Blog
Raising Achievement in Ndhiwa Primary Schools
In Spring 2017, Team Kenya was delighted to receive a grant of £10,000 from the British and Foreign School Society (https://www.bfss.org.uk) to introduce new activities into our existing programmes in schools. The project, ‘Raising Achievement in Ndhiwa Primary Schools’, is funded for twelve months and aims to improve education for girls and boys in our four partner schools and more widely across the sub-county. The project is improving access to much-needed resources for teachers and children as well as training and mentoring for a Lead Teacher in each school. The Lead Teacher will then be supported to cascade her/his learning…
Read moreTeam Kenya Aspire Scholarships Newsletter
Celebrating Success! Last year we trained over 120 of our girls’ mothers in improved agricultural techniques and table banking, to help them become food secure, increase their income and better manage their finances. As a result, for the first time, these women have sufficient funds to be able to contribute to their daughters’ school fees and better support their families. Thanks to the incredible efforts of the women that we trained, all of the girls in our Success for Girls in School and Aspire Scholarships programmes, who passed their primary schools exams, are now in high school with only a…
Read moreEmma’s blog
I’m Emma Lees and I am a Law student at Newcastle University. I became involved in Team Kenya over a year ago after searching for a society that combined women’s rights with international development, so this charity seemed perfect. I have helped fundraise at the numerous society events as well as organising the pub quiz and Christmas fair. I have always had a passion for this area of work and when the opportunity of visiting Kenya arose I knew I had to come. I had done a similar volunteering trip to Marrakech before – which I loved, although at times…
Read moreTackling period poverty
The topic of menstruation is often met with awkwardness and embarrassment; it is surrounded by taboos, and shrouded in secrecy. In July 2016 I travelled to Ndhiwa, Kenya as I wanted to discover how girls in this community experience and deal with ‘that time of the month’. This research was conducted as part of my Masters in Social Development from the University of Sussex. Partnering with Team Kenya to conduct this was incredibly worthwhile, and such a unique experience to talk to these girls first-hand about their everyday experiences of periods, schooling, and the effects of poverty. I interviewed girls…
Read moreBrighter Futures
We have recently completed a Comic Relief funded research project into the root causes of School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) in Ndhiwa and the most successful interventions. Our research found that: SRGBV in Ndhiwa is highly prevalent but underreported by schools and local government 62% of girls have experienced violent or sexual threats in schools 67% of girls felt that they may receive lower grades if they did not reciprocate sexual advances from male teachers 1 in 4 respondents felt that it was sometimes ok to raise a hand to a girl Our research showed that the key perpetrators…
Read moreMount Kenya October 2017
Join our team of trekkers this October and climb the spectacular Mount Kenya! Climbing to 5,199 meters, Mount Kenya is the second tallest mountain in Africa. The scenery surrounding this designated World Heritage Site is breath-taking. The trek takes you from the dusty lowlands though ancient forest and unique glacier-sculpted alpine heath, up to jagged volcanic peaks and glistening glaciers. In the 2800sq km National Park there are over 800 recorded plant species with 81 species being endemic to Mount Kenya. You can also see a wide variety of wildlife such as elephant, buffalo, bushbuck, waterbuck, zebra, hyena, colobus monkey…
Read moreNew Development Manager
My name is Ben Margetts and I am delighted to introduce myself as the new Development Manager, and first employee at Team Kenya. I have previously worked with NSPCC, Childline, and the Tropical Health and Education Trust within the charity sector, as well founding and running a small UK charity that operated in Kenya. My previous experience of working in Kenya highlighted the huge challenges that girls and women face in rural areas, and I am excited to be joining an organisation that is engaging an entire community in gender equality, so that girls have an equal opportunity to reach…
Read moreAspire Scholarships success
In December 2016, the Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results from the exams taken in November 2016, were released. These are the equivalent to UK GCSE/A level school exams and are what students in Kenya require for university entrance. A history of scandal In 2016, after widespread cheating in previous years, the Kenyan government dissolved the national examination board and arrested its members after they were implicated in widespread cheating on the university entrance exams. Half a million high school students sit the exams annually and in 2015 the results of 5,101 candidates were cancelled because of cheating, as…
Read moreJob Vacancy – Development Manager
We have a rare and unique opportunity for an exceptional person to shape both our organisation and their own career in international development. Team Kenya is a small, highly effective and ambitious CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) led by a committed Board of Trustees and supported by a key team of volunteers and long-term supporters. Team Kenya work in partnership with a Kenyan NGO to educate girls, empower women and transform communities in rural Kenya. This pivotal role will suit a highly organised, motivated and driven person who wants to make a real difference to Kenyan communities and develop their own…
Read moreMeet the Kenyan girl turning HIV stigma on its head
When Anatalia was 16, her daughter, Serafin, was born. As a young girl at primary school in Ndhiwa, Anatalia was forced into a sexual relationship with her secondary school teacher. Throughout the pregnancy which followed, this man offered her no financial or emotional support – even suggesting that she have an abortion, a practice which, being illegal in Kenya, would have put Anatalia’s life in grave danger. Shortly after giving birth, Anatalia noticed that she was falling ill more frequently than usual with headaches and fevers. When she was finally able to access the medical support she needed, she received the…
Read more