The Starehe Girls' Centre held a Charity Walk event on Saturday at the
Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
The event aims to raise funds to cater for the needs of high-performing
but underprivileged students who are on sponsorship at the institution.
The walk, which featured 5km, 10km, and 21km
distances, also sought to raise awareness and rally support for equitable
access to quality education for disadvantaged girls.
Speaking to The
Star, Eunice Mathu, Chair of the Board of Trustees and a founding member of the institution, revealed that they expect to raise Sh6 million to
Sh7 million.
“From the Charity Walk, we expect to raise about Sh6 million to Sh7
million,” Mathu confirmed.
She noted that the Board of Trustees handled all resource mobilisation for the school, adding that the support
received from partners and participants was deeply appreciated.
“I just want to thank all the people who came out to make this day a
success,” she said.
“May the Lord bless them, and may they continue showing their support,”
Mathu added.
Among those who took part in the event was
alumna Jecinta Nzembi, who joined the school in 2017.
She shared that Starehe’s support doesn’t end when one is done with high school; it goes beyond that.
“The school follows up on its girls after they are done, and there is also a
group, the Old Starehian Society—where we still support each other,” Nzembi
said.
A Form Four student at the Starehe Centre,
Daisy Chepkorir, acknowledged that the school has positively impacted her life
and that she has received both intellectual and emotional mentorship.
The Centre was established in January 2005 as
a charitable national girls' high school for bright but financially and
socially disadvantaged students.
The school began with only 72 students and has since grown to accommodate
800 learners.
“We started with 72 girls, but now we have 800 girls,” Mathu said.
Seventy per cent of the students at the school are currently fully sponsored
through donor and community contributions.
The Centre remains committed to empowering young women and advocating for their right to quality education.
