08 Jan Promoting the Girl Child Education in Kenya — A Story of Inspiration
A shining example of why Weiss Scholarship facilitates our education sponsorship program in Kenya. Christine Akoth was born in Dago, Kenya in 2002. Today she is blessed to still have both her Mom and Dad alive, which is not common in Dago.
She was born into a world of tiny mud huts; no electricity or plumbing; limited food and clothing; little to no medical care; and a primary school with minimal resources. Also, she was born into a world where the girl child has many extra challenges. The barriers facing the girl child’s education in Kenya are enormous.
Christine excelled at the Dago Primary School as she was growing up. On the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education Exam (KCPE) at the end of primary school, she received the highest score of any Dago student ever at 391. Alone, this is a great accomplishment but, in a world where the girls tend to score about twenty percent lower than the boys due to no fault of their own, this was extra special.
Before Christine, all the students awarded scholarships from the Weiss Scholarship Foundation were assigned to the mid-level high schools called County Schools. There is an elite level of high schools called “National Schools” and based on her outstanding score, Christine was assigned one of the best, Alliance Girls High School.
In Dago she was the “big fish in a small pond”. Arriving at Alliance she became the “small fish in a big pond”. Her outstanding score from Dago, only put her in the bottom 23% of students in her class upon entering Alliance. Clearly the competition was going to be tough.
After working hard for three years at Alliance her excellent grades now have her in the top 15% of her class. This is an incredible accomplishment for any child, but especially for a girl child from the small village who is poor even by Kenyan standards.
A “bucket list” item for our foundation has been to get one of our students to a college in the United States. So, we are talking to a variety of colleges to see if we can make this happen. If anyone reading this wants to help make this happen, please contact us.
We say all the time we cannot end poverty unless the girl child gets an education. We also know that even if they do not score well on an exam, that, if given the chance, she can do just as well, if not better than the boys, but she must get that chance. The statistics in Kenya tell us this but Christine is proof.
Girl Child Education Sponsorship in Kenya
Without the Weiss Scholarship Foundation Christine would never have been able to go to high school. The sad odds are that if she had not been able to go to high school, by now, she would be married with one or two children. Now she has a real hope of being able to pursue all her dreams. By the way, a big part of that dream is that she wants to be a neurosurgeon. Thank you to all the donors of our foundation and especially the Bednarke Family for giving Christine and our other students, the chance to not just dream, but make dreams come true!
Let us keep doing this one child at a time. Please help us support more girls like Christine Akoth!!
Brett Weiss – Founder and Director
Weiss Scholarship Foundation
Email: brett@weissscholarshipfoundation.org
Mobile: 1-630-248-5405