MENTORSHIP ACTIVITY HELD AT LORESHO SECONDARY SCHOOL, WESTLANDS SUB-COUNTY, NAIROBI ON 11TH MARCH 2021
Background
The Kenyan Chapter of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (KeAWARD) is actively involved in empowering high school learners through mentorship and motivational talks, role modeling, and career guidance to motivate students and promote STEM subjects. The School visits also aim to educate and impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes gained during the AWARD fellowship. These interactions help the students develop strong personal life skills, take up meaningful careers in Science, and become change-makers in their societies.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused long closures of learning institutions which brought about serious challenges to learners including idleness, irresponsible sex, teenage pregnancies, drug/substance abuse, and stress-related conditions. Therefore, when schools resumed in January this year, there was a pressing need to mentor, inspire and motivate learners to help them cope with these challenges while coping with the long absence from school and remaining focused on a good performance. Therefore, to mark this year’s International Women’s Day 2021 (IWD2021) which is celebrated on March 8th, KeAWARD organized a mentorship activity at Loresho Secondary School in Nairobi on the 11th of March to mark IWD 2021. The theme of the IWD2021 was “Women in leadership achieving an equal future in equity and equality. During the visit, KeAWARD members gave short motivational talks and donated KES 16,000 contributed by members to support a needed girl. They also donated fruit trees to support fruit farming, agroforestry, environment conservation, and school feeding supplementation programs.
