Education Program

Education has been described as a means to self-development and realization of self-worth in a society. It is viewed very appropriately as an equalizing factor in the society, by which those who are less privileged may be able to attain same status with the privileged in the society.

In January 2004, Kibera Reformation and Transformation Center started an education program. The need for this program came after the realization that most of the children who were in our project were not schooling. Most of them were participating in football and other KRTC activities but would later go to the streets or indulge in illicit activities like taking drugs, gambling or even stealing. The program started as a partial sponsorship for nine children with a budget of 150 USD which has since increased to supporting 20 students, 10 boys and 10 girls.

In running the education program, KRTC holds discussions with parents and guardians about the needs of their children and means available to the families. Our social workers then select beneficiaries, establish and fill funding gaps to bring the children back to school. Through this approach of “topping up means available to the families”, KTRC has been able to leverage our limited funding resources to enable a larger number of children to return to school, than would otherwise been feasible. This program started by supporting about 10 children, who over the years have doubled to stand at about 20 children. Integral parts of our education program besides providing financial means are supporting school admission of our protégés through our social workers; offering counseling and guidance to families, guardians and pupils; and monitoring results.

KRTC also provides individual sponsorships for secondary school and college education for members with special talents coming from very harsh backgrounds and lacking the means to finish formal education. This individual sponsorship program supports its members to acquire professional education. Most of the group’s leaders who are now professionals in different disciplines have been supported through this program. Through this program, KRTC has managed to see through various individuals through such institutions as Riara University, Nairobi Aviation, Zitech University, Kenya Institute of Social Work and Community Development, Railway institute of technology, Bukura Institute of Technology, AIC Technical Collage. The program is providing partial financial assistance to families and guardians whose means are not fully sufficient to ensure schooling of their dependents.

The KRTC education program is led by Stanley Obengo who is joined by Norah Kanini and lately by Joseph Esau. The needs and opportunities to provide more support for our youngest and most vulnerable members are vast. KRTC’s biggest constraints to scale up our education program are availability of financial means. We are therefore looking for further partnerships and financial support from well-wishers, NGOs and Companies, both Kenyan and international, to support our most vulnerable and talented members and better enable them to a fair start in their life.