In November, case managers completed another round of assessment of families to find out the status of the household’s health, finances, and students’ schooling. The students are very much looking forward to going back to school in January. Kenya, and Africa as a whole, seems to be managing this pandemic much better than the US – in fact, the Washington Post released an article about it last week. Most of our students are either receiving assignments from their schools or are completing supplemental assignments given to them by their case managers. Many of the students have also started completing book reports – which you can find in your sponsor portal in the ‘Handwritten Letters & Essays’ section.
One of the biggest highlights of this month’s round of calls is that the number of families who are receiving zero income is down significantly. This means that most of the families have found ways to make money, even given their incredible challenges. As of November, only 11% of families didn’t have anyone working – compared to the first round of calls in June when 29% of families reported that no one in their family was able to find work. All of the families have expressed deep gratitude for the food support they have received this year. It has lifted a tremendous burden while the students have all been home from school.
This week we will be publishing the individual results to the sponsor portal. Keep an eye out for them so you can read about how your student and their family are doing, and be sure to write a note or record a video message for your student to encourage them as they head back to school in a few weeks.