Seed of Hope: Vocational Training Centres
This page provides a summary of our Seed of Hope vocational Training programme. You can read more on our dedicated Seed of Hope micro-site at: www.seedofhope.info 
Seed of Hope was established in
Nairobi as a residential vocational training centre for teenage girls in
November 2002. Since then it has been amazing to watch the Seed of Hope concept flourish, grow
and develop. We now have four non-residential Seed of Hope Centres in operation across Kenya
- in Nairobi (Dagoretti Corner), at Kisii (Nyamache), Kitui and Kariti (Murang'a).
Our students are destitute teenage girls from all over Kenya. The students undergo training in three vital areas; life-skills, vocational skills & Micro- business skills. These are the skills that we hope will give the students the ability to be self-sufficient on graduation.
The students are girls who had no hope of attending Secondary school or indeed any higher education establishment. Girls who had no hope of a brighter future. Girls who only saw a bleak, poverty-stricken future as they looked ahead. Girls who would never reach their potential. Girls who had been deprived of so much in the past. Girls who struggled each day just to survive.
All of our
students undergo a two-year training program. As well as learning theory, they practice those skills and their
training culminates in a two-month long work attachment.
The majority of our students require in-depth and long-term counseling; all of them require constant encouragement. There are many different and vital aspects to our program. Through all of these elements we hope to prepare the students for a bright future. We hope to prepare their hearts so that a seed of hope may grow and flourish there. We hope to give them the tools and the character so that they may face challenges positively and with the ability to overcome. We hope to give them the tools and the character so that they can fight their own way out of poverty.
Seed of Hope is continually looking for new ways to find funding. So, we have launched two new ventures through which we can generate some of our own funding. As our students train in their vocational skills – Dressmaking and Marketable Crafts – we plan that they gain experience in selling, dealing with customers and profit-making before graduation.
One of these ventures is a catalogue of Crafts that the students
can manufacture. This catalogue will be distributed throughout various outlets and will assist
with both publicity and funding for the centre. As will the second venture which is the manufacture of school
uniforms to be undertaken by the Dressmaking students. Both of these ventures are currently being established with the
help of Seed of Hope staff and students and several volunteers.
We continue to depend on sponsorship for our survival. There are three ways in which we are assisted through sponsorship by individuals from all over the world. These folks are the ones who make our project possible. It is only through this vital support and generosity that we are able to feed, educate, shelter & care for our students.
Many of our sponsors choose to support an individual girl. This pays for their educational resources, toiletries, food, electricity and makes a contribution towards staffing. Just £16 a month covers all of this.
Others choose to support a particular need. There are many costs in a centre such as Seed of Hope that are neither constant nor predictable. For example, healthcare and maintenance expenditure. Some make contributions to allow us to cope with these expenses. These contributions vary in amount but are all very valuable to us.
Some of our sponsors choose to support the graduating students as they set up in business. Just £200 is enough capital for five students to begin their own business. This is a very worthwhile donation; it really helps the girls as they make their first step to a brighter future. Some sponsor part of this capital cost and others contribute the entire amount. We have found that this is a very appealing way for businesses from other parts of the world to support us.
There is never a quiet day at Seed of Hope, and every day is different. It is most certainly an exciting and challenging place to be. It is amazing to watch as seeds of hope are planted, nourished and encouraged to grow. Teachers and counsellors plant these seeds, the girls plant these seeds for each other, sponsors plant these seeds, donors and other partners plant these seeds. It is a wonderful privilege to both plant and to watch the seeds grow.
£16 a month covers all the costs for a student at one of our Seed of Hope Centres.
If you would like to help support Seed of Hope, please visit our sponsorship page, or use the button below to make a one-off gift now. Thank you.
Updated: July 2010