The young women graduating from Starehe Girls Centre are brimming with potential for laudable careers. These gifted and motivated students are ready to become engineers, doctors, lawyers, architects, and leaders of tomorrow’s Kenya. But for many, university tuition is an insurmountable barrier.
“Most students are from families that are not able to pay their university fees, which are expensive,” says Sr. Jane, Starehe site director. “With the rising cost of living, most parents are struggling to provide even the most basic needs of food and shelter.”
It pained the school and site’s staff to see such bright students forced to defer, take leave, or drop out entirely because of the tuition expenses. But as a charity themselves, there was never room in the budget to offer financial aid.
Cynthia was a prime example. She graduated from Starehe Girls Center in 2021 and was accepted into an Education and Counseling program. But she couldn’t go to classes -she couldn’t afford tuition.
“I was stranded in my schooling,” Cynthia says. “I stayed at home for two years due to lack of school fees. I deferred my studies till my letter was at its expiry date.”
She grew increasingly despondent. “I was at the verge of giving up when I turned to Chalice for assistance.” She stressed and, at times, despairing. She had worked so hard in high school, seemingly for nothing.
But thanks to Chalice’s ‘Girls in Education’ program, “a glimmer of hope illuminated their paths, illuminating the way forward,” Sr. Jane says. With Chalice donors’ generosity, the Starehe team offered tuition aid to thirty Starehe graduates in most urgent need of post-secondary support.
With this support, Cynthia finally enrolled in her first year-classes.
“The education support fund has enabled me to start a journey I have always been dreaming of,” Cynthia says. “My hope was ignited, and this new light gave me hope for a better future.”
She cannot wait to start working as soon as she graduates. She feels that her whole family is depending on her success.
“I need to – no — I MUST- change my family’s situation, as I come from abject poverty,” she says. She hopes that she will also ‘pay forward’ the support she’s received by supporting other students in need.
“Unlike many young people growing up in poverty, these students had a powerful support system,” says Joan from the Starehe site. “They were known, loved and connected in Chalice’s program.”
“With the help of these people and programs, these graduates believed that God had plans to give them hope and a future. They’re all stepping into their futures with skills and faith to make their dreams come true.”