Project objective

The project is organised by the Strathmore Turkana Education Program (STEP) in collaboration with a group of dedicated young women, mainly from Kenya and Germany. The primary goal is to enable girls from Turkana to access secondary education. The project consists of two complementary components: an educational camp held every December in the village of Kokuselei, and a fundraising campaign (mainly for secondary school scholarships) to sustain the results of the camp in the long term.

The double barrier to education for Turkana girls

Turkana County (northern Kenya) is an arid land characterised by droughts, food and water shortages. Only 3% of the population has completed secondary school. The fundamental obstacle to education is the lack of secondary school infrastructure in the region and the lack of funds for families to afford education elsewhere. Furthermore, access to education is particularly difficult for girls due to child marriage, cultural barriers and the lack of female role models.

A project by and for young women

In December 2023, the first international edition of the initiative took place with 25 female volunteers from 4 countries. Over 200 young people benefited from the camp’s diverse activities and 6 girls received the first ‘Another Kind of Christmas’ full scholarships, covering school fees and full board for the 4 years of secondary school. After the success of the first year, the second edition of ‘Another Kind of Christmas’ will take place in December 2024 with another group of 25 local and international volunteers.

The camp activities focus on motivating the girls to continue their education through concrete measures, such as explanations of scholarships, testimonials from Turkana women who have attended university, computer skills for writing a CV, and English lessons. The aim of the fundraising campaign is to provide as many secondary school scholarships as possible so that all girls who want further education can receive it.

In addition, an ‘Entrepreneurship Club’ is being launched this year for mothers without formal schooling. There, participants learn how to earn a regular income by selling homemade products such as baskets and jewellery. This year, the focus is also on helping people with alcohol or drug addictions. The funds needed for training and materials will be raised through the fundraising campaign.

Our local partners

The aim of the Strathmore Turkana Education Program (STEP) is to train young people and women from marginalised communities in Kenya to become role models, mentors and beacons of hope. The fundamental basis for this is to support children in their learning process in order to improve their school performance and thus lay the foundation for a good education. Strathmore relies on the cooperation with local and international volunteers to initiate and implement extracurricular support programmes in Turkana.