On-going Humanitarian Projects
KEST is dedicated to not only facilitate your one-of-a-kind Kenyan travel experience, but it also has several on-going humanitarian projects that impact various groups throughout the country.
Primary School Food Program
KEST coordinates and oversees food programs at three primary schools in Kenya. Each school's students receive a breakfast and lunch each day from Monday through Friday. Before the food program started, as many of 80% of each student body would come to school on an empty stomach., if they attended at all, and they would eat no food during the day. The weekends were tough and many would go for a few days without a meal. Once the food programs were started, daily attendance rose to 97% (compared to just 50% prior). Parents and/or guardians made sure their students were in school to ensure they were being fed and take the pressure of feeding off at home. The program is funded by the generous donations of KEST adventurers.
The Farm
To supplement its Primary School Food Programs, KEST operates 7-acres of land that grow vital food to help with the nourishment of the students and eventually will defray the costs of the tri-annually purchased supplies. 5-acres of land are the school gardens and 2-acres are planted with cash crops to help support the farm and its growing needs. Some of the crops that are planted for the students to consume are corn, beans, kale, tomatoes, bananas, and avocados. Two caretakers are paid to manage the farm and mind our borehole, water tanks and drip irrigation system. If travelers would like to visit the farm, and do some planting or harvesting, it would be great to have your help!
Tree Project/Community Empowerment
This program has several purposes:
-
to provide a sustainable income for participating members of the community;
-
to provide a foods source at reasonable costs for the community; and finally,
-
to preserve the topsoil and land in the area from washing away during the heavy rainy season, rendering the land depleted of nutrients and growing power.
Annual Sanitary Pad Campaign
At the beginning of each Kenyan school year, in January, KEST purchases and delivers sanitary pad packs to over 385 adolescent girls attending four different Primary Schools. This is to ensure that the girls can attend every day of the school year, not missing one week a month and falling behind in their studies. When the accumulation of missed days accrues, many girls drop out of school, and this can lead to obtaining poor paying jobs and/or becoming childhood brides. A side benefit of this program is that the pad packs are assembled in Kenya, giving more people employment. Each pack contains enough pads for a year and four pairs of underpants. This campaign would not be possible without the gracious and generous support of KEST travelers.
