I am young female lawyer who was born and brought up in Siaya. I value Education so much and have recently completed my PhD in Law. My primary school life was challenging, walking six kilometers everyday to quench my thirst for knowledge and a lack of enough learning materials to just mention a few. I believe that these obstacles motivated me to work extra hard and pass well enough to join one of the best girls schools in Siaya. My resilience in education got a notch higher in secondary school and after the four years, I joined the University of Nairobi to pursue Law. I strongly believe in education as a huge contributor to make an individuals life better, hence the idea to start SEP came up in my mind. My main objective was to change the world, one child at a time, by supporting as many students as possible through secondary school. We do this at SEP because economic empowerment is tied to education without which it is very difficult to break the vicious cycle of poverty. If parents are poor and children do not go school, it is likely that the children will be poor and not send their children to school, thus the inter-generational poverty will be perpetuated. Supporting one child to school is an attempt to break this vicious cycle. The one child who goes to school will take care of his or her siblings so that the next generation will be better than the last. My ultimate goal is to see SEP get to a level where no student in Siaya fails to attend school because of lack of school fees. The partnership between SEP and other government and non-governmental institutions would be a milestone too.
Paul has been part and parcel of SEP since its inception. He is one the vision bearers of the organization. He has been a secondary school teacher for the last six years. Having been brought up by teacher parents and grown up amidst great challenges such as lack of school fees, walking for six kilometers daily to quench his thirst for knowledge, Paul remembers this past with nostalgia. This lead to him taking up SEP activities as soon as the idea came up. This was to give opportunity to the academically gifted children from poor backgrounds, to have a chance for a brighter future through education. Paul believes in empowering teenagers to empower themselves. He is driven by what the great Mother Teresa ones said “The Best Life is that which is Lived for Others”. He spends most of his time devoted to the activities of the project together with other Board members. Paul is extremely passionate about working on issues related to the teenagers welfare with a great focus on their academic, social and financial lives. His main desire is to empower the children to realize holistic life transformation for behavior change to enable the kids fit in the ever dynamic world. Paul is a holder of a Bachelors Degree in Education Science from Egerton University and a Masters Degree in Plant Ecology from Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University (Ongoing). He also boasts of a wealth of experience from his training and certification through Aflatoun International (Social and Financial Literacy), The World Starts With Me (SRH and MHM), and I Chose Life Africa (Guidance and Counselling).
Ronald Ouma is the secretary of SEP and a teacher by profession. He is a graduate of Maseno University with a Bachelors Degree in Education Science. He is based at Nyasanda Secondary School where most of the projects of SEP are located. He is a long serving teacher at the school. He fully participated in the establishment of SEP and coordinates the projects activities. Ronnie sits in the Department of Guidance and Counselling, services he wholeheartedly extends to the SEP family. He has participated in various programs within the County which promotes children’s rights and life skills, in turn helping the teenagers to make informed financial decisions and economic empowerment. Such programs are those sponsored by National Aids and STI Control Program (NASCOP), Safe Water and Aids Project (SWAP) sponsored by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and Kenya Medical Research Institute. (KEMRI).
Edith Onyango is an English teacher by profession, a graduate of Laikipia University currently teaching at Nyasanda Secondary School. She serves as the legal advisor of SEP. Having taught for over a decade now gives her a wealth of experience to understand the daily challenges among the teenagers, especially those coming from humble backgrounds. Her role involves to first listen to the teenagers issues, and then, together with other Board members, come up with possible solutions to enable the teenagers overcome such obstacles in their life which SEP believes that by overcoming such challenges, the teenagers can realize their greatest potential. ‘Why do I love my work? - education is the key means of eradicating poverty in Africa. We believe that if young people get quality education, we are able to impact positively in their lives, empowering them to become better leaders of tomorrow. We also teach them the virtues of responsibility, discipline and resilience. This not only ensures we produce academically viable citizens but also social responsible beings that fit into society. This is what drives me to wake up everyday in the morning, to get to work and make tomorrow’s generation a better one.
Zeepoh as she is commonly referred to by many, is the Finance Manager of SEP. She is a graduate of Maseno University with a Bachelors Degree in Education Arts. She currently teaches at Nyasanda Secondary School where she also doubles as the teacher in charge Guidance and Counselling. Her interest in SEP was drawn by her long life experience as a mother figure of over twenty orphaned children in her household. As a mother, her services goes beyond the SEP kids reaching out to the parents and guardians of the sponsored kids in guidance and counselling. Her dream is to see an empowered generation that will touch the lives of others. This is achieved through imparting not only knowledge but also inculcating in the SEP kids the character, personality and ability to respond to tough situations by being creative and imparting into them the knowledge to engage with human beings with a sense of dignity, for this is what will make them different and productive in the outside world.
I have been a SEP Board member since its inception. When the project’s Chairperson approached me to use my school as a center of facilitation of learning and mentorship activities, I was at first hesitant. Later I realized that this was the best thing that ever happened to the teenagers around Ugunja. I realized that most of the kids were thirsty for knowledge but could not get access to a conducive environment to carry out their studies. From a humble number of less than fifty kids, we have seen the number of the kids increasing each and every session until we are now running out of space. As a teacher, a mother and a mentor, my greatest joy is investing in the lives of these young kids in any way possible so as to shape their future. The provision of an enabling environment is vital to their academic success as they are able to fully concentrate, freely express their ideas without interference, hence facilitating the process of learning. SEP has indeed been the vehicle of social change through the mentorship weeks and the leading partner in provision of quality education to all based on equity around Ugunja. Read less
