Hope for Boys
Our Hope Springs program has been a boon for high-risk girls in middle school. Recently, however, a young boy asked one of our mentors, “Why are you not teaching us whatever you are teaching the girls every week when you come to our school?”
The facilitator was taken aback and said they were teaching girl-related things. “But there are issues affecting the boys – which are very many,” he replied. “Why can’t you teach us about them?” On the street, boys make similar statements:
We are going through a lot of depression, sexual harassment, negative peer pressure, drug, and substance abuse, as well as being affected by the domestic violence within our homes, but we have no one to speak to.
The staff concluded, “They need us. They need our support, and we have everything it takes to help them. We have to support all to make good leaders and for the betterment of our society.” Answering this cry for help, Kenya Keys has expanded our influential Hope Springs after-school program to include boys, as well.
Knowing boys needed good examples who understand their challenges, Kenya Keys recruited two exceptional alumni, James Nduro and Nelson Tangai, pictured here, to mentor these young boys.
Children are the hope of a community, and Hope Springs gives middle-grade children in often traumatic circumstances a way to process complicated feelings, examine their choices, and be deliberate about creating a brighter future. The 240 Hope Springs alumni learned to chant, “Hope Springs girls - Change for the Better!” Now that change will include the boys who also long to become something better.
