Blog
New 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 moreWorld AIDS Day
1st December is World AIDS Day, a time when the world shows its commitment to the fight against HIV and AIDS, its support for people living with HIV/AIDS and remembers people who have lost their lives to the virus. Inaugurated in 1988, it was the first global health day and has continued to be marked annually. The day is important to Team Kenya. Recent research has found that between 2005 and 2015, the number of new HIV cases in Kenya grew by 7.1% on average and that the country overall has a prevalence rate of 6%. However, in Homa Bay…
Read moreInternational Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
25 November is the UN’s Annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It marks the beginning of 16 Days of Activism to work to end violence against women and girls around the world, culminating on International Human Rights Day on 10 December. Orange is the UN’s chosen colour to mark the action each year, a colour representing a brighter future without violence. The theme of this year’s call for action is ‘Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence Against Women and Girls’. The emphasis is on working together to find sustainable funding methods to bring about…
Read moreSuccess Story – Roseline Akoth!
Roseline is 24 years old and is a qualified nurse working at a Mission Hospital in western Kenya. Roseline was born in the village of Kagan in Homa Bay County, western Kenya. Roseline grew up with her mother, father and five siblings. She is the fourth born out of the six children in the family. Due to her father, who provided the majority of the income to the family, falling ill and being unable to work, Roseline’s family was pushed into a difficult situation: “My oldest sister was forced to drop out of school due to a lack of fees,…
Read moreThis woman in rural Kenya is supporting her family thanks to this simple intervention…
Linet Akinyi, a resident of Ndhiwa, rural Western Kenya, a widow and a mother of 6 children (3 boys and 3 girls) has been the sole bread winner in her family since the death of her husband six years ago. Life was not easy for Linet. A typical woman-led farming family, Linet exclusively depends on farming produce for income for school fees for her children, food and other basic commodities. Three years ago her three daughters and three boys would occasionally go to school and some days completely stay away because of lack of food, lack of school fees and lack of…
Read moreReport – School Related Gender Based Violence in Ndhiwa
In December 2015 our application to Comic Relief for funding for a research and intervention project looking into the root causes of School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) in Ndhiwa, was successful. We were delighted to receive £10,000 to design and implement a research and intervention project to identify and address the root causes that lead vulnerable girls in Ndhiwa into high risk situations. Our ultimate goal was to provide girls with safety from violence and all forms of abuse, particularly in and around school. The aims of the project were: • to establish thorough and reliable information about the causes and extent…
Read moreInvolving boys and men in the gender equality solution to poverty
Guest blog by Nessy Rayner Kofi Annan, the seventeenth serving secretary general for the United Nations, a highly thought of male figure inside and outside of Africa, reportedly said, ‘There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women’. The struggle for women to gain equality all around the world is a constant battle, with both men and women ready to stand up and fight for equal rights for both genders. Through recent uprisings of campaigns like the HeforShe campaign, led by the United Nations, it’s apparent that boys and men are vital in the fight against inequality….
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