Education Programme

a) Donation of Books

While the focus of TVT is to empower women and youth to be able to take charge of their own affairs, its has become clear that the issue of orphans and children from families in extreme poverty can not be overlooked. While women are making efforts to engage in income generating activities, there are some desperate cases where urgent interventions are required to support children’s education.

TVT women empowerment programme includes rehabilitation of ex-commercial sex workers, integration of women with HIV/AIDS and inclusion of people with physical disabilities into the economic groups. Orphan children living with their aged grand parents or relatives, those with HIV/AIDS, those who are physically challenged and those from single commercial sex mothers are the most affected by poverty. Quite often, they are also exposed to various forms of abuse. Some young girls even as young as seven years are involved in commercial sex business as away of earning some money for food.

They get exposed to drugs and alcohol at a very tender age because this is the type of activity they see in their environment. TVT has therefore been assisting the most desperate of such children by finding sponsors for them and moving them to boarding schools. Lack of conducive family environment has impacted on their normal growth and ability to proceed with their education. For children from such backgrounds, TVT looks for sponsors who would pay their school fees and accommodation expenses in boarding schools.

More on Education Projects

During the holidays, TVT makes arrangements with christian families and counseling centers to provide accommodation, spiritual guidance and counseling. Their relatives are encouraged to visit the children as often as possible in order to maintain the family links and bonds. However, in order for them to focus on their studies TVT discourages the return of the children to the environment that exposes them to abuse, immoral practices and other lifestyles that impacts negatively on their education.

For children from such needy backgrounds to perform as good as those others from normal family backgrounds in school, TVT has invested heavily in psychological counseling, coaching and extra tutoring. The children have undergone through traumatic experiences from an early age and without proper counseling they are unable to cope with the normal children’s life in schools.

Teachers at the various schools are informed of the child’s early life experiences to facilitate counseling and extra coaching at school. When on holidays, children are placed in homes with children of their age and arrangements are made for them to participate in children’s events at the local churches as way of enriching their spiritual growth.

Thus the TVT children education programme encompasses an holistic approach in addressing challenges of children who have been brought up in poor, abusive and discriminatory environment. Funds to support such children are sourced from individual sponsors who choose a child to support from the TVT waiting list of many such needy cases.

The sponsor is kept informed on the progress of the child both in and out of school. Furthermore the sponsor is regularly provided with pictures of the child/ children in order for them to follow their growth. Sponsors are also encouraged to have direct link with the children being supported. Where possible sponsors are encouraged to arrange visitations with the children they are supporting.

As the new term of school year commences, TVT. Children are also gearing to go back to school with a lot of excitement. TVT children are in class six, seven and eight. Class Eight being the last year of primary school, TVT has a candidate who will be sitting the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam in 2012 in the name of Bilha Wanjiru. Hopes are very high that Bilha will set a good example for other girls and boys under the TVT programme. Bilha comes from Salgaa an area with many girls in the same age who are likely to enter into early child prostitution if they are not supported to go to boarding schools out of the Salgaa region. Kiprotich is a class seven student from Buuri constituency and living with his elderly grand mother. He stays with his grandmother together with his three other siblings. The grandmother is not able to support their education and TVT could only afford to support Kiprotich with school expenses.

Agnes Kendi is an orphan and in class six. A very determined and focused girl and TVT has high hopes for her future.

There are many other children in the same TVT waiting list from similar backgrounds due to lack of funds. TVT is appealing to individuals, organizations and cooperate bodies to support a child or more to come out of abusive and hopeless environment. Education is one way of giving hope for a bright future to a child and his/her family. Average cost of education and accommodation is US$1,500 per year per child. To know more on how you can support a needy child, contact [email protected]. For more pictures on this programme visit the gallery.

b) Reading Club

On 26th August 2016, TVT held the first reading competition and it was a huge success. The reading competition attracted students from both lower and upper secondary classes. The audience who turned up in large numbers included parents and relatives who came to witness the historical event at the TVT training house in Meru. The media was invited to cover the event in order to ensure that the next competition has a higher coverage in terms of participation.

The next reading competition will be in December, 2017 and TVT invites all those interested in participating to register by sending their names, school or organization to [email protected]. TVT is calling in donors and partners to support the reading completion by donating the awards for the top performers. Donation of books and computers, both new and old, for the library would also be appreciated. Contestants at the reading competition outside TVT training house. They were not only excited about the competition but each of them had hopes of scooping the first award of Kshs. 15,000

Each contestant was required to present a book he /she had read in 20 minutes, chapter by chapter and later explain to the audience what he or she considered to be the theme and relevance of the book in their own situations. Here the audience are seen very attentive as they follow the presentations. Seated around the table are the judges who evaluated the performance of the contestants.

This is Chief Judge, Principal of Kailutha Secondary school, Mrs. Ann Mwika, briefing the audience on the criteria used for selecting the winners. TVT acknowledges the efforts and hard work of all the judges that made the reading competition a success.

There were many young people who had registered their interest in the reading competition and made it to the final list. The first award went to the third girl from the left in purple, a student in Kanjalu Girls secondary school. The second award went the second young man from the right, in white T-shirt and a form four student from Miathene boys’ school. The third prize went to second girl from the left in orange and a form two student from Laciathuriu day secondary school. All the other participants got a token of appreciation as a way of motivating them and acknowledging their efforts.