Education and good health are two of the best things we can offer our children to prepare them for the future. Unfortunately, not all children are able to afford them and a little help is needed here and there. Towards this, various schools and health centres around Rift Valley have benefited from assorted facilities from Safaricom Foundation which has recently spent over 28 Million in the area. Over 1,600 pupils from different schools benefited, and thousands more stand to benefit from the medical facilities.
Education
It is one thing to offer education and it is quite another to provide it in a good environment with proper amenities. Among the schools that Safaricom Foundation visited were St. Augustine Chepkopegh Secondary school for example which received a fully furnished laboratory valued at 63 Million and St. Francis School for the blind in Kapenguria which got new ICT software and furniture worth 3.4 Million. Tugen Estate Secondary School in Uasin Gishu County and Simotwo Primary School in Elgeyo Marakwet each got a library at a cost of Ksh 1 million. Makutano Primary School on Eldoret- Kitale Road and Kola Primary School in Pokot County also received furnished classrooms worth Ksh 1.9 million.
Maternal health
No woman should die giving life. Towards maternal Health, Safaricom Foundation aims to improve the general health of mothers and their survival as well as that of their little ones. This the foundation does by forming meaningful partnerships with other organizations to ensure good health not only in childbirth but also in early childhood. The foundation has injected over half a billion shillings towards improved health for Kenyans.
Samburu Girls Foundation
Though a lot of effort is being put to end retrogressive traditional practices that derail the education of girls and endanger their health, they’re still being practiced in some areas and Samburu is one of them. The foundation donated Kshs5.9 Million worth of classrooms to Samburu Girls Foundation which rescues girls from early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation. Samburu Girls Foundation is headed by Josephine Kulea. The classrooms will be used by Form 1 students in 2018 in the recently established secondary school. The classrooms were officially opened by the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Sicily Kariuki as part of the celebrations to mark the International Day of the Girl Child.
All these donations go along with Safaricom’s endevours to work towards Sustainable Development Goals, SDG number 3 being good health and wellbeing and number 4 being quality education for everyone by 2030.