Blog

By Natali Chinchaladze, NTS teen blogger

For those who have been following our blogs, you know that we have discussed menstrual health and menstrual poverty.  We’ve found ways to help our students by collaborating with AFRIpads, a Uganda-based business providing reusable sanitary pads and menstrual education to women. As we say on our webpage, our mission is “providing free menstrual products to keep our female students in school and engaged in their daily activities, shifting attitudes that have limited their education and success.”[1]

As a 15-year-old who has also faced the physical transition from girl to woman, I can easily imagine how twice as hard it is for girls in Kenya.  But I was shocked to learn that in Kenya, “a study sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found 65% of women and girls were unable to afford pads, and only 32% of rural schools had a private place such as toilets for girls to change their period pads.”[2]

 It is not easy to imagine what kinds of hardships NTS students have faced. It is even harder to imagine that this is considered “normal” because these students, their sisters, their mothers and grandmothers have never known anything else.  But in our modern world, crude, improvised materials should never be an alternate way, should never be what we call a “solution”.  Menstrual health should be a human right and access to proper menstrual products should not be an issue anymore.

I have learned that this problem is called “period poverty,” and it is deep and wide, going beyond the area of human health. Of course, when girls use pad alternatives such as “paper, old rags, and leaves,” they risk falling ill with reproductive and urinary tract infections, say health experts.

But let’s look at other aspects.  Period poverty causes many girls to fall behind boys their age because they miss school while on their period. According to the statistics, ”if a girl misses 4 to 5 days each month, in the end, 20% of the academic year is skipped, just because of menstruation.”[1]  It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that this is yet another factor contributing directly to gender inequality.

Then there is the issue of taxes put on period products. For those so poor they cannot afford 3 meals a day, this is inexcusable.  Thankfully, Kenya is one of the few countries that has eliminated this tax. 

And we can go further by combining the issues of education and menstrual poverty with economics. A lack of education for girls can lead to substantial losses in national wealth. “World Bank figures estimate that wider society and national economies can profit from better menstruation management: with every 1% increase in the proportion of women with secondary education, a country’s annual per capita income grows by 0.3%. Empowered women and dignified work are critical to a better business – a business that is more ethical and more productive. Other than improved finance, impacts in Bangladesh, Kenya, and India include behavior improvements in health and workplace gender equality outcomes, as well as improvements in self-esteem.”[3]

“Poverty, lack of access, and deeply held beliefs often prevent girls from attending school past the age of twelve.”[1] NTS works directly with families to grapple with these root issues. By addressing the economic realities of NTS families, by actively recruiting female students, by counseling families on the benefits of female education, and by providing AFRIpads and support programs, NTS is working to address past trauma and permanently change attitudes toward women and menstruation. At NTS, there is no more “Week of Shame”.

   Sources:

1. https://nyamboyotechnical.org/what-we-do/female-empowerment/
2. https://www.context.news/socioeconomic-inclusion/period-pad-prices-push-girls-out-of-school-in-africa?utm_source=news-trust&utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=context&utm_content=article#:~:text=Period%20poverty%2C%20often%20defined%20as,can%20even%20drop%20out%20altogether.
3. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6e87b8ed915d4a32cf063a/period.pdf
4. https://www.afripadsfoundation.org/

By Jones Obiria, School Founder

Our mock NITA exams were a success!  We identified where our students knew the material as well as where they need more support and training.  Remember, these are professional skills so everything they learn – no matter how small – is of value.  They will, quite literally, make use of every skill.

It was our teachers who made this exam possible.  They dedicated two weeks before school started to create them. For the written theory exam, they invented varied questions reflecting what our students will find on the real exam.  They refined and balanced the questions, so they would fit in the allotted time.  Then, for the full-day practical exam, they created hands-on projects, again reflective of the real exam. 

But it didn’t end there.  After the exams, they carefully graded them, wrote evaluations, and then met with each student to create a plan for further exam preparation.  Every student went home with a written evaluation providing a supportive and balanced view of their strengths and weaknesses.  For many, it was the first time they have ever received written constructive support and criticism.  It’s a reference tool to guide them in their preparation and to remind them of their talents.

We thank our gifted teachers for their dedication to NTS and to their students.

We also thank our English teacher, Mr. Allan, who worked with all the teachers on their exams.  In Kenya, the NITA exam is in English although vocational skills are generally taught in the language of the region.  He was there to help each teacher find the right words for each question.

From there, he worked with the students on how to approach the test.  He showed them how to identify keywords in a question, words that give clues on how to present an answer.  For instance, when one question asks you to “outline” and another asks you to “describe”, what is the difference?  (The correct answer is the “outline” requires a phrase where “describe” must be full sentences.). These are test-taking skills our students had never been taught before, but are required to succeed on the NITA exam.

So, to our dedicated and heroic teachers, we thank you!  We recognize you and celebrate your contributions.  You should be proud of your hard work, and proud of your student’s performances on the exams!

By Jones Obiria, School Founder

It sounds like a bad joke.  So, this man is walking down the street when he meets a vulture …

You see the bandage on my forehead?  Well, here’s what happened.  On Monday, I was walking to work on the same route I take every day.  Someone left trash outside (a no-no) and it was all over the path.  Animals had been foraging.

As I stepped around the trash, I heard a screech and saw a huge black, angry shadow rise up.  I had disturbed a vulture.  But what I didn’t see until too late was the huge bone in its mouth

Now, the rational part of me knows what happened next, wasn’t on purpose … but still, I swear that bird’s eye gleamed as it dropped the leg bone of a cow on my head.  Fortunately, it bounced off my forehead, only causing my skin to split.  To be honest, it was my dignity that took the real beating.

Lots of blood later – because foreheads really bleed even when it’s not serious – I was bandaged up and back in school.  While my students were sympathetic, I could see them smirk as they turned away.

The slightly-feared Mr. Jones became a wee bit more human.  So, maybe there is a moral to this story.

By Natali Chinchaladze

I am 14, the same age as many students at Nyamboyo Technical School. As a young woman from the Republic of Georgia, I dedicate this to my Kenyan peers, from whom I have gained inspiration through  their eagerness to learn. I hope that each of them will reach their dreams. I know they are climbing towards them, enduring hardships every day to get there.

“Achievements are the building blocks that enable someone to construct a sense of themselves as a success. The achievements that matter most combine to form a version of success that has meaning and substance for the individual.” When I read this quote in a Cambridge University Press article entitled “The Meaning of Success”, I immediately thought of an NTS student – Achimba. A nineteen year old in the Electrical Wiring course, Achimba says that every time he switches on the light bulb, it gives him a sense of achievement. His goal, which he keeps in the front of his mind, is to support himself and his family one day through his future job. And isn’t that itself success – following the unstoppable desire to achieve a dream? And this is what I see – the students at NTS are all motivated and dedicated to their dreams.

On NTS’ homepage is a video with this equation: “Poverty + Isolation = Hopelessness”

I believe this equation shows us the main 2 factors leading to hopelessness. It’s a situation where one’s view of the future is nothing but an endless repetition of the present – misery.

As a 14-year old child of a middle class Georgian family, I thought everyone had choices in life. I remember the first time I went to school, my mother told me to focus and learn well, so one day I would become independent. But I have never had to embrace poverty, hunger, lack of health care, and even access to clean water. Even though my life has not always been easy, I have always had choices.

Then I discovered NTS.  I learned that for many of my peers in Nyamboyo Village,  the only option is to work day and night to help their families and young siblings stay alive. Without education, without a choice, they become unskilled child laborers, fall victim to teen marriage or teen pregnancy.  When there is no other way, you go straight to what you know.  What else is there?

So, I hope my NTS peers will hear my message:  Push yourselves.  Achieve. Even when it’s hard, keep going. Show the world, each of you, that hard work leads you to your dreams and to success.

And here comes Achimba’s light again, the illumination that comes from switching on the bulb. As Jones Obiria, NTS School Founder says, “Education is my personal story that has changed the trajectory of my life.”  Fortunately for NTS, he was (in his own words) “one of the lucky ones.” Because of the generosity of his employer, when he was 8, he had the chance to go to school.  Fortunately for Nyamboyo Village, he decided to give that same opportunity to other generations. Today, NTS has 80 students.  Someday it will be hundreds.  And thousands will feel the effects.

Mr. Jones’ journey has taught me more about lights and bulbs.  Now I see that once you light one bulb, you want to light more. That’s what these students are doing, lighting the way for their siblings and peers.

NTS is like an early sunrise that empowers teens to change their tomorrow and their fate for the better. Most importantly, it gives the choice between hopelessness and a prosperous future. Maybe someday, this will be a future, where the words hunger, poverty, child marriage, and teen pregnancy do not exist.  Maybe soon, NTS’ young leaders will be out there lighting the way toward that future.

And finally: “Education + Opportunity = A Prosperous Future”

Sources:

https://www.cam.ac.uk/women-at-cambridge/chapters-and-themes/chapter-1-the-achievements-that-matter-most-and-why

https://nyamboyotechnical.org/

By Megha Rana

The demand for financial literacy in Africa is huge.  The number of programs is small.  For those that do exist, the goal is to educate those in poverty so they can begin to build financially stronger and smarter lives. However, as you review these programs, note that they are designed for those who do have a relatively stable income, living above the world poverty index of $1.90/day.   There do not appear to be many financial education programs designed for this level of poverty. 

The National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) is an independent organization that helps people of all ages and income levels become financially literate. Their Curriculum Advisory Board is made up of expert financial educators who design engaging, fun, relatable courses for low-income adults and families. This program consists of an 8-week course that is taught 4 hours a week, with a curriculum based on a timeline that can be adjusted to help faster or slower students. The lessons are practical and offer incentives that help students take real-world actions to improve their finances. The National Financial Educators Council is an independent organization so there are no outside financial institutions influencing or benefitting from their work – banks, independent lenders, etc.

The Center for Financial Literacy Education Africa (CFLE Africa) is a not-for-profit social organization in Ghana that seeks to promote and develop financial literacy skills in the average Ghanaian and as well as other Africans. Their mission is to empower and educate all Ghanaians (and other Africans) to make financially sound decisions, develop and promote financial literacy skills in young people for successful living, dramatically expand financial awareness and financial literacy education, and recognize and unite organizations and individuals who are championing improving financial awareness and literacy.

Ghana has a population of nearly 30 million, with an employment rate of about 41% and an unemployment rate near 6.8%. However, this leaves over 3.9 million Ghanaians in such dire poverty they cannot afford three meals a day for themselves and their family. Many are struggling to survive on less than $1.90 PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) or $1 per day. They are not taught about planning for their future either at school or at home nor do they learn why it is important to have a current financial plan to protect themselves and their families. As a result, this level of endemic poverty has led to a serious financial illiteracy epidemic.

CFLE Africa has created the “Improving Financial Awareness and Financial Literacy Movement in Ghana.” Their strategy is to first take an active role in recognizing thought leaders and stakeholders who are or should be working towards improving financial awareness and financial literacy. The second step is to unite them with other associations, non-profits, and/or organizations to focus their community resources on building concentrated media campaign venues. For instance, April is now known as Financial Literacy Month in Ghana. 

This movement began in March 2018, when Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko, Executive Director of CFLE reached out to the Financial Awareness Foundation (TFAF), a USA based non-profit organization. He shared his vision for Ghana and Africa, where every person in Ghana is financially aware and financially literate, and an Africa where people are financially empowered and educated to make their own personal financial decisions. 

Another organization, CARE, is a global leader with a worldwide mission to end poverty. Their “POWER Africa” project (Promoting Opportunities for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Rural Africa) aims to increase financial inclusion for 480,000 individuals and their families through savings groups, financial education, and linking mature groups to formal financial institutions. Their focus is on the poorest households in rural areas within Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, as these areas are significantly excluded from financial services. 

POWER Africa, which ran from 2014-2017, was focused on female-headed households in rural and peri-urban areas.  They worked across the financial inclusion ladder to link women to formal financial services. By the end of the project, 12,542 groups with a combined membership of more than 353,000 were linked to formal financial services. In addition, another 162,000 individuals (who were not part of the combined memberships) were also linked to formal financial services. Of these unaffiliated individuals, 71% of them were women.

Programs such as CARE, NFEC, and CFLE are particularly important because they do not have a stake in any financial institution or sponsored financial vehicle.  They are not interested in increasing the number of depositors at any one bank or, as is often the case, uninterested in rural areas which lack banking facilities. Instead, these programs cater to rural African culture with varied teaching timelines, flexible program hours, and fluid programming to fit the concerns of participants in specific communities. They are truly creating social impact by helping those in poverty and/or poor financial situations, empowering them to make financial stability a reality.

Sources:

https://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org/financial-literacy-for-low-income

https://cfleafrica.org/the-movement/ 

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/37422165.pdf

https://www.care.org/our-work/education-and-work/microsavings/promoting-opportunities-for-womens-economic-empowerment-in-rural-africa/

By Megha Rana

Financial education programs for the poor cannot be normative, meaning they cannot be structured around the behavior of a Western, financially stable person. Financial programs are often made for the middle class and the curriculum consists of teaching budgeting, debt management, investments, etc. However, for the over 678 million people worldwide who live at or below the poverty line ($1.90/day)*, these concepts are alien . How could an individual struggling to fund their next meal or to buy basics needed for cooking such as propane or wood, begin to grasp these concepts? The approach must change to focus on the realities of how the poor cope with their circumstances, recording best practices and formalizing them.

*Please note that $1.90/day does not mean that the poor actually earn this daily, rather it is an average of incomes.  It is not unusual for there to be days where everyone in a family of 5 will work and days where only 3 out of the 5 work.

Bringing financial literacy to those in extreme poverty must focus on stabilizing their lives first and then on stabilizing their wealth. For instance, for the 8.9 million Kenyans living in poverty (earning less than $1.90/day), what are solutions to help them maximize options for managing their low and unpredictable cash flow? Those working as day laborers in Nyamboyo Village typically earn $1.20/day, often with no regular schedule of work. So, they may work a few days one week earning $1.20/day, but then they may have weeks without any work or income.

Therefore, new programs must be adapted from traditional programs.  They must start with a deep understanding of how the poor successfully cope and survive on substandard incomes. Financial education must also take into account the additional risk faced by the poor who have minimal control over outside circumstances and the resulting, unexpected expenses. Something that may seem relatively small to a person of moderate means, such as a short illness that requires a doctor’s visit and medication, may wipe out a poor person’s savings as well as prospects of daily income while they are sick. Witness the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic when, in its first year, many people worldwide had to survive months without work or worked in unsafe conditions.  With no steady income flow, the risks of COVID were compounded by risks of starvation.  Also, their expenses increased as masks and soap became essentials.

In Kenya, there is an additional complexity to teaching financial literacy to the poor. Those who come from generational poverty only have the long-term experience of “just enough” for survival.  Extra income (a rarity) immediately goes to expenses that have been put off, such as clothes for growing children, a store of dried foods, or medicine that has been foregone. People who have never had money to spend have not developed planning skills. They cannot afford to spend time considering or dreaming of what they would do with extra.

In this context, concepts such as budgeting and investing are alien. What use is a budget when your overarching worry is earning enough today to provide an evening meal for your family? Why use a budget when your children wear rags and you can’t afford medication for your elderly parents? It is a major creative challenge for educators to provide the context so individuals in poverty can understand the relevance of a budget or any other financial planning skill.

In our upcoming blogs, we will share examples of programs that are effectively teaching financial concepts to the poor, helping them to improve their lives as well as think about the skills necessary to move beyond subsistence existence.

Sources:

Wentzel, Arnold, Why Financial Education Fails the Extremely Poor (December 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2518533 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2518533V

By Megha Rana

Gender stereotypes are generalizations and/or assumptions made in regards to roles that women and men play, respectively, in a culture. While they differ from culture to culture and region to region, a shared and defining trait is how deeply ingrained these stereotypes have become in individual cultures and larger societies around the world. 

In Kenya and other East African countries, the traditional female role has been to run the household, to both grow and cook food, to bear and raise children, to carry water, and to be obedient to the husband.  In general, children have spent a majority of their time with their mothers or female relatives. In large families, it was not uncommon for older female siblings to help raise the children, sometimes pausing or completely sacrificing their education.  

The conventional male role has been to protect the family, providing safety and material support.  While the family structure depends to some degree on the tribe, men have generally headed the household, earning the majority of the money and making the important household decisions. 

Enter the modern, interconnected world and the pressures of modernization.  Today in East Africa, men and women alike are growing out of their ‘traditional’ roles. 

In Kenya, for example, there is a husband who works as a cattle broker and his wife is a schoolteacher. The husband does work which a decade ago would have been unthinkable:  He washes the dishes, does the laundry, and brings home firewood.  Why?  Because his schoolteacher wife is pregnant with their second child and he believes they should share the household workload. Or consider a retired secondary school principal in a rural region who has trained his wife in finances and now involves his wife in important family financial decisions. He is also helping his daughters develop their own voices through financial and leadership training. 

Most notable in East Africa is the growing numbers of female entrepreneurs.   Women are beginning to create their own solutions to problems, both by developing community services and businesses.  For instance, a local teacher in Tanzania saw a need for greater educational services in her community and spearheaded the movement to build a nonprofit school that she now leads. 

Increasingly, as climate change impacts the planet, gender roles must shift to keep cultures alive.   In Kenya, women from the ethnic Maasai tribe were forbidden to work.  Home was their sole sphere of influence. Men were responsible for earning money, mainly through cattle rearing. However, recent recurring droughts have devastated many of the herds, resulting in women creating trades such as beadwork to provide a steady income.   In fact, in some Masaai communities it is now the women who go to work while the men stay at home to care for the home and family. 

A balance in long-held gender roles will take time. Altering centuries-long societal norms will require patience and developing a community-wide tolerance for discomfort. However, with the speed of change in our world no one is immune from shifting roles. As Robin Sharma eloquently sums it up, “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, but beautiful in the end.”

Sources: 

https://www.voanews.com/a/kenya-changing-gender-roles/6366764.html

https://brighter-tz-fund.org/Blog/4902092

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/rural-kenya-traditional-gender-roles-equality/

By Megha Rana

East African homes, businesses, and industries have been forced to live with irregular and costly power due to inefficient state-owned electricity firms that follow often unsuccessful government procedures.  A study executed by Clarion Energy and the Gordon Institute of Business Science from the University of Pretoria in South Africa tells us that instabilities within the Kenyan government have been a leading cause of concern for government-owned utility firms because they poorly impact the firm’s management processes. As mentioned previously, because these companies often have to follow governmental rules (which are still doubtful in efficiency of properly providing power), it becomes detrimental for the firm and their outcomes. 

Africa’s large operational inefficiencies have caused the region to suffer soaring energy prices, estimated to be more than $3 billion dollars annually. Many of the electricity providers of public or private sectors also struggle to break even, making investments a limited option. For instance, the company ‘Kenya Power,’ 50.1% of which is owned by the state, has been dealing with a demand crisis due to its escalated electricity bills, corruption, and increasing shift to renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydropower. 

This shift in the source of electricity may just prove to be a more viable and affordable option, as data has also shown. New data reveals that there is a great potential for wind, solar, and hydropower particularly in regions of East Africa that currently lack electricity and/or do not have stable sources of electricity. For 70% of the areas in Kenya without electricity, there is high potential for solar energy. Uganda also has great potential for all types of renewable energy (solar, wind, hydropower), a solution from which 6.8 million people could benefit. 

This expansion in access could also help to improve both education and health care in East Africa. An analysis from Energy Access Explorer displays that 60% of the area in which Uganda’s schools and hospitals are located has great potential for small-scale hydropower. To add on, in Kenya there is also considerable potential for small-scale hydropower in 68% of the areas in which Kenyan healthcare and educational facilities are located. Almost all of Tanzania’s areas of schools and hospitals (approximately 98%) have high potential for solar energy and 70% of those areas have potential for hydropower. 

In essence, to address this issue of access to reliable electricity across vast areas of East Africa, renewable energy sources may just come to the rescue, and if all goes according to plan, renewables could be a notable source within the next decade. According to the United Nations, renewable energy sources are on their way to generate half of the sub-Saharan power by 2040. Vera Songwe, the UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, herself says that the great news is that the potent case for clean energy in Africa has never been stronger than now. This is largely due to the demand for energy with a growing population, increasing urbanization, industrialization and trade, and, of course, climate change.