Sprewell Omondi (Rangala Boys primary school):Sprewell joined the project in class two in the year 2010. He is a second born in a family of four and the two children after him are twins. When he joined the project, he was in one of the schools in Nairobi with high students’ population but was later transferred to a better school after joining the project. This was what the parents could afford since the burden of taking twins to school at the same time together with the first two older ones was financially heavy.Sperwell’s mother, Naomi sells vegetables and fruits which constitutes a higher percentage of the family income. His father is a casual labourer within the industries in Nairobi. These jobs are not regular and sometimes he may go for weeks without any job. Naomi is a beneficiary of the revolving loan fund in SEED Trust and pays her loan well. This has boosted their family income which is about kshs.15,000 per month.     June Felix Oseyo (St. Alloys FP academy):

June joined the project in 2010 in class two. He is a second born in a family of four. They live in one of the slums in the eastern part of Nairobi called Mukuru. June was transferred to a better school and has greatly improved his performance. His mother still operates small businesses within the estate while the father is a mechanic within the informal sector in Nairobi. The mother sells different products at different periods depending on what is on demand. These include vegetables an second hand cloths.

June’s parents both struggle to fend for the children in whichever way they can. The father often identifies individual vehicle owners and repairs their vehicles as part time job outside his mechanical engagement in the informal sector. Their average family income is kshs.16, 000 per month.

  Mitchell Akumu (Kwoyo Kowe Primary school):

Mitchell is another child taken into the project in 2010. She was in class five in 2012 and is struggling despite the health and economic challenges in their family. The parents have poor health are often in and out of hospitals. This means they are not able to work as hard as they need to and with three children to take care of, the task is challenging. She comes from a family of three with parents who are HIV positive. Both parents are not employed and often carry out petty trade to make ends meet. Like many other micro entrepreneurs the businesses change depending on what is in demand. The unsold stock of foodstuff is not wasted but used to supplement food for the family in addition to the mothers’ allowance. Their average family income is kshs.12, 000 per month. The father occasionally finds odd jobs in factories in industrial area which forms part of family income.

  Kate Akinyi (St. Teresa’s Girls Primary School):

Kate joined class six in the same school in 2012. Her performance is still above average as she moves to upper primary and this is encouraging. The grades can be seen in the performance table in exel part of the report. Kate’s mother still operates small businesses among them vegetables and fruits, charcoal, paraffin, dry fish, second hand cloths and sometimes she supplies cooked food in construction sites. These are businesses she operates at different times depending on the opportunity available at a given time.

Her mother has been getting business loans from the credit fund to develop her businesses. This has improved the performance of her businesses and increased her income. Her average income is kshs.15, 000 per month. This she adds to the monthly allowance which often form part of the business capital before it is put to the intended use. The unsold stock of foodstuff which would otherwise go to waste is used by the family to reduce family expenses on food.

  Kelly Francis Otieno (Unity Primary School):

Kelly was in class seven in the same school in 2012. A second born in a family of three, Kelly’s performance at school has always been above average as can be seen in the performance table in the report. His mother still operates a wide range of businesses based on what is viable at different times. These businesses include vegetables second hand cloths and general accessories commonly referred to as ‘malimali’.

The father is not in any regular employment and does small jobs which come his way such as carrying luggage in factories just like many other Kenyan job seekers do. Kelly’s mother is a very aggressive entrepreneur who is always on the lookout for business opportunities to undertake. Her monthly average income is kshs.15, 000 from all the business activities. This together with the monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500 constitutes the family income. They supplement household food with the remains of unsold foodstuff which would otherwise go to waste. The father also contributes whenever he finds a job to do.

  Brian Okoth (Rachwonyo Primary School):

Brian replaced his step sister Quintor in the project in 2012. This was because Quintor’s performance was getting weaker and since both of them are under the care of same parents, we thought it wise to give the opportunity to a performing pupil. He sat for the Kenya certificate of Primary education and scored 302 marks out of a possible 500 marks. We are however encouraging Quinter’s parents to sponsor her for a course in a trade skill. Brian and the other siblings live in Mathare where his mother runs a vegetable selling business.Their average monthly income from the business is kshs. 10,000, which they add to the monthly allowance of kshs. 2,500 to take care of family upkeep.

  Mary Njeri (Rarakwa secondary school):Mary joined form one in the above school after scoring 235 marks out of a possible 500. A first born in a family of three, she is one student who is struggling so hard to perform at school though she has challenges. We continue urging her to work hard so that she can improve her grades. Her family lives in Mathare valley where they operate different businesses.Mary Wambui (Kangaru Girls’ school):Mary joined form one in the above school in 2012. She continues to be an average student in the school and with constant encouragement she is likely to perform better. Her mother has been operating a knitting business which is located in a city council market within Nairobi. She has also been running a poultry business which she relocated to a wider space in the outskirts of Nairobi. Income from these activities supports her family and provides school fees for her other children. Average income for the family has been kshs.20, 000 per month. Mary’s mother has been making good use of the loan fund at her disposal to improve her business. Whenever she gets tenders to supply sweaters to schools, she often asks for a short term working capital which she pays within a short time.This might however change since she got an accident and broke an arm and a leg in December last year. She is currently undergoing medication and we hope she will recover faster to resume business.

  Martin Musyoki (Mbiini Secondary School):

Martin joined form one in the above school in 2012. He is very lucky to have found this chance to pursue education. Being an orphan living with an aunt who can barely afford to take her children to school, sending Martin to secondary school would have been a tall order. The auntie is employed in the informal sector as a dressmaker often paid on piece rate with an average monthly income of kshs. 7,000. She has her own two children and they all live together in one of Nairobi’s semi slums. The aunt is yet to decide whether and when to start her own business.

  Laureen Moraa (Ngara girls Secondary school):

Laureen joined the project in 2012; replacing her sister Ashley. Ashley too became a victim of underperforming despite the many discussion sessions with her. They used to live in Mukuru up to 2011 when their house caught fire in an inferno in the slum. They lost everything in the fire and had to start life afresh. Her mother runs a small business in hairdressing and most of the customers come to her house for hair do. The mother is quite skilled in hair dressing which she does at home and sometimes when she is called upon by those who own hair dressing and beauty salons. Occasionally she gets small jobs in industrial area as well. She combines income from the different activities for their upkeep. Average income in the family is kshs. 10, 000 per month. This, together with monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500 forms total family income.

  Victoria Juma (Ngiya Girls’ Secondary school):

Victoria was in form two in the above school in 2012. This is a school which attained the National status due to its outstanding performance. Victoria is however still performing quite well despite the competition in the new school. She may not be among the top ten but her grades are impressive. The competition in this school is healthy and chances of one joining public university are high.

Victoria’s mother is equally very hard working in her small business and has managed to keep the other brothers and sisters in school. She makes an average income of kshs.15, 000 per month. This together with the monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500 from the project plus the husband’s occasional income from casual labor constitutes the family income. The support for her daughter and the fact that she is doing well in school is reason enough for the family to work hard and offer their other children the opportunity to go to school.

  Nelly Akinyi ( Ngiya Girls Secondary School):

Nelly is a first born in a family of four. She proceeded to form two in the same school as Victoria in 2012. She is an average student and is likely to get better grades if she puts more effort in her studies. This we have discussed with her. Nelly’s mother operates a grains selling business for a living. The father is not on regular employment and occasionally gets casual jobs within Nairobi. Nelly’s mother makes an average of kshs.15, 000 per month from the business. Her income has improved in the recent past like many other mothers in the program me. This has been facilitated by loans which they easily access from SEED Trust at the right time to boost their businesses. It is unlike loans from mainstream microfinance institutions which takes longer time to be processed and sometimes comes too late to rescue the business. Nelly’s mother has been able to educate her other children who are still in Primary school since main burden of secondary school has been carried by the project.

  Crispin Owino (Barding Secondary School):

Crispine proceeded to form two in the above school in 2012. A first born in a family of four and a deceased father, he has to double his effort in education. Crispin’s grades have been improving as years go by; see the performance table in exel. His mother also had to double her effort in doing business to cater for the four children. She sells grains, vegetables and sometimes second hand cloths. Her average income for the family is kshs.15, 000 per month. This income has been consistently growing due to support from SEED Trust loan fund and business skills training.

  Robert Oscar (Agoro Sare Secondary School):

Robert proceeded to form two in the above school in 2012. He is a last born in a family of four. The other older siblings did not pursue education to higher levels due to financial constraints. His mother runs a business in second hand cloths and also does hair dressing. The father does panel beating in the informal sector and together they join hands to bring up the family. Family average income is kshs.15, 000 per month; both from the business and occasional wages paid to the husband.

Robert’s mother is another beneficiary of the micro credit facility offered by SEED Trust and has greatly improved her business performance. She gets business loans and pays promptly enabling her to access repeat loans.

  Lilian Oyuga (Nyakach Girls’ Secondary school):

Lilian joined form two in 2012 in the above school. She is a last born in a family of eight and none of the older brothers and sisters have been able to join secondary school. Lillian was going to face the same predicament and this was why the project gave her a chance to get higher education. They live in Mathare with their mother who is a widow. A part from the brothers and sisters, there are three grandchildren under the care of her mother. Lillian’s mother operates small businesses which include vegetables, dry fish and sometimes second hand cloths. These are businesses she has been running from the time she got married in the early seventies. The average income from these activities is kshs.13, 000 per month.

  George Ochieng (Hono Secondary School):

George is another child who has been brought up without a mother following her demise several years ago. His father later passed on in 2011 and she now lives with a step mother. Life may be even tougher for George but this is fate and we can only hope that he will be able to complete his education.

He joined form two in the above school in 2012. George’s step mother runs small businesses as a source of livelihood. She has her own five children to take care of with an average income of kshs.12, 000 per month and additional monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500 from the school kids project.

  Ann Wambui (Gitugi Girls High School):

Ann joined form three in the same school in 2012. She has been struggling to work on her grades for the last two years. She needs to rewind form three in order to improve her grades. Her performance records in 2012 can be seen in the attached report forms. Her mother still runs different businesses including bag making in Nairobi. The father is unemployed but occasionally gets casual jobs to do. Anne’s brothers are also in school and their school fee is mainly paid from the proceeds of the business activities. Now that Ann is supported by the project, the parents have a slightly lesser burden to carry with regard to their children’s education. On average the family earns kshs.15, 000 per month and also gets the monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500. The mother is a beneficiary of the micro credit facility in the programme and is gradually growing her business through credit and business skills training.

  Loise Adhiambo (Mbaga Girls’ Secondary School):

Loise joined form three in 2012 in the above school. They live in Mukuru in Nairobi. She is a first born in a family of four. Her father passed on in December 2000 when they were quite young with a jobless mother who had also dropped out of school after class eight. Their mother has since brought them up single handedly. Since then she has been taking care of her children by running small businesses. Loise managed to join form one through the support from the local church since she had done very well in KCPE. She had scored 371 marks out of a possible 500. They had hoped to get a bursary from the Government but this did not work out and she faced discontinuation. This is why the project came to her aid.

Loice performs very well at school where she is always either number one or two in class. She has great potential in academics and with this kind of support, the sky is the limit. Her mother sells cloths and hairdressing for a livelihood and makes an average of kshs.15,000 per month.

  Michael Magambo: (Sawagongo High School):
Michael joined form four in the same school in 2012. He is a last born in a family of four, two boys and two girls. He has been an average student who has always been encouraged to work hard. In the recent results of Kenya certificate of secondary education, Michael gave us a sweet surprise by scoring a B+. With this grade he can join the regular programme at the public Universities.

His mother operates small businesses while the father is a casual laborer in Nairobi. The mother earns an average of kshs. 10,000 per month from her business. The father occasionally earns about kshs10, 000 per month from the small odd jobs. The total average income from both business and casual jobs is therefore kshs.20, 000. Michael‘s family works quite hard to fend for the family. His mother is also a beneficiary in the loans programme; a facility which has improved her business.

  Brian Juma (Sawagongo High school):
Brian also joined form four in the same school in 2012. He is a first born in a family of four and has been an average student as well. Just like Michael above, he has been an average student but scored a B-plain in last year’s Kenya certificate of secondary education. His mother still sells vegetables, fruits and sometimes second hand cloths for their livelihood. Her average income from these businesses is kshs.14, 000 per month. She is a beneficiary of the micro credit in the programme and has greatly improved her business. The father is a casual laborer who occasionally finds small jobs in the city’s industrial area and earns about Kshs.8, 000 per month. The job is not regular and this means he has to go without employment sometimes. The other children are in school too and they all live together in one of the informal settlement areas called Kyambio in the eastern part of Nairobi. It is very clear that Brian and his brothers and sisters would not have gone this far with their education were it not for the Project’s intervention. Taking Brian into the project created the opportunity for the parents to concentrate on the other children who are equally pursuing their education.

  Charity Wathira (Icaciri Secondary School):

Charity joined form two in the above school in 2012. A fourth born in a family of five, she and her other siblings live with their grandmother who is over eighty years old. The grandmother is a vegetable vendor in one of the slums in Nairobi and makes on averge kshs.10,000 per month. Most of Charity’s brothers and sisters did not go beyond primary level due to lack of school fees. Apart from one brother who has been lucky and therefore got scholarship through his education, the rest did not get a chance. Charity is a hard working student and her performance is promising. It was due to her exemplary performance that the church and well wishers contributed money to take her to form one. But that was about all and chances of getting continued support were quite unlikely. This is why the project came to her aid in good time. .

  Brenda Osoo (Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and technology):Brenda sat for the Kenya certificate of secondary education in 2011 and got a B-minus. She went for a bridging course in mathematics between September to December/012 and scored A-. She then joined JKUAT to pursue a degree in B.com (Barchelor of commerce) in January this year. Brenda’s mother still operates small businesses while the father does casual jobs. These include vegetable selling, dry grains second hand cloths and sometimes dry fish. Her average income from the business is kshs.13, 000 per month which is supplemented with the monthly allowance of kshs.2, 500. Most of the time she puts the monthly allowance into working capital to boost her business. She also gets loans from SEED Trust to improve her business and has good repayment records. Her business keeps growing as she introduces different products in her business.  Paul Opano (Kisumu Technical Institute):Paul started the year well and went for internship for four months. Towards the end of the year he joined wrong companion and was suspended. This was brought to our attention recently when he failed to come for school fees. We are following up on the case to see what can be done.

  David Mwangi (Nairobi Technical College):

David is progressing well with his course in mechanical engineering. He is now doing the diploma level of the course. He went for internship in third term i.e September to December/012. Born in a family of four, both parents are alive but do not have regular income and therefore run small businesses for survival. They change businesses depending on which business is doing well at any given time just like many other micro entrepreneurs. Sometimes it is vegetables; other times cloths and second hand shoes and at times retail shop. Average income from the businesses per month is kshs.15,000. David’s other siblings are also in school as their parents struggle to provide for them. We keep empowering the parents in their respective economic activities so that all the children can get a chance in life. Her mother Naomi is a beneficiary of the micro credit and pays back her loans very well.

  Rosemary Wambui (MTC) (Embu Medical Training college):

Rosemary also joined the project in 2010. She is doing very well at Embu Medical Training College where she is taking a course in nursing. This was a God sent opportunity which came after she had almost lost hope having sat for the Kenya certificate of secondary education in 2008. A first born in a family of four she hopes to support their younger siblings once she completes training and gets a job.

Wambui’s mother runs a vegetable selling business and sometimes gets second hand clothes and re-sells. The father is a casual laborer who does any manual work that comes his way to supplement family income. Occasionally he gets jobs in the construction sites. The average income earned in this family from all the activities is Kshs.16; 000.This is what they use to provide basic needs and education for other siblings. Her mother is a beneficiary of the microcredit within SEED Trust.

  Monica Odongo (MTC) – Kakamega

Monica is going on well with her studies in nursing and is in the final lap of the course. A fourth born in a family of eight, she was born in1990 and sat for the Kenya certificate of secondary education in 2007 but could not continue with her education due to financial constraints. The family is quite large and that was the furthest her family could assist her with the help of a few well wishers. In fact she had been assisted through the CDF (Constituency development fund) since she had performed well in the KCPE and had a relative to follow things up. Such facilities are not easy to access unless one has an insider to do the follow up. Monica’s father Daniel still does casual jobs which are on and off in the industries within Nairobi while her mother; Syprine is a vegetable vendor. Her average monthly income from the sale of vegetables is kshs. 13,000. This together with her husband’s income of kshs.10, 000 is what they pool together to meet family obligations. Due to the apparent financial constraints, Monica could not join college to further her education until the project came to her aid. She was heading towards the same predicament faced by other siblings in their family.

  Patrick Nganga (MTC)- Kenya Medical Training college:
The final fee installment was paid for Patrick in 2012. He is completing the course and is great full to the project which enabled him to fulfill his dreams.

Patrick’s mother; Justine Wanjiku runs small businesses to fend for the family. Her daughter and daughter in law normally assist her in the businesses since they are not engaged in any form of employment. Four of the grandchildren are already in lower primary classes. Her average monthly income from the business activities is kshs.16, 000.