Hello!

Recently, we’ve received questions about out Daraja GC, and more specifically, our partnership with  Daraja and the roles we play. Here are a few answers to the question!

• What does Daraja do?

“The Daraja Academy is an academy near Nyrobi in Kenya. The school provides secondary education for girls who were denied opportunities to receive so, due to economic reasons. To worsen this problem, girls are often denied education over boys, as it is believed that boys will bring upon a more promising future, an ideology that is enforced by societal roles. Without secondary education, the girls are often sent into premature marriages and pregnancies. Daraja believes education is the bridge out of poverty and into promising and exciting opportunities, hence the name ‘Daraja’, which means ‘bridge’. Daraja opened its academy for the first time, bringing in the first 26 students in 2009. Eager to bring not only education to the girls but also the promise of a self-efficient future, Daraja Academy is stronger than ever today. To learn more, please visit Daraja’s website. Any help you have to offer makes a big difference.” (Taken from the ‘About Daraja’ section of our blog!)

• Where is the merchandise coming from?

All our merchandise comes from Laikipia plateau, where a local Maasai Village is. This village is filled with Twala culture, initiated by local Maasai village. Members of the GC who go on a Daraja trip that the school hosts go to the local shop in the Maasai Village and purchase handmade merchandise to bring back to Singapore to share with our school!

• Where is the money going?

The money we raise will go to Daraja Academy, and will work towards funding either certain projects, sponsoring the girls or maintaining/further developing the infrastructure and facilities of the school.

• What are some of the projects we are working on?

Projects we have previously helped towards was sponsoring the girls’ education and helping to renovate the library on campus. The project we are currently funding is an outdoor classroom for the girls taking Agriculture class. Instead of walking to their farm and classroom back and forth, Daraja Academy thought it would be a better idea to invest in an outdoor classroom, where the girls could learn right next to the farm that they have. This would also help greatly with understanding the applications of their learnings! (A few of us went to see how the outdoor classroom was being built when we went on the Daraja trip and helped clear out the dirt to form the base and using that dirt to make mud bricks in which the classroom would be built from! The way the classroom is being constructed is a very sustainable and is both economically and environmentally friendly!)

We hope this answers a few questions and clears up a few doubts!