It has been an exciting and busy few months at our Seed of Hope centres.

 

There were successes and excitement as the January to June cohort graduated and proceeded to their internship placements which they will be completing in the next few weeks.

 

Parents of the graduates recently took part in free Financial Literacy Training sessions. This is to enable, and equip, parents to support graduates with setting up and running their own businesses. It also helps them to manage their own personal finances which is crucial with the sharp increase in the cost of living.

 

A new cohort of students joined our vocational training courses in July, and have been settling in well. We always start the term with a week long introduction programme called Amuka. Amuka  is a personal development programme which helps the students to get ready to learn, to develop soft skills, set their personal achievement goals, build their confidence in making the most of the opportunities open to them and to set them up for success to create a brighter future for themselves. Experience has taught us that personal development should be a key building block of any training programme. We also use this time to assess the additional support students will need, such as childcare and travel vouchers so they can make the most of their free training course.

 

 

The 160 newly enrolled students, which includes 41 young mothers, will be on a six month vocational training course from July to December. We’ll continue to enrol new students on our shorter Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy and Computer course, which lasts for 7 weeks. 

 

Our additional support, which sets us apart from other Technical and Vocational Training Centres is free for all students and includes:

  • Cooked lunches, and snacks
  • Group and unlimited individual counselling sessions
  • Childcare vouchers for young mothers
  • Sanitary packs for girls
  • Weekly rice packages for the families of students in Kitui due to the drought
  • Business hub and cyber cafe for graduates in Kitui to launch their businesses from

 

Meet Jane*, a young mother who has joined our Seed of Hope training programme and received childcare vouchers to enable her to attend her lessons. Florence (Seed of Hope Manager) says “Jane made my day when she said that Seed of Hope has provided her with everything that she needs in life to be happy, which are: love, something to do, and something to hope for.”

 

Jane has made our day too! This is only possible thanks to our generous supporters. It costs on average £25 a month to provide training and support for a young person like Jane so they can experience opportunity, dignity and hope.

 

All this would not be possible without you, thank you for your generous contribution towards Seed of Hope.

 

*Name changed