Our:

Projects.

OnCourse run three key projects in Kenya, all built around our key focus areas of empowering women and youth through education and employment.

Primary Education

In 2015 OnCourse became aware that a number of students enrolled in a Primary School in Nakuru were no longer attending school because they could not afford the basic necessities required.

In Kenya, although Primary education is funded by the Government, students are expected to purchase their own school uniforms, shoes, textbooks and stationary, but if they can't afford these basic necessities, then they aren't able to go to school.

OnCourse now support a number of students by funding these basic necessities to ensure they can receive the education they're entitled to.

For the kids we support, attending school doesn’t just mean access to an education, it also often means the difference between eating that day, or not. It means their parents can feed other children, or pay for electricity or food they wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. It means keeping these kids occupied and away from the health and social risks prevalent in the community.

Vocational Training

Often the biggest challenging facing youth in Nakuru is a lack of employment opportunities for those who were not fortunate enough to attend high school (not government funded for those with lower Primary School grades). In their teenage years, these young adults are thrown into the workforce without any qualifications, networks or opportunities, and often struggle to find employment, which in turn results in other challenges.

OnCourse work with these young people to identify individuals with a strong desire to continue their education in a specific vocational course. Students are selected after carefully assessing their current personal and family circumstances, including access to food, shelter and security, with those deemed to be most in need chosen first.

Selected students are enrolled by OnCourse in their chosen vocational course for a period of 12 months, during which they attend class 5 days a week in both theoretical and practical training, live on campus, and join the growing OnCourse community for social support outside the classroom.

At the end of the course, we aim for our students to pass their examinations and gain an industry recognised accreditation in their field. We then work with the students and local employers to find suitable apprenticeship positions and assist the students’ transition into the workforce.

By providing access to education and industry certification as well as assisting students to find and maintain a paying job, we’re hoping to dramatically impact the living conditions, economic position and welfare of both our students, their families and the broader community.

To sponsor a one of our students we ask for a $48 monthly direct-debit donation for 24 months.

Your investment will cover:

• Tuition fee for 3 semesters at KITI (over 12 months)

• Boarding accommodation (4 bed dorm room) for the duration of the course

• 3 meals a day, every day for the duration of the course (during term)

• Accreditation exam at the conclusion of the course (through NITA)

• Course equipment, stationary, text books, blankets and personal toiletries

• Personalised work placement support for 12+ months at the conclusion of their course

Social Support

The beneficiaries we work with are the most in-need women and young people in Nakuru. This unfortunately means they are seeking to escape adverse environments and circumstances in terms of their homes, families, health, material conditions and wellbeing.

Providing education or employment in isolation, without walking with our beneficiaries through the broader context of their lives is unrealistic. OnCourse is committed to meaningfully and wholistically helping our beneficiaries, and providing social support enables our other core programs to be more effective and do the work they were designed to.

Practically, this means we provide bare essentials like a mattress, a meal, a helping hand or an empathetic ear, as and when needed. For instance OnCourse has provided;

• emergency food supplies to 72 families for 4 months who had lost their income and were unable to provide for themselves due to the COVID pandemic

• support for a child’s healthcare following a bullying incident at school

• 300 reusable COVID masks manufactured by our vocational tailoring students

This support may be financial, but is often logistic, social or personal. We use our networks and resources to assist the local community where we deem it appropriate.

Another core component of our social support involves running regular ‘hangouts’. Our Hangouts are facilitated activities that bring together our beneficiaries across our programs for a much needed day of fun and recreation, such as visiting the local national park to see some lions, or to go for a swim at the local pool.

Support our Projects