By Mansi Kotak | Co-Founder & CEO
Dear Donor,
Thank YOU so much for your continued support to our project!
Since our last report, a few major events have taken place, of which we want to highlight two key events: students graduating from completing their first full academic year since the pandemic in March of 2020 and how RKF is transitioning back into regular programming and growing from the lessons learnt during the pandemic to support families amidst rising inflation in Kenya.
Graduation Time!
The joyous photograph at the top of this report is from the graduation of the students of PP2 at Elimu De Ark School in March. The day was as cheerful and as colorful as the picture looks. Team RKF was invited to be a part of this wonderful celebration to congratulate these bright students on completing this milestone. And we couldn’t be happier or prouder to watch them graduate and get ready for Primary School. And we wanted to share with you what your donations to our programs helps accomplish: students reaching key milestones in their academic journeys!
Later on the same day as Elimu’s graduation, our team was also able to witness the students of Valley Academy in Nyalenda graduate from PP2 into Primary School. During the graduation, we met with Linda, a parent whose daughter recently graduated from PP2. Team RKF was present during her graduation to cheer her on as she received her certificate.
In conversation with us about the food relief kits she received throughout the pandemic, Linda shared: "The Meal Kits have helped so much. With 3 school-going children and other rising costs, sometimes even 100 shillings isn't available to buy a packet of unga (flour) but with the meal kits, there's always something to eat. Mafikirio zimeisha kabisa… (my worries have ended)”.
Transitioning from COVID Relief Efforts
As we wrap up our COVID relief efforts and resume our regular programming with schools having re-opened for a new academic year, we wanted to share an important brief on what we have been able to offer in the past few months and summarize the COVID relief efforts we (you and Team RKF) have carried out over the past two years.
In honour of International Women’s Day in March we were able to support 73 at-risk teenage girls with sanitary kits that will last them a full year. This was coupled with training and empowerment for them and their mums/guardians on how best to care for themselves and stay on their academic journeys. This brought the total number of re-usable kits distributed during the pandemic to 480 (equivalent of 96,000 disposable pads).
We have now served over 275,000 meals by making more than 1,476 food packs available to families in different communities in Kisumu County.
RKF’s Education Packs were initially started to support students during the lockdowns to help them continue their studies while schools were closed. However, as schools reopened students faced different sets of challenges like lack of stationery and reading materials for their new classes. And so, we kept going… So far, 4,046 education packs have been provided by RKF to students across different schools in Kisumu!
“Graduating” from the pandemic: what have we learnt and how can we grow?
In the past few months, prices of food items have risen significantly forcing parents to make difficult choices to provide for their family. While talking to several beneficiaries, we learnt that some can only afford one meal in a day. Our school meals program ensures that students receive uji (porridge) for breakfast and rice & beans/green grams for lunch while they are in school. Joyce, a parent whose child is a beneficiary of the school meals shared this:
“It really helps parents like me because in case there is no food at home, I am sure that my child will be eating breakfast and lunch in school.”- Joyce
However, what we realized is that what we offer in school needs to be supplemented at home. As we transition back to our programs, it has become abundantly clear from community feedback, that what we learnt from the pandemic can be carried into our regular programming.
A version of the relief food packs are now being made available to parents in the form of subsidized meal kits. These continue to help parents keep putting meals on the table amid rising food prices in Kenya, while participating in their own growth. This is a solution that many parents have appreciated and continue to actively participate in. One such parent, Rose, shared her story with us:
Rose’s Story
Rose is the sole provider for her family. She earns -Kshs.1,000 (~US$9) per week.
Her 6 children are all school-going and when she gets paid, she pays rent, school fees and other utilities. Rose has been a beneficiary of the food packs for the past 2 years during the pandemic. "I am a part of a Chamma (kitty) where many women come together and contribute a small amount of money on given days. When it’s your turn to receive the money, you get to decide what you want to do with it, I usually cost-share for the meal kits. The program helps me and my children so much."
She added, "Even when I have nothing at all, this (food) pack takes my family through one week. We have chai (tea) in the mornings, I cook rice and green grams for lunch or sometimes substitute it with ugali, chapati and vegetables."
Check out our Climate Action Project Report
From learning how to care for the environment, to exciting garden visits and boat rides by the lake, read about our work in the Climate Action Space in school here.
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