Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) transforms urban poverty to urban promise. SHOFCO provides free medical care, community empowerment programs, quality education, and clean water in the slums of Nairobi. The School Fund works with SHOFCO to provide scholarships that allow children to attend quality public secondary schools outside of the slum.
After finishing school I would like to be in a better place than where I am now. I would like to have a better job so that I can even move my parents from the slums to an estate. I would like to build my parents a permanent house which will have everything they need. In the next 10 years, I am hoping that I will have my own family and will be living happily with them. I will teach my children to have good morals. If I succeed in my education, I will try my best to help people who are living in the slums and give scholarships to children who do their best on exams.
School Year 2019
Sawe excels in math and science and loves to learn. She is currently interested in learning computer programming. She wants to go on to university so that she can have a better life. Sawe has 3 younger sisters who were born at the same time (triplets). Since triplets were unexpected, her mother had to have a C-section and the family is still paying off the medical bills. Although she loves her sisters, her parents did not expect to have so many children and they are struggling to improve their standard of living. Her parents are both unemployed and take on various short term jobs when they can.
School Year 2019
I attended Desert Streams School and now am a student at Wamagan Girls School. The school is close to Mount Kenya, and it is very cold which was an adjustment coming from Nairobi. I work hard to achieve my goals because coming from the slums, this scholarship is my only chance to attend high school. I will study very hard to ensure that I can pass. I am very thankful for this opportunity.
School Year 2022
I am a student at Sironga Girls High School, and I previously attended Lang'ata West Primary School. It was not easy to join school as my father did not have the fees for admission. I am so grateful for the opportunity of this scholarship. Due to the pandemic, my parents lost jobs and income, and struggled to put food on the table. I have not lost hope, and am still studying and working hard to stay on the same level as the ther students.
School Year 2022
"In previous years my parents managed to borrow some books for me, like text books. Uniforms and fees were problems. Sometimes the teachers had to send me home until I could get the school fees from my parents. In my family we are 5 children, 1 boy and 4 girls. I live with both of my parents, and we are not well off. But they struggle in other ways to get educated. My plan in academics is to always achieve above a B. And even after school I want to be a doctor, because that is what I dream of for my career. My imagination in 10 years is that I want to be a good and successful person so that I can help others."
School Year 2019
Antony attended a free-education primary school, which provided him with a uniform and books. His family situation has been incredibly unstable because his father has been suffering from an unidentifiable mental illness and his mother is the only breadwinner of the family. Over the past years, she has been using much of her meager incomes to take his father to the hospital. Antony is a strong student and despite all his obstacles, he hopes to continue working hard in his school work.
School Year 2019