Our Stories

After working with the community for over 10 years, we are thrilled to begin the transition of Aberdare Ranges Primary School into the “Sustained” phase of our 3 Phase Model. You can find out more about the transition in this video or our interview with our CEO, Cass Treadwell. We know that many of our Student Sponsors have additional questions, which we have tried to cover below. However, if you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Lisa Wagg at lisa@sotheycan.org.

FAQs

• Now that Aberdare Ranges Primary School is moving to be a sustained school by 2024 what happens to my sponsorship then?
  • We will connect you with a new sponsor child in East Pokot or if you would prefer you could move your sponsorship to our Education Collective program (where you sponsor a school) in Tanzania or our Family Strengthening program.

• What does this mean for my sponsorship now that my sponsor child is finishing standard 8?
  • Your sponsor child will move on to high school and you will be given the opportunity to contribute to a secondary fund, Msomi (meaning “Scholar” in Kiswahili), which would support our most exceptional and needy students in Tanzania and Kenya.  Or you could take on the sponsorship of a new student in East Pokot.

• Am I able to continue to write once they leave Aberdare Ranges Primary School ?
  • We would love to be able to continue the letter writing exchange between you and your sponsor child, but unfortunately going forward this will be difficult to manage as students end up going to many different schools.  We know that this will be difficult as many sponsors have developed a strong relationship with their sponsor child, please know that the impact your sponsorship has made on your sponsor child will be life long and something they will never forget. 

• Post 2024 will So They Can continue to work with Aberdare Ranges Primary School?
  • Yes, we will work with Aberdare Ranges Primary School and the school community from a governance point of view and we will also continue to be on the Board of Management. Aberdare Ranges Primary School will always be one of our schools, and part of So They Can

• Since schools in Kenya were closed for 8 months what happens to my student’s schooling?
  • The plan in Kenya is to consolidate their years of school so that the 2020 school year will finish in July 2021. The 2021 school year will finish in April 2022 and 2022 school year will finish in December 2022. By January 2023 the school year will be back on track.

• Why has STC decided to concentrate on Primary school education moving forward?
  • Providing children with a quality basic education gives children and youth the knowledge and skills they need to face daily life challenges, and take advantage of economic and lifelong learning opportunities. It is also a key driver for reducing poverty, fostering economic growth, achieving gender equality, and social development. 
  • Kenya has a well established high school system whereby students are selected on their ability  to determine which high school they go to.  It is important that in their primary school years they receive support to ensure that they are able to reach their full potential and obtain their optimal mark in their final exams in Standard 8 to give them the opportunity to attend the best school they can.
  • At So They Can we feel we can make the biggest impact on children by concentrating on the early years and it is what we do well.

• What will happen to the students who are currently being sponsored in High School?
  • For those sponsors who currently have students in High School with your support we will continue to support the students until they have finished school as this was the commitment we made to them at the beginning of their high school years.

As always, we are so grateful for your ongoing support. We couldn’t have reached this stage without your generosity.