Kenya Here I Come: Passion to Share

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My last stop before coming home is Kenya to visit a NGO called Passion to Share. This organization was started by a young women who had a very difficult childhood. After her 7th step mother attempted to kill her she went to live in an orphanage run by Warm Hearts. They supported her through high school and college. When they would ask her what she wanted to be when she grew up said she wanted to be like them: helping others. And she has done just that. Lydia and her co-founder Noel started Passion to Share to lift up the girls in the slums of Kibera. This slum houses well over 250,000 people (counting is very difficult due to the nature of their living environment). This is the biggest slum in Africa and one of the biggest in the world.

Most families live on $1 USD per day. Much of this money is spent on buying water because there is no plumbing or wells in the slums. This means there is no money left to pay school fees to educate the children. The young girls options are: prostitution, robbery, or child marriage. PTS goal is to give the girls skills so they can lift themselves out of poverty and create a better life for themselves and their families.

PTS offers 6 months of full time training at no cost to the girls. They offer tailoring/fashion design as well as graphic design. They can accommodate 8-9 girls per session, but receive applications from more than 50 girls for each program. They said one of their hardest tasks is selecting which girls will receive this training. In additional to the hands on training they also have classes such as: public speaking, communication, interview skills, and empowerment.

PTS has also started a daycare and preschool in the slum. This began because the young mothers in the classes needed somewhere for their children to go. But now it is also used by residents of the slum that have regular employment. While this only applies to a small percentage of the neighborhood it is still more than the center can accommodate.

My reason for coming is two fold. Firstly, is to help them add a financial literacy component to their training. Many girls hope to start their own business and need the financial knowledge to run a proper business. The second is to look for opportunities to offer loans to the girls who have completed their courses and are ready to start working. The most popular item needed is a sewing machine or a laptop. PTS has started a savings program and a few of the girls are working very hard to save up money. I am hoping to set-up an opportunity for them to receive a matching loan similar to the ladies in Uganda.

I still can't add photos so here is a link to see inside Passion to Share

29 Photosshare.icloud.com

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