Meet our newest Sponsorship Facilitator

My name is Megan and I volunteer as a sponsorship facilitator for the Kickstart Project in Kenya. I'm a mother of two and a teacher by profession. My family and I live in the vast slum of Kibera in Kenya.

Kibera is one of the largest and probably poorest slums in Africa. It hosts about 60% of the Nairobi's population, and children make up the largest portion of the population in Kibera.

Kibera has a shortage of almost everything. From clean drinking water, to bathroom facilities, drainage and garbage disposal facilities, roads and electricity. There also aren't enough government schools to educate all the children in Kibera. For this reason several private institutions have come up to accommodate those children who've missed out on vacancies in government schools.

I work in one such institution.

I was one of the many qualified teachers to miss out on job vacancies into government schools. Government teaching positions are extremely sought after, however there simply are not enough positions to provide all teachers with employment. I would have loved to work and earn a salary in a government school but since I missed out, I decided to offer my services to children in Kibera.

I basically work voluntarily since there is only a very limited budget to pay salaries or purchase learning resources for the students. Sadly, only the poorest students in Kibera attend the type of school that I work at. 

After the students finish with primary school they are very unlikely to join secondary school.

Education in Kenya is one of the most expensive commodities. Most poor children in Africa are not able to access a basic level of education because they can't afford it.

Now imagine the children of Kibera, with all the disadvantages surrounding them. They don't even have proper houses, as most people in Kibera live in small tin shacks or single roomed, semi-permanent homes with no electricity or running water.

This is the life that we face here daily and most people never escape from it because the cycle of poverty is so strong. Life in Kibera is difficult.

Fortunately, there are some non-profit organisations such as The Kickstart Project, who are offering sponsorships to the poorest and brightest children of Kibera to study in good quality secondary schools. Organisations like The Kickstart Project may not help every child in Kenya, but the few that they are helping are becoming the light of the areas that they come from.

Many children have rekindled hope. And most of them promise to give back to the community.

I want to thank The Kickstart Project team for what they're doing for the children here. They are changing lives. 

- By Megan Morris (Kickstart Project Sponsorship facilitator)