves alleviation of suffering for communities in Kenya impacted by drought. This includes provision of school lunch to over 70,000 students in drought affected Kajiado County. Intentional selection of students from this community for our high school and university programs help the community expand beyond pastoralism to more long-term sustainable careers which will not be so heavily affected by climate change.
It fills us with joy to see these students achieving their dreams and finding alleviation from the burden of consistent hunger. But we are not done yet. Still, only 15-17% of Kenyan girls graduate university, and there are still 90 schools in Kajiado County urgently in need of feeding intervention. We are not interested in putting band aids on an issue of systematic poverty; rather we are working to interrupt the systems and provide interventions that will break Kenyans out of the poverty cycle.
With the help of our very committed and talented staff, as well as individual and organizational donors, we know we can continue to light a path out of poverty for more deserving children, young adults, and families in Kenya in the years to come!