Our Projects 

Move to Make a Difference

Daraja Academy is working on improving the infrastructure of the school and provide more opportunities for students to grow and expand their abilities.

The goal of the Run For Rights event is to raise money and awareness for the girls. It is a drop-in run, in which people may enter at leisure with friends and family, walking, running, or biking the track. The run is to show community and advocacy and get people to know what it feels like to have to fight (run) for their rights.

We also create a podcast for people to listen to while running. This will put into perspective the challenges faced by women in Kenya, but it would also help people understand why education can be so empowering.

The idea behind Run for Rights originated in one of our GC meetings. We had a small scale event in March, with around 10 people who signed up, and it was a good learning experience for our first ever event. Then, came a greater vision: we wanted to expand the scale of the event, raise more awareness, more funds, open up our GCs to the community. And yes, back in March it did seem so far away, and yes, it has been a lot of work, but we ended up having almost 200 people who have lent us their hands of support for these great cause.

This event is done in collaboration with other two GCs: Colours of Kattike East and HS Myanmar A New Dawn East.

Daraja Trip

The Daraja trip is a unique experience and everyone is invited!

Daraja Academy is a boarding secondary school for Kenyan girls with top academic scores and exceptional leadership skills but no means to continue their education.  It provides shelter, food, healthcare and counselling services which allow students to focus on their academic and personal potential, without being hindered by the everyday barriers of poverty. Their groundbreaking educational model, which is in many ways similar to the UWCSEA model has generated a community of students filled with intellectual curiosity, a hunger to learn and strong leadership skills. Daraja Academy is one of only a few secondary schools in East Africa that actually interviews its prospective students. Where other schools base their student intake solely on the grades, Daraja has a thorough student selection process that emphasizes recruiting leaders. In addition to an effective academic curriculum, the academy has four main focus areas:  

  • Women’s Empowerment
  • Cross-Cultural Education
  • Community Responsibility
  • Personal & Career Development

The school is four hours from Nairobi on a safe and well maintained national highway. There are ample visitor roundevells and the school’s stunning grounds are guarded and in a rural beautiful setting near a town with two hospitals that can address just about any ailment. Baboons and giraffes have been spotted outside the gates and Mt. Kenya looms beyond the plains. A variety of local villages are close by, as well as some small game parks. You can learn more about the school by watching this video, exploring the website, following them on Twitter or liking them on Facebook. After several years very successful service trips, we are looking to take more parents and students to Kenya to meet these amazing young women and join in the work to help empower women and promote gender equality in Africa, our own communities and beyond. In addition to the learning and the work we did with the girls of Daraja, we also went on a two-day safari where we saw a variety of animals and bonded beneath the stars. Take a look at some photos from last year’s trip here and here and here.

The trip happens every Chinese New Year

Here is a video about the trip and another video about the school.

TGELF Life Challenge

Daraja won the 2017 TGELF Life Challenge which is intended to inspire and support student changemakers. The Project was to create a product that could promote clean water and sanitation for all. The idea of a wheel that could be provided to villages in rural Kenya to improve the accessibility of clean water for countless individuals.

Here is the link to the video

Contact for more information: yellow.wheels17@gmail.com or visit their website

 

DARAJA