Our Mission
Upholding a loving Christian environment, providing quality education, developing self-sustainability, and positively impacting our community.
Our Vision
To provide Refuge, Restoration and Redirection for the marginalized girls of Kenya.
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?
In 2005, we welcomed six girls to Light of Hope Home & School in Naivasha, Kenya. Today, we have cared for more than 150 girls – and we are continuing to grow! In 2021 there were 119 girls at Light of Hope, plus 21 more girls in high school and another 14 girls attending university.
The Problem:Global Poverty
The deck is stacked against girls in the developing world.
132 million girls in the world are not in school because of poverty, lack of health care, forced marriage or simply because they are girls.
In Kenya, an estimated 72.1 million children are in the labor market, and school dropouts are on the rise.
33% of girls in Kenya have been raped by the time they have reached the age of 18.
The number one killer of girls under the age of 15 is early childhood births.
1.5 million people are living with HIV in Kenya. 63% of the children living with HIV are on the anti-retroviral therapy and an estimated 660,000 are orphaned because of it.
The consequence?
She will likely marry younger, bear more children, and struggle against a stunted earning capacity; factors that trap her in extreme poverty. Multiplied by tens of millions of girls and the problem can feel insurmountable.
It isn’t.
The Solution:INVEST IN GIRLS
If you wish to drive economic development in the world’s poorest regions, you must educate her girls.
Why is that?
According to the World Food Programme, girls and women invest 90% of their income in their families.
That investment in family is compounded when girls receive an education. For each additional year of primary school, a girl’s wages increase by 10 to 20%. And, for every year of secondary school, her income rises 15 to 25%.
This investment in a girl’s education profoundly impacts her life in other ways, as well. Girls who attend school for at least seven years delay marriage by an average of four years and have two fewer children than those who are denied education.
The end result?
Strong, healthy communities with the tools and resources to rise out of poverty.
It’s humbling. I have seen you take their hands; embrace them like one of your own. You have shown them limitless possibility, that hope is not lost.~ Pauline Aketch,
Maseno University (Kenya)
graduate & Light of Hope intern
OUR CONTRIBUTION TO GIRL EMPOWERMENT
We provide much more than a girl’s basic needs and all-important education; we offer a loving, family environment that allows each girl to heal and grow.
Teaching the skills of communication and conflict resolution empowers a girl to navigate her circumstances and advocate for herself.
When each girl strikes out into the world after her education here is complete, she will have the tools she needs to become a change agent in her own community, Kenya, Africa, and beyond.
Focus on Leadership Development
We are committed to changing the world, one girl at a time – and we do it by empowering the passionate, ethical leaders of tomorrow.
We encourage our girls to take advantage of leadership opportunities, from taking charge as class prefects, sports team captains, study group and student body leaders. The older girls serve as mentors and tutors to the younger girls. They learn public speaking, how to use their gifts and skills as they participate in weekly worship services.
Our girls participate in community service projects in and around Naivasha, as well as here at Light of Hope Home & School, learning the importance of engaged citizenship.
We will place special emphasis on the 21st century skills our girls will need to actively engage in social, economic, and political life. All these things help them to advance into strong, confident girls.