Ten years ago we dreamt that one day it would be Gates of Hope Scholars giving back and leading Gates of Hope's work in Kenya. That day has arrived! There are now enough scholarship recipients who have finished school and become contributing citizens that are in a position to help facilitate scholarships. Even better, they desire to mentor the next generation of students! We are calling them the Peace Team and they are the future of Kenya! Over the next few seasons a formal team will be put in place to direct scholarship funds and community work.

Nicholas Muysonki first came to Gates of Hope when he was six years old; now he is fifteen. He has been raised by his Grandmother in rural Kenya. We remember him as a wonderfully mischievous boy! Life has been hard and unpredictable for Nicholas as he is no stranger to hard labor, hungry bedtimes, and sleeping under the stars. He has attended school when possible but never consistently. Now a new season has come for Nicholas as he has the support of Adam & Celena (faithful donors), and Simon to help him. Simon has his own story of enduring hardship and has learned much along the way. Now, he is in a position to come alongside of Nicholas and guide him through the challenges. Simon is finishing his College degree in education and plans to become a teacher... Perhaps, Nicholas is his first student. Simon sees great potential in Nicholas, who is great with his hands and shows aptitude for mechanics. Simon is the point person in resourcing Nicholas with his school needs and more. We are inspired to see the next generation giving hope to one another!

For more than a decade Akili Girls school has brought hope to their neighborhood and now it is starting to flex its muscles. Hope has been infectious in Kisumu, Kenya spreading from one small day school into a boarding school, and now into the holistic development of a rural community. Jobs are being created, small businesses are being run, and food is being provided for hungry neighbors and students. Facing the pandemic, we are seeing the resolve of this important school through it's creative problem solving. Grants, donors, business ventures and more have been sustaining Akili school but the pandemic has taken it's toll. Our goal in the coming seasons is to help Akili Girls school as best as we can to stabilize their teacher workforce and provide academic scholarships for students who attend the school. By partnering with local people, businesses and agencies we are able to have a much larger impact. Our time visiting the school reminded us how important it is to think holistically and bring sustainable strategy to all of our partnerships. Akili Girls School is leading the way!

The Catalyst grant was born from conversations with our scholars who shared how difficult it has been for them to transition from school to securing a job. There are many factors present that make this transition difficult some of which include housing, reliable transportation, technology needs, and cultural pressures for girls to get married and have children promptly. There are numerous other challenges that our students face so we decided to create the Catalyst grant in order to help position a student during this transition to navigate the challenges. The grant must be applied for and can offer up to as much as $1,200 USD for the individual to use it in order to secure post-graduate employment. We want our scholars who are graduating with law, medical, and educational degrees to be in a position to actually use them!

In 2020 we organized a group of influential people from all different backgrounds to meet together several times a month and have dinner. Our goal? To become a community. We hear the word community often but rarely do we ever truly experience it. If we are a community development organization then we must first become a living community. Loaded with diversity, differences, opinions, fears and judgements, we are learning how to open up, trust, listen, honor, and love one another unconditionally. This is not an easy task and why true community is so rare. This group is learning the language of peace amidst conflict that is both internal and external. Eventually some of those in this group will be our leads in the community speaking this language of peace and leading others!

The last two years have proved challenging for our Community Outreach Team to continue connecting with people around the city but nonetheless relationships have persisted and deepened! In one particular community called Davis Park, we continued to meet throughout the pandemic albeit distanced and masked. We found the time to be extremely important and bonding. Whether playing games or helping with homework the small team of volunteers were able to provide consistent relational connection for many kids during an extremely difficult time. We are now seeing new opportunities with families and relationships because of this consistency.

One of our best achievements in 2020 was the formation of an academic support group for kids who came as refugees. Having school online made it nearly impossible for many of these kids to succeed academically due to internet access, safe learning environments, language barriers, technology competence, and more. Through an incredible collaborative effort with our partners in the community, we were able to consistently provide a safe and supportive learning space for at-risk students all through the school year. Meeting multiple times a week with students for the entirety of the school day we were able to not only provide academic support but we were able to get to know these brilliant students and beautiful people.