BintiBomba Initiative

Tuitioning high school female students in Kibra slums in STEM subjects to increase their admission into STEM courses at the tertiary institutions. 

The opportunities in the STEM related fields are growing rapidly, especially for women. The opportunities as well, require women who have been prepared and are ready to take up the roles. In Kenya, being offered a chance to pursue your dream course at the undergraduate level, is influenced by your high school final examination performance. This has created a huge gap between the males and females pursuing STEM courses at the tertiary institutions. In Kibra, there are only two public high schools and over 15 private high schools. The two public schools are for the “smartest” students in the community while the private schools are for students who are not high academic achievers in the slums. Kibra, being one of the homes of the financially struggling citizens in Kenya, raising school fees is a hard task and most if not all residents rely on government bursaries and well- wishers. In pursuit of solving this problem, the “financially-abled” residents have tried setting up private schools for the kids whose families are affected by abject poverty. The amount of school fees they pay in a year is close to $200. As much as this is helpful, it has affected the students’ academic performance as the schools struggle to find teachers, as the pay is less. Not all students are also able to raise this amount of money consistently. The students may even lack teachers, especially STEM teachers in a period of three months if not for volunteers, who are mostly high school graduates that reside in Kibra. As expected, it has negatively affected the number of students graduating successfully and enrolling to tertiary institutions, especially the female students. Studying in such an environment as a female, where education importance is not acknowledged is highly difficult. 9% of the girls enrolled in Kibra slums’ private and public schools dropout due to family, school and community factors in their first year of high school. 40% of the remaining students are lucky enough to graduate from high school but only 5% enrolling in tertiary institutions. Out of the 5% female students, only 1% of these ladies enroll in STEM related courses in their respective institutions. Volunteering as a Math tutor in several high schools such as Soweto Academy for girls and Silver Springs Secondary School among others, I confirmed that approximately 70% of the girls that either dropped out or graduated and pursued non-STEM related courses decisions were highly influenced by their Sciences and Mathematics performance. The female students in my community, the world’s greatest slum, have been influenced to believe that there is a cognitive biological difference between men and women in Sciences and Mathematics, such that the idea of the “male math brain” is “true”.

My team and I are planning to reach out to the female high school students in Kibra students, the final year students being offered more slots in the program. The program is to tuition the students in Mathematics and the Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) courses. The tuition is to be delivered by professional teachers who will use better and simple approaches, making it more intriguing than just study-and-pass subjects. With the support of one of the principals in a private high school in Kibra, we will be able to hire the needed number of classrooms at a discount for the weekends, that is, Saturday and Sunday, when the students’ learning will be taking place. During the lessons, 25 students are to be handled by one teacher. The teacher is to go through the different topics with the students, clarifying the points they never understood. And as for the students who have rarely covered any topic, they are to have an extra amount of time with the teachers. The relevant textbooks, past revision papers and teaching materials such as chalkboard/whiteboard markers will be needed during the process. The students will not only be taught by the professional teachers but will also be provided with academic mentorship. The mentorship will be carried out by high school graduates from Kibra, either continuing students or incoming freshmen at the universities; they’ll do this voluntarily. The mentors will be provided with stipend for their transportation to and from the venue, and everyone will be served snacks on both days of learning. The teachers will also be paid for their services. The aim is to make the girls positive in STEM courses and influence them to delve into STEM related careers, highlighting the opportunities one can attain through constant hard work, push and persistence. 

The Mathematics and Sciences tuitioning is targeting the female students in private high schools in Kibra slums. The female students are more disadvantaged and at a higher rate of dropping out of school before completing their high school studies. In Kibra, less than 50% of girls get the chance to attend high schools, most of them end up getting married to motorcycle drivers in Kibra, become sex workers, house helps, drug traffickers and users among many immoral things. The tuition and mentorship will expose the girls to what awaits them once they successfully graduate high school, and get to know there is more to life than just the shanties they call home. This is to make them dream big and be aware that they too can achieve it, all they need is focus and discipline. The tuition will put them on the same level with the high school students across the country, as all skills and knowledge will be availed to them, and hence competing fairly. Lacking teachers will no longer be an issue for a student who is willing to learn. This will increase their academic performance and hence the percentage of girls enrolling at tertiary institutions and pursuing STEM related courses will increase.

The BintiBomba Initiative team has 4 permanent team members and volunteers who work with us on contracts. The four of us have been born and raised in Kibra slums. We are acquainted with the lifestyle around and aware of all the challenges that the girls go through. At some point in our lives, we have had to overcome the temptations posed to us by our environment. Our purpose is to increase the number of girls in Kibra who’ll triumph at the end of their academics, regardless of all the challenges.  The team members and I have worked with different organizations, both in Kibra and outside Kibra, hence exposing us to a variety of solutions that we could implement and bring different experiences to the team. The four of us are studying at tertiary institutions. I am pursuing Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Ashesi University in Ghana, one is studying Bachelor of Science in Information and Technology at Zetech University in Kenya, one pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Medicine in Kenyatta University in Kenya and the last one is pursuing a technical course in tailoring in P.C.E.A Kibera Emmanuel Technical Training Centre in Kenya. Having lived in Kibra, we  deeply understand the root cause of the problem and can work well with the community's leadership  to give a positive impact that’ll benefit the community members. The fours of us, having “already triumphed” academically and socially, according to Kibera residents, it is easier to work with residents as they will fully support our mission. More than 50% of the residents are academically illiterate. Empowering their children and future generation, gives them hope for a better tomorrow.

The mentors supporting us to achieve the initiative’s goals will be trained. The training will include them being taught how to best communicate with students of different personalities, building meaningful mentor-mentee relationships, the GRIT required during the whole project year and the topics to be covered during the mentorship sessions. 

Having volunteered in two different organizations, where I worked with the youth and high school students in Kibra, I realized that the impact made was short term. What we had intended to achieve was not what we got. I have volunteered with Umoja Youth Group that was mentoring the youths and high school students on the importance of education and informing them on the effects of dropping out. Having worked with Umoja Youth Group, I realized that the students were willing to work and were determined to successfully make it through but there were numerous challenges. The environs of the students were not encouraging, from lacking teachers, to lacking books and no one following up. They were bound to go back to the “non-caring” attitude on education after a while.

Volunteering with Kite Nairobi-Oxford compelled my team and I to specifically want to work with the girls. My engagement with the girls enlightened me on how most of them dreamt of completing high school without getting pregnant. It was a shock as this was a norm, and getting pregnant before completing one’s high school education was alien to other parts of the country, Kenya. To them, this is one of their dreams coming true. In a pursuit to solve the problem with a long-lasting impact, my team and I did our research, engaged with the girls to deeply understand the problem, and tried our solution with 5 students who will be graduating at the end of this year. The solution involves “walking” with a student till they successfully complete their journey and come back to impact the others. We are working for the students to achieve their best grades and move to tertiary institutions where they will pursue their dream courses.

Our team’s solution works efficiently as we strictly follow-up on the students to ensure there are improvements, both academic and socially. The initiative will be following up on students after high school graduation to ensure they have received the needed mentorship to achieve their end goal at the tertiary institution. Once a student has been enrolled in the programme, she will become an alumnus and be required to give back to the community. Through this, we hope that the student will be inspired and continue doing the same and eventually positively change her home. All these 200+ girls who will be empowered and supported will do the same to other community members who will be in need of help. This will break the chain of poverty in Kibra and at the end of the day, a reduction in the slum region till it is completely over. 

1.      Improved academic performance on Mathematics and Sciences by the students.

2.      Educate the girls on the available opportunities in STEM.

3.      No school drop out case for the girls enrolled in the programme.

4.      Increase the girls’ interest in the STEM related activities, courses and careers.

5.    Improve the girls’ social etiquette and communication skills in preparation for the future opportunities.

All these are to be achieved through the corporation of the teachers, mentors and students. The teachers will tackle the academic needs of the students while the mentors will be trained on how to take the girls through the social cues topic and exposure in the STEM industry. The girls will also be taught how to best grab the opportunities that avail themselves by the mentors and how to successfully thrive.

The solution is an innovation on delivering the knowledge of STEM subjects to high school students in a manner that creates a long-lasting impact. The students will not be taken through the subjects as study-and-pass, but will be taught in a way that makes it fun and memorable. The students are to engage in all the practical activities, that is getting their hands on the processes such as bisecting animals, working on pulley machines, combining the Chemistry elements and/or components while observing the reactions and many more. We are creating a can-do environment, where they are to learn that nothing is impossible.

The initiative has initially been carried out on a small scale. My team and I have been able to mentor and tuition five students who will be graduating high school at the end of the year 2023. We expect to serve 200 female students in the next year.

The team is posed with financial and cultural barriers. For the initiative to work effectively and deliver the desired output, funds need to be invested. The funds are mainly to pay for the service provided by teachers, the classrooms to be booked, textbooks and revision papers to be purchased, mentors’ stipend, and snack breaks.

About the cultural barrier, the girls might experience negative feedback and influence from the community people as this is a place where education is not valued. This might even cause some to drop out of the programme. In response to this barrier, the team has communicated with the community elders who are in full support of the idea and willing to condemn the community members who’ll negatively influence students out of the initiative. The elders have vowed to spread the word on the project once it’s operational as the members will be benefiting directly.

We have worked with Umoja Youth Group organization that has been the major donors for the five girls we are working with. The organization provides the initiative with funding for mentorship and their tuition. 

The female high school students in Kibra are the key beneficiaries of the programme. The students are to increase their knowledge on the STEM subjects and encouraged to pursue STEM related careers at the tertiary institutions. These students will be taught by professional teachers on Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The students’ grades in these subjects are expected to go higher as they will have the facilities and resources they have been lacking. Improved grades will give them a higher chance of admission to STEM courses in universities or colleges. The academic lessons are to take place during the weekends at one of the high schools, centrally located in Kibra. Not only will they be provided with academic knowledge but will also be mentored on their social lives and future careers. The mentorship will be carried out by volunteer mentors who are high school graduates from Kibra enrolled at tertiary institutions or awaiting enrollment at tertiary institutions. 

Being a non-governmental organization, the initiative receives money via grants and donations. The initiative is currently applying for grants from different organizations. Since the program will be done annually, grants and donations will be collected prior to the year they are to be used for. The team will also organize several fundraisings for the initiative, where the government and Kibra community members will be invited to take part in.