Last week, I received a text from one of our beneficiaries.
His school, Kaheti Boys had just sent him his end year results. When I read
the text, I shrieked in delight. My boy Moses had As in almost every subject! You
see, when Moses started in Form 1 (grade 9), he wasn’t doing that well. Although
I was paying his tuition and other fees, he was struggling to fit in at the high
school. Most of the other boys come from affluent families.
When I talked to his teachers about his not-so-great performance,
they said that Moses did not interact much with his peers. He kept to himself
and always looked lonely and unhappy. I was so saddened by the report and
promised to talk to him. That school holiday, I traveled to Nyeri and invited
him over for lunch. It was obvious that Moses was worried about his single
mother and the struggles she was going through and he carried this burden to
school. I also learnt that other boys teased him due to his poor background.
Now, when I started the Molly Kiunga Foundation
in 2011(a registered Trust in Kenya), I did not have much money (Not that I have much now )I was simply
walking in faith. I just knew that I wanted to do something in my community. I
wanted to mentor young people: To keep them away from the vicious cycle of
alcoholism and drug abuse, poverty and hopelessness. I also wanted to support bright
children from extremely poor backgrounds. That is why our organization is two-fold: The Youth Mentor ship Project and The scholarship initiative.
A few months ago, I rallied a group of friends to attend ‘family
day’ at Kaheti high school. I especially wanted Moses to interact with some male
figures: Peter Opiyo (works with Safaricom, Kenya) and Don Masinde (owns a fitness
center in Kileleshwa). I also had some female friends and family (gender
balance and all). So we all drove to the school (2 ½ hours from Nairobi).
It was a great day and Moses was super happy to have all
these cool people around him. His mother was for the first time able to visit
him and it was my first time to meet her. Don (the fitness guru) engaged all the
students and their parents in some team building and fun activities.
Peter in his calmness mentored the boys on peer pressure issues. We (the girls)
also engaged them in meaningful discussions such as self-value.
Why I am telling all this? Because this visit changed Moses! We
proved to him that the Molly Kiunga Foundation is not just interested in paying
his tuition. We also care enough to visit him, spend time with him, buy him shopping,
give him pocket money and just be there for him. His mother also assured him
that she was strong enough to handle her own issues so he needn’t worry about
her. After our visit, the teacher tells me that all the boys were like “Moses,
you have the coolest family and friends!” And voila! His self-esteem shot up. And so did his
grades. We plan to visit Abigail our other beneficiary next year and hopefully
she will feel loved as well.
Next year, the Molly Kiunga Foundation
plans to build a resource center at Kihuyo, Nyeri. This will house an
after-school program for primary and high school students. We will also hold
trainings on Reproductive Health including HIV/AIDS, Entrepreneurship and basic business skills, Drugs
and alcohol abuse etc. We will also hold mentorship sessions in different
schools. We have one on January 9th, 2015 in partnership with Career
Options Africa More info here: Mentorship and
facilitation day. Finally, we want to build a library at Kihuyo Primary
school.
Wont you be part of this amazing work! How you ask?
Sponsor a
child: You can choose to pay tuition for a term or the whole year. You
can also make monthly contributions.
Make in
kind donations: Books, pens, crayons, mathematical sets, laptops and
desktops, uniforms, school shoes
Be an
ambassador/mentor: If you are not able to make a donation, be part of
the team that will make school visitations. Also, spread the good word
