The Problem 

• Recent reports paint a grim picture of the literacy and numeracy levels of children in Grades 1 to 3 in rural Kenya Schools. The key observation has been that despite budgets and other inputs to learning increasing steadily, learning outcomes have remained essentially stagnant. On average, 1 out of 10 children in Kenyan primary schools are completing Grade 8 without having acquired the basic competencies expected of a child completing Grade 2.
• According to different studies, 59 percent of girls stopped going to school after the COVID -19 pandemic because of early marriages and 57 Percent were pregnant. A substantial group of adolescent girls attending school in rural Kenya have serious Quality of Life problems associated with adverse physical and sexual experiences, as well as problems with coping with their menstruation.
• Rural and low-income communities of Western Kenya are burdened with poverty. About 46% earn less than $2 per day.Food shortage also brings out the highest number of dropouts to 73 percent while financial struggles by parents accounted for 57.6 percent of the school dropout. 
• Youth unemployment in Kenya is as high as 35% (4.5 million young men and women), compared to the overall national unemployment rate of 10%.

 Our Mission 

Sawa Africa works in Western Kenya to provide resources and skills for families to thrive in education, health and community development