We arrive at a mixed day school in a rural part of the Kenyan coast on what happens to be the first day that Kenya’s new education system opens up the very first junior highschool classes. The Head Teacher, who now oversees both primary and junior high is proud to receive us, so proud that he has gone to lengths to organize for the school’s board of management to be present on the day. How typical of African culture to be so warm and welcoming. After about an hour of introductions, welcoming remarks, and prayers we are finally given the blessing to proceed with the evaluation. We finally get to meet the girls we have travelled hundreds of kilometers for, the girls with stories of second chances.
“This is what life is about. We do not get redos, but we do get second chances” Jeffrey Fry
Amina (not her real name) is deep in thought as she recalls and draws her ‘river of life’. She clearly remembers her life before and during her involvement with the Girl Education Challenge (GEC) program that gave her a second chance in life. She is an orphan who lives in a nearby village with her elderly grandmother who barely has any resources or source of livelihood. Amina had been forced to drop out of school a couple of years ago, but she is now back in school with a chance to pursue her dreams. As days go by and we get to meet many other girls in the county we see many rivers of life and hear many stories that bring mixed emotions to the whole team. On one hand we are moved to tears, especially when the rivers of life reveal stories of child labour, desperation and abuse, but on the other hand we are encouraged that the GEC program enabled them to pick up the pieces and try to make their lives meaningful. We realise some of the girls have deep unaddressed psychological wounds and we are glad to have brought professional counsellors along with us who offer them lengthy counselling sessions. We also hear of older girls who had become mothers and wives in their teenage years but through the GEC program were equipped with entrepreneurship skills that enabled them achieve financial independence and restoring hope for themselves and their children.
“If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you’ve got to go all the way.” – Lance Armstrong
