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Left – Right: Sherryl, Laventa, Enzina, Millan, Jelphine, Nelly, Cynthia, Angela, Sally, Colleen.

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Today officially marks one month since our new cohort of Dottie Scholars joined high school!

From the 2017 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (K.C.P.E) data, 993,718 students sat for the national exams. Out of this number, 217,307 (21%) of the students managed to score between 301 – 400 out of the possible 500 marks. It’s exciting to note that the students selected in our program scored between 330 – 383 marks.

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Their performance was incredible bearing in mind that they did not always have all the support and resources they needed to study while they were in primary school. This was also a year where the gap between boys and girls was almost balanced with 498,775 (50.19%) being boys and 494,943 (49.81%) were girls.

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Our Dottie Scholarship Program enables promising girls from underserved communities to access opportunities to transition to high school and fulfill their potential. Our program intends to develop scholars as leaders and role models who will drive positive change in their communities and beyond. We select our scholars based on academic performance, leadership potential and demonstrated need for financial assistance.

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We made a visit to St Ann Gichocho Secondary School to check on how our scholars were settling in and we were met with vibrant students at the reception. “How’s the school so far?” I ask the students cautiously. Transition from primary to high school is not always easy and our students have also moved to boarding school. It’s a lot of changes; new environment, new subjects, boarding school and hundreds of new students. “The school is great, we loved it from the first day we arrived!” Coleen excitedly responds with confidence. St Ann Gichocho Girls Secondary is a beautiful school with a lot of greenery, neat architecture and it’s well-resourced with key facilities to enhance learning.

It was overwhelming to see how happy the scholars were in their new space. As we spent time interacting with the girls, I was wondering about their future, their potential and what they will achieve today, and in the years to come. The reality is, some of the students would not have transitioned to high school smoothly if they did not receive a scholarship. Many other children from marginalized communities will struggle to access secondary education due to various challenges.

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At this point, we continue to celebrate our scholars. Despite all the challenges they faced, they worked hard and met their goals, proving that they will not stop until they achieve their dreams. For our scholars, this new year offers a new start and a promise for a better future.

For the next four years, we have the opportunity to journey together with these brilliant young girls. We are confident that they will thrive and succeed in all aspects of their lives!

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Contributor: Gloria Omuya – Senior Communication & Operations Officer

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