Scroll down to hear Brenda’s grandfather share in his own voice about how his granddaughter has changed!

“We had no capability of taking Brenda to secondary school—we don’t have the money or work to support her, so we had to take her to Neema so she could build a life for herself, learn skills, depend on herself, and help us,” says Brenda’s grandmother. In Kenya, access to secondary school is limited based on level of income, and for those living in extreme poverty, it becomes out of the question.

Educate a Child says, “Primary school is free (as of 2003), but families must pay for secondary school as well as textbooks, uniforms, and teachers’ salaries. The cost to send a child to secondary school is on average $1.30/day. A year’s schooling is ~$500 US which isn’t possible for a family making less than $2 a day. And when children attend school, they are not contributing to the family’s income. These costs and perceived losses make it difficult for families to justify sending a child to school.” 

Brenda graduated from eighth grade in 2019, but her grandparents lacked the finances to send her to secondary school. Borgen Project says, “Of those girls who are enrolled in the first year of school, one in five (or less) make it to their eighth year.” So for two years, Brenda was living with her grandparents, supporting them and the five other grandchildren who live with them.

One day when Brenda’s grandmother was out looking for work, she saw a poster about Neema that said they were doing assessments. So she pursued admittance for Brenda. “Nobody knows where Brenda’s father is,” her grandmother says, “and her mother is married to someone else. So we wanted Brenda to have a life for herself. We don’t want to lose her.”

Since Brenda joined Neema in January of 2021, her grandparents have seen a change in her. Her grandfather shared, “Brenda is really responsible and clean. She doesn’t need to be followed around to do her work. Even in her talking, she’s growing and maturing.” Her grandmother says, “Brenda is a great girl. She is disciplined and is an example. When I went away for two weeks to bury my mother, Brenda was left with the other kids, and she was responsible for taking care of them. She is calm.”

Like all students at Neema, Brenda has an influence on her siblings and cousins. Her grandmother says, “The girls really admire Brenda, and they would like to go where Brenda is, to Neema. Brenda tells them to work hard in school.”

During a counseling session, Brenda shared, "When you talked to me last time about socializing and building relationships, I took note of it, and I spent my free time with friends and family. It has helped me so much and made me happy to know that there are people who care and love me.”

Brenda says she is happy that the Lord rescued her and brought her to Neema where she experienced “her first happiness.”