Creating Dreams for Girls From Obunga Slum

Posted by: David Omondi

​If you have a dream, you are not poor. Akili girls come from different backgrounds. Some are orphans living with guardians, others live with their single mothers, fathers & some their grandparents in Obunga slum. Some of the tiny iron-sheet structures they live in lack electricity, water supply and sewage systems. Their parents and guardians have no education to secure decent jobs. Meeting their families basic needs with their meager earnings from odd jobs and small businesses in the slum is a daily battle. Most of the families here can hardly afford three meals a day. Against such a backdrop & compounded with the inhibitory costs of paying tuition fees, buying school uniforms, books and school lunch programs,  sending children to school is beyond many families' reach. Despite this, Akili Girls have dreams, and BIG dreams they are! Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, Teachers, Nurses, Politicians, Business Women, Entrepreneurs and Engineers are some of the next generation of women leaders we are nurturing at Akili School.

Growing up in Obunga slum, going to boarding school at 3rd grade is unheard of. Students work hard at an elementary school level and hope that when they turn 14 years and graduate from 8th grade, they  could secure their real chance of joining boarding school. This mostly depends on their parent's or guardian's ability to pay school fees, or if they are lucky, get a well-wisher to sponsor their education.

For 16 girls from Obunga slum, January 14th was a huge day of celebration. For the first time in their lives, and at only 9 to 10 years old, they were admitted to boarding school at the Akili Girls Boarding School, Obambo campus. Their excitement was palpable as they briskly walked in their new school accompanied with their equally elated parents.
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They couldn't help grinning from ear to ear as they admired the splendid classrooms and boarding house that would be their next home for the upcoming months.

Their older counterparts in 4th and 5th grade were here to welcome them and show them around.

One month down the line, life is so different for these girls. They live in a beautiful boarding house, eat 3 meals a day, wear immaculate uniforms, have the best teachers and access free quality education in a unique model where class sizes are capped at 15 girls per class which allows our able teachers to attend to the needs of individual girls in a secure child friendly environment. Partnering with different stakeholders, the girls are mentored and taught their rights as girls and children, life skills, critical thinking and how to rely on themselves and make informed decisions to survive the daily challenges they face as girls.

At Akili School, we know that it is not enough to just build classrooms for our girls. It is our duty to ensure that our girls get a quality education that adequately prepares them to face the world as empowered women who have discovered their own strengths, can advocate for themselves and are capable of creating a new and different path from that which might be forced upon them. We enjoy seeing them grow and improve in knowledge and confidence everyday, learn how to take care of themselves and be independent and gradually transition into the next generation of women leaders. ​

They may be little girls now, but one day, their BIG dreams will become true. And we know just too well how even a little dream can make a BIG difference in your life and the lives of those you love. How precious are their parents smiles as they look at these little girls every time they come to visit them at school! The great Hope they have in their girls' dreams to transform their lives and that of their families is written all over their faces!

With new classrooms, motivated teachers, incredible partners, parents and a supportive community, OUR POTENTIAL IS UNLIMITED and our girls will RUN THE WORLD!!!