PLEWA FAMILY FOUNDATION WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NASIO TRUST ANNUAL REPORT 2021: TWO GOATS FUND PROJECT

NASIO TRUST charity background

The Nasio Trust is a UK registered charity and Kenyan NGO which supports orphaned and vulnerable children and empowers communities to break the cycle of poverty by a holistic approach providing education, improving health, food security, psychosocial support and developing commerce. Our strapline of ‘Changing Lives for Good’ reflects the way we help transform the prospects of countless individuals – in Kenya, Tanzania and the UK.

The objective of the Nasio Trust, established over 20 years ago, is to empower communities for social change, helping unlock leadership potentials, and deliver sustainable and scalable ways of addressing the world’s problems by working with communities, individuals, governments, partners and other NGO’s to directly tackle and contribute in ways to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Introduction

This report covers the partnership work between Plewa Family Foundation and Nasio Trust to support the education of two students, Newton Okutoyi and Raina Ngesa from Mumias West sub-county, Kakamega County of Western Kenya. The Plewa Family Foundation Exceptional Student Scholarship provides a young person with education, uniform, school equipment, medical care and other educational and social needs to enable them to fulfil their potential.

The scholarship is equally available to both girls and boys who are disciplined and show commitment and aptitude to study. As part of the scholarship, the Plewa Family Foundation along with Nasio Trust team works with the student to nurture and develop their talents, both in and out of the classroom, providing them with every opportunity to pursue their passions to make a success of their lives.

Project rationale, aims and objectives

Poverty is the greatest barrier to education access in the communities living in poverty and
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (Nelson Mandela).

Families want the best for their children but lack the financial means to support their education. When you educate a young person in Africa, they will be three times less likely to get HIV/AIDS, less likely to drop out of school due to early pregnancy, earn 25% more income and have a smaller, healthier family. A child whose mother can read is 50% more likely to live past the age of five and twice as likely to attend school themselves. An education empowers women, not only to reduce poverty but also it improves economic growth in the area. Girls and boys from disadvantaged families are particularly vulnerable to missing out on education whether through poverty or prejudice.

Kenya has a public mandate to provide free primary education for all children. But more than 1.2 million primary-school-age children in Kenya do not attend school based on UNICEF report 2018. High achievers in the KCPE final primary school examinations are selected to attend National Secondary Schools where the educational standards are high and for the rest they will be allocated to local community schools. However, although both schools are free of charge, the cost of attending a national school is around £800 a year, far beyond the reach of families living in poverty. Even community schools can be beyond the reach of many.

Amongst the community we support there are many boys and girls who, despite their disadvantages, are academically gifted and achieve high marks at primary school. Most will not have the means or opportunity to go to a secondary school where their full potential can be developed. By identifying them and supporting them The Nasio partnership with The Plewa Family Foundation aims to not only reduce poverty but also improve economic growth which changes the destiny not just of individual boys and girls, their children and also the wider community, even nationally.

The Plewa Family Foundation Exceptional Student Programme is not just about the student, it’s also about empowering their families economically through other interventions like training and income generating projects or through food security, such as through the One Acre Fund programme.

Mentorship Program
All our beneficiaries are paired with mentors ( for Raina , Caroline Njuguna Chief Nurse at GMK Medical Centre and for Newton, Evans Bwire , a Clinic Officer at GMK Medical Centre ), who support them providing guidance, motivation, emotional support, and role modeling on their academic journey in line with the individual students’ academic goals and interest.

Nasio employees, who are also mentors, visit students at school once each term and assist them to achieve their personal goals, build their self-efficacy, confidence, develop their emotions resilience and provide guidelines on performance and expectations. They also offer encouragement to students especially if they find them struggling to meet their academic and non-academic objectives

Program Objectives

•  To support initially two students in a program – one girl and one boy. Providing successful roll out of the Program in year one, we aim to extend Program to more students
  Strengthen local communities, create opportunities, and tackle issues of disadvantage and exclusion through education.
  Build endowment and provide strong links between the Plewa Family Foundation and the Nasio Trust community.
  Create Plewa Family Foundation Scholarship Alumni to support programme continuity and social impact

Current Project Status

We started our Program in October 2019 when Newton Okutoyi and Raina Ngesa where enrolled to continue their education in High School as of 2020

Our two pioneer students Newton Okutoyi and Raina Ngesa are progressing well in their respective schools and at home.

Newton Okutoyi

NAME : NEWTON OKUTOYI ADM NO : NOO366/20E SCHOOL : KAKAMEGA HIGH SCHOOL CLASS : FORM TWO D.O.B. : 11/09/2006RESIDENCE: MURUMBA VILLAGENewton Okutoyi was enrolled on the in 2020 after his 2019, KCPE exams which he had scored 408 marks out of 500. Based on his family background and resources at his schools this was a very good and exceptional score above average.In 2020, Newton was admitted at Kakamega High School as a form one student one of the best performing schools in Kenya and this motivated him immensely. Since then, Newton has maintained good quality grades. He is also a member of science and debating club.After the Christmas holiday he returned to school on 4 January 2022 and will sit national examinations commencing 11 March.

Raina Ngesa

NAME : RAINA NGESA ADM NO. : RN118/12 SCHOOL: ST.ANNES MUSOLI CLASS : FORM 2 D.O.B: 27.07.2002 RESIDENCE: EMULEMBWA KCPE MARK : 318 CLUB: HISTORY AND SCIENCERaina is one of the Plewa Family Foundation exceptional students who qualified to join the program in the year 2020. She scored 318 marks in her KCPE exams out of 500. Raina is from a vulnerable family and this further necessitated decision to support her education.Raina joined St.Annes’ Musoli Girl’s High School in 2020. She’s now in form two hoping to move to form three next year 2022 in March.She is also a member of the History and Science Club.Raina is disciplined and has been described as one of the most respectful, polite and responsible student it the entire institution.

Impact

Newton Okutoyi

High School Exam Results.

Newton is a hardworking and well-disciplined bright student. From the school results, Newton has maintained a good performance. However, the drop in performance is due to long period that he had been out of school as a result of Covid-19. All schools closed for a year disrupting student’s education, students did not receive any study instruction, feedback or interaction with their teacher’s this period greatly affected Newton’s performance especially in sciences.

According to Newton, they were given printed assignments and notes and were told to regularly read their notes while waiting for new instructions from the Ministry of Education when schools would reopen. Newton found this challenging in comprehending some subjects without help from his teachers, for example, Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology.

During this period we put students and study cohorts and encouraged them to share books and past papers so that they could stay focused and on top of their studies. He returned to school after the Christmas holiday on 4 January and a follow-up visit was on 5 February. His class teacher says Newton actively engages in class activities and is part of the Science/ Debate club. He did the first continuous assessment test (CAT) from 27 to 31 January 2022 and is expected to achieve good grades in his subjects, the results will be available shortly.

Steps agreed to support Newton

Discussing the improvement opportunities with Newton’s Teacher Madame Christina, the following was agreed:

• Support Newton in Mathematics with additional after-school hours classes
• Support Newton in building his self-confidence (details of the program to be agreed)

Emotional and social support.

The emotional and social support from Nasio staff greatly motivated him; students are encouraged to work independently and as part of a team. During the holidays and the pandemic, Newton was actively involved in various volunteering activities organised by the Nasio Trust. He took part in Covid-19 sensitization, Peer Education activities, Farming, volunteering in the spirulina greenhouse, Library sessions among other activities.

Youth Leadership and Bee Keeping Training.

Pic: Newton attending leadership and beekeeping training at the Nasio Trust Safe space

Newton has made the following commitments to improve in his grades.

• Create extra time for revision and study subjects in depth especially sciences.
• Seek help from teachers.
• Set himself targets and work hard to achieve them.
• Create a personal revision timetable.
• Actively participate in focused group discussions.

Class teacher’s comments about Newton

• Newton is among the best students in class
• Newton is a hardworking, focused and disciplined boy.
• He can do better if provided with enough revision materials
• Outside the class, Newton is a member of Science and Debate club.

Nasio Head of Education Comments.

Newton is a disciplined, respectful and hardworking young man who is always willing to learn new skills and help others.

Parents Feedback.

Newton’s parents are very proud of the achievements Newton has made. His mother expressed her gratitude to the Nasio Trust and Plewa Family Foundation for supporting Newton through his education and during the pandemic keeping him busy and focused with education and learning new skills.

 Raina Ngesa

HIGH SCHOOL EXAM RESULTS.

Below is Raina’s performance since form one.

 Class teachers Comments

In general, Raina’s was slow to settle and performance dropped drastically towards the end of her first year due to the pandemic and the school closure. The major contributors to her poor performance included negative attitudes towards some of the subjects e.g. mathematics and sciences and low self-esteem.

A school visit was conducted on 21st January by Raina’s mother Mwanaisha Ngolo and her mentor Caroline Njuguna for a meeting organised by the school to discuss Raina’s performance and to lay down expectations on improvement and the support she will receive to help her.

After establishing what was affecting her performance, we are pleased with her progress and are sure that she will continue to improve in her subsequent performance. She will now study 8 subjects (English, mathematics, Kiswahili, biology, chemistry, agriculture, history and religious education) and will sit examinations at the end of her fourth form.

Raina wishes to pursue a medical course to qualify as a nurse after she has completed her secondary education. She was paired with Caroline Njuguna, a registered nurse working at The Nasio – GMK Medical Centre. Caroline graduated from the Kenya Medical Training College and with her experience in the medical field, and now the nurse in charge of the medical centre.  She has been supporting and motivating Raina to meet her career aspirations and goals.

Steps agreed to support Raina

• Class teacher to closely monitor and assist Raina develop her personal timetable and guide her on her study and reading habits to developing her attitude to study.
• Class teacher to contact the guardian/sponsor/mother as soon as need arises
• Visit the school counsellor for guidance and counselling
• Attached to a counsellor to help her gain confidence.
• Provided with enough revision materials, especially in mathematics and sciences, as well as set books and uniforms, and pocket money.
• To be actively involved in debate sessions so as to help her build self-confidence.
• She has been attached to one of Nasio employees as a mentor for one on one support

Raina’s commitments

• To always seek help from class teacher and mentor and work hard and eliminate the poor grades and marks.
• set goals and targets and work hard to attain them. Maintain a C Plain Grade in all her subjects and embrace all subjects’ positives.
• To create extra time for revision and also read widely and make sure that she understands the concepts.
• Raina appreciates Nasio Trust and Plewa Family Foundation for their generous support in her education and promises to pull up her socks and compete with her peers. During holidays, Raina was actively involved in various activities for example: Music and drama, Peer Education, Farming, Debate, Library sessions among others. She is one of the best performing Nasio’s peer counsellor. Raina’s self-esteem has improved as a result of this program; she feels confident to speak up when she needs help and better able to face the challenges of her studies.

Girls Leadership Training.

Girls Mentorship training programme

Parent’s feedback.

Raina lost her father and lives with her Mother, Mwanaisha Ngolo who is also an employee at the Nasio trust and working at the Nasio’s Tree Nursery in the farming department she is very grateful for the support that her daughter is receiving at Nasio Trust. She also attributes her progress in life courtesy of Plewa Family Foundation.

She believes that her daughter will one day change lives of many girls in her village who face similar challenges as her daughter. She is among the most active parents at Nasio Trust.

During the pandemic Raina was very active volunteering at the medical Centre sensitizing other students and members of the community.

Raina at the Hospital gate helping with hand washing and data collection.

 Ongoing support of the students

 The Nasio Trust Education Department works closely with the students to ensure that they achieve their goals. This includes:

• Conducting Regular visits to schools to help establish the progress of students, note the challenges they face and assist them overcome the challenges. The visits also provides a suitable forum to get feedback from their teachers.
• Establishing contact with the student’s class teachers. The teachers communicate regularly about the student performance and progress. This enables us to keep in touch with their school life.
• Every student has a student progress file that enables easy retrieval of their academic performance. This makes comparison easy and therefore we can forecast and work with the student to set targets and goals and establish gaps and recommend possible solutions.
• All students are obligated to submit their termly academic progress reports. The report helps us to study their academic performance trends and make decisions on the best way to support them. In case of a drop in performance, we have been able to advise them on the best techniques that can enable them improve and compete with the rest of the students. Motivation has been our key tool to spurring them towards academic excellence.
• On mentoring, every student is attached to a mentor (an employee of Nasio). In a rural poor community any professionals in employment are role models to our students and that’s why we believe staff can have a major impact on our children and their future professional and personal choices.
• During holidays, every student is actively involved in various volunteering activities supported by Nasio Trust staff such as peer programs, farming, tailoring, music and drama to enable them to acquire various skills and also stay focused. These activities provide hands-on life skill and develop social and leadership skills that enable them fit in well in the society, learn to give something back,and build new relationships with their peers as well as team work. This creates all round future responsible citizens and leaders.
• Guiding and counselling sessions normally play a greater role in promoting good morals and also enable learners to stay focused. All students have access to free counselling sessions when they need to speak to someone privately
• Safe space – we have also created a safe space a space young people can use for supporting each other, share their problems and support each other without feeling judged.
• Regular zoom meetings with Jacek have made such an impact on both Newton and Raina motivating them to work hard and stay focus. The school visits meant a lot to both of them and their parents it showed that Jacek truly cares and is interested in their education and success.

Newton and Jacek during a school visit

Raina with her mother on the left and with her mentor Caroline Njuguna (Nurse GMK Medical Centre) on the right.

Challenges with Closure of Schools due to the Pandemic

The education system has felt the need to rush through the syllabus not considering the students learning styles therefore students not getting the support from teachers therefore not understanding some of the topics.

Unrest, stress and anxiety among students due to the pressure to catch up on a year’s work with increased cases of schools being burnt by students.  Kakamega School was adversely affected by the students’ unrest (Newton’s School)

Comment from Newton: I appreciate the support over the years. I am also very grateful for your support, guiding, counselling and motivating me always.  May god bless you and your family and for everything that you do and the plans that you have for the future. Thank you for your sponsorship.

– Newton

Comments from Raina: being one of the exceptional student has really helped me believe in myself and that I can also help others and that’s why I am a peer educator and find speaking to other young people about behavioral change has made me appreciate myself better and the opportunities I have and the need to work hard at school and in my education. Through this programme I feel I am no longer alone in this world and I will continue to reach out to other young people who are undergoing the same challenges as I am and help them work hard too.

– Raina

Asante Sana – Thank You