Compassion Beyond Borders' program in Kenya is its most comprehensive anywhere. CBB gives scholarships to primary school, high school and university students, provides adult education classes to women with AIDS, and funds an orphanage/community center. All of CBB's scholarships in Kenya go to orphans, mainly from AIDS, and all are given in the district of Kakamega, in rural northwestern Kenya.
Orphan girls have commonly lost their father and family breadwinner. Some of these girls live with their mother who is invariably ill with AIDS, limiting her ability to care for them. Other orphans have lost both parents and most commonly live with a penniless grandmother who is even less able to provide adequately for them.
Primary school scholarships
Thirty percent of the young girls in Kakamega are not in school, and nearly half of those girls are AIDS orphans. Most of these girls have never been to school, while others have started school but left because of their poverty. To begin getting these girls into primary school, CBB has begun two pilot programs, each funding scholarships for 60 girls. The programs are administered with the support of local Chiefs who are part of the political structure of the government of Kenya.
Primary school in Kenya is said to be free, but schools still charge miscellaneous fees and a girl needs school uniforms, shoes, school supplies, etc. For an AIDS orphan, the difference between going to primary school, or not going, can be CBB's scholarship of $45.
High school scholarships
Secondary school fees are so high in Kenya that only seven percent of older girls are in high school in Kakamega. CBB gives 160 high school scholarships to girls who are AIDS orphans. It is increasingly focusing these scholarships upon two rural high schools that teach and exemplify CBB's values of community cooperation and sharing.
The girls' scholarships pay for their school fees and some of their other school expenses. The annual cost of a scholarship for a high school AIDS orphan is currently $135.
University scholarships
In Kenya, as elsewhere, Compassion Beyond Borders gives higher education scholarships for studies in teaching, nursing and social work.
Currently, five girls are studying in teachers' training colleges or in universities for a bachelor's degree in education. Scholarships are $800 for teachers' colleges and $1,000 for university studies.
Adult education for AIDS women
Compassion Beyond Borders funds two adult education classes for women with AIDS at the Indangalasia HIV/AIDS Resource Center just outside Kakamega town. The women receive instruction in literacy and in using computers, and have already received an extensive education in health care.
In a country where half of all females are victims of domestic violence, the education of women is an especially effective means for enabling them to avoid this abuse. The cost of training each class of 40 women is $1,300 annually.
Gateway Community Center
CBB sponsors the Gateway to Heaven Center that provides a home for 20 orphans, serves as a soup kitchen for poor neighborhood orphan girls, gives scholarships from nursery school through university studies to local orphans, administers one of CBB's pilot programs to place out-of-school orphan girls into primary school, and is opening a community nursery school.
In addition to AIDS orphans, Gateway also cares for "taboo" girls. Taboo children are those born of relationships considered to be incestuous in the local culture. These children are commonly abandoned or even killed, as they are considered to be a bad omen for their family and their village. Gateway rescues these girls and provides them with a loving home and an education.
The annual cost of supporting a girl at Gateway is $375, including her education.
One girl's story: Scridah
Scridah is an AIDS orphan entering the eight grade at her primary school in the rural neighborhood of Indangalasia. Not having a father, mother, or even a guardian, she had been placed in an orphanage. There Scridah was raped by the orphanage manager. The orphanage was closed, the manager put into jail, and Scridah was left homeless.
CBB's project coordinator took Scridah into his own home where she is being cared for by his loving wife. Scridah is making good progress in healing from her tragic experience, although she remains shy. CBB is paying for all of Scridah's living and education expenses, and will continue doing so until she has completed her education. The annual cost of Scridah's support is $400.
