Educating young Kenyan women
who have the courage to change their world
The S.H.E. College Fund (SCF) provides full college, university or trade-school scholarships, along with life skills training and mentorship, to young Kenyan women who have the courage to say no to harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), Early Forced Child Marriage (EFCM) and the denial of a girl’s right to education. They return to their communities as successful, independant women and influential changemakers.
In their childhood or adolescence, these young women took refuge in safe houses, which protected them and provided for their needs. In addition, they were given primary and secondary education, a right often denied women in their culture. However, upon graduation from high school, they are no longer protected by Kenyan law and are in danger of returning to the oppression they originally fled – unless they secure a scholarship to continue with further studies, enabling them to become empowered professionals.
Unlike most scholarship programs, the S.H.E. College Fund allocates scholarships based on passion and vision, regardless of a student’s grades in high school. This is because the young women who make the greatest impact are often those who come from extremely rural backgrounds where support to excel in secondary school is not available to females. Usually they are the first daughter in their family to progress past primary school. Once accepted in the supportive community of the S.H.E. students, their college grades soar.
By providing these young women with a post-secondary education and support for professional success, the S.H.E. College Fund makes it possible for them to acquire the knowledge, skills, experience, and self-confidence to go out into the world, secure a job or start a small business. They return to their families as empowered professionals and, through action and example, proliferate positive change in their communities.
The S.H.E. College Fund provides funding for this ever so important next step, offering support to those students who choose, despite the hardship of striking out on their own, to reach for the stars.
“S.H.E. is our bridge to make the change that we want to see in our families and societies. Thank you for giving us the power to fly!”