“I learn so that I can change our story from one of deprivation to one of hope.”
-Farhia, a Daraja Academy student from Nairobi, Kenya
Daraja Academy is a non-profit boarding school in Nanyuki, Kenya that educates and empowers girls from all over the nation coming from backgrounds of material poverty, founded on the notion that every girl has the right to learn. Daraja Academy welcomed its first class of 26 students in 2009, after 2 inspiring educators from the Bay Area—Jason and Jenni Doherty—worked tirelessly to implement their vision of establishing a school for exceptional girls born into less-than-exceptional circumstances. Since 2009, Daraja Academy has expanded the number of lives it has meaningfully touched as well as its scope as it reaches for ambitious goals. For instance, in addition to a strong, well-established four-year secondary-school program, Daraja Academy now has a groundbreaking “Transition Program” that allows recent high school graduates to learn essential business and life skills, engage in community service, and intern at local organizations prior to college matriculation. Daraja Academy is home to so many inspiring future women leaders, and School for a Village is proud to be able to help further their mission. School for a Village helped deliver personalized virtual learning resources to Daraja students via a partnership with Choosito!, and we also provided mobile devices so that students could engage in remote learning.
As the Communications Manager, I had the humbling opportunity to interview some of the students at Daraja Academy. In this post of the Daraja blog series, I want to further share the stories of these incredible students, specifically highlighting what inspires them to learn. Especially in the midst of COVID-19 and all the concomitant challenges such as being forced to continue schooling in often distracting home environments, I was curious to explore how the students motivated themselves to remain proactive in their studies even when they weren’t physically at Daraja Academy anymore. Their responses are pretty amazing, and I am sharing them (a) to amplify their voices, and (b) because when school becomes stressful, I think we all could use a little reminder of the purpose behind our learning.
When I interviewed the girls and asked them what their personal motivations were for learning, I noticed many commonalities—what inspired them to learn in spite of adversities they might face was their desire to create a better tomorrow and affect meaningful change both in their local communities and their broader, more global communities. For instance, Christine, a student from Daraja, expressed how she wished to positively impact the lives of both those she personally knows, as well as children without stable homes: “What inspires me to learn is the desire to give the street children a home. I want to learn very hard and get enough money so that I can build a children’s home for kids with no homes, for I believe that providing them with shelter will also bring them peace. I want to change my community and family from the state we are right now. I cannot say we are in the best state, but I want to make it better.” It is because of her passion for uplifting her communities that Christine is able to remain on-track in her studies despite the distractions she experienced back home such as peer pressure to play instead of do homework. In addition, Brenda, a Form 3 student, expressed similar sentiments: “I learn to change the narrative surrounding my family, so that one day we will live in more ideal circumstances. I learn so that I can change our story from one of deprivation to one of hope. My education will allow me to make my vision come true.” Farhia, a student from Nairobi, also explained how she learns so that she can “lift her community and family out of poverty and empower those around [her].” Brenda and Farhia both expressed how grateful they were for Daraja Academy, for the breadth of perspectives, ideas, and knowledge they are immersed with at school will provide them with the skills to transform the current states of their communities.
Moreover, Lucy, the School President of Daraja Academy, answered, “What inspires me to learn are all my dreams and ambitions. I want to be able to live the life I aspire to live, and through learning, improving, and adjusting my perspectives, I can get there. I learn so that I can lead future generations towards greatness.” Clearly, Daraja Academy’s vision of empowering girls to become future leaders and global citizens of change is coming to fruition. At a young age, these students are already driven by curiosity and ambition, by a genuine love for learning and passion for social change, by an acknowledgement that their home environments have largely shaped who they are, yet a refusal to let the circumstances they were born into dictate their futures. I for one cannot wait to see the incredible things that students at Daraja Academy accomplish—Christine’s home for orphans and children who have been neglected, Brenda’s stories of hope, Farhia’s uplifting of her community, and Lucy’s ability to lead future students to become the best versions of themselves. Visit the Daraja Academy website to learn more about this unique boarding school and consider donating here so that the institution can continue to shape and support future generations of leaders.
When school feels too overwhelming—when the tasks just seem to keep piling up or when it seems easier to give up instead of rise to the challenge—I encourage you to reflect on your own inspirations for learning. So, what inspires you to learn?
