Hope Springs Anniversary

Hope Springs facilitators - local Kenya Keys grads

February 2022 marks the first anniversary of our Hope Springs project, an after-school program designed to empower the most vulnerable 4th-8th grade students with the skills to thrive in their challenging and often dangerous environment. In one year, 480 students participated - 340 girls and 140 boys. Fourteen local schools nominated at-risk students, hosted Hope Springs meetings and graduations, and encouraged teachers to participate with the meetings.

We recruited 5 facilitators - 2 male and 3 female - to teach, listen and inspire. All are recent college graduates and Kenya Keys-sponsored alumni, so they intimately understand the challenges their students face. Small incentives to students like pens, soap, sanitary pads, and underwear motivate students (and their parents) to participate in the program.

Already, hundreds of students have been touched. Here are two:

Kengo and his mother with Hope Springs facilitators

From a mother: “Since Kengo joined the program, I have only seen positive changes. He spends most of his time studying even though we do not have a lighting source at home, he goes to study at his uncle’s place. He has also initiated group discussions with students from the same village where he has helped them improve on their performance. All his friends are now academic-focused. I am seeing a very bright future whenever I look at my son and see great potential in him.”

Bahati visits with a Hope Springs facilitator

Bahati said, “I was a bad girl before…I see a changed person in me, the driving force towards achieving my goal is increased and I now understand the need for education unlike before. The perception of the challenges at home has changed and now through the sessions, the challenges are one of the things that are motivating me to work harder to change my home and also see my parents have better lives. I get motivated and encouraged when I see people from backgrounds like mine who have faced challenges as mine having succeeded in their education and achieved their goals. It gives me hope that despite the situations I have the ability, I CAN AND I WILL become successful through the support of the project.”

Thank you to all who have and continue to create real and meaningful change through their support of Hope Springs. As these students recite each week, “Hope Springs… Change for the better!”