Form Four (4)leavers in underserved communities are plagued with many challenges from negative influences often leading to deviant behaviors, low self-esteem, limited exposure to available career opportunities, limited employment opportunities, etc., all of these leading to a sense of hopelessness rather than healthy futures.
BPLK is currently developing programs that develop the head, hearts, and hands of highly motivated youth, inspiring them to become lifelong learners who contribute meaningfully to their communities and beyond.
Guided by these and a commitment to test our program design and better understand the needs of our youth, BPLK launched a pilot program focusing on youth leadership and (real-world) project . Youth leaders will engage in 141 hours of hands-on training.
Utiva
Utiva is a technology workforce development company that helps people learn premium technology skills virtually and partners with companies to hire the best talents and invest in workforce development. It is a one-stop-shop data school that equips learners and helps them navigate the possibility of learning and understanding the tech subject.
BPLK through Girl Rising partnered with Utiva and in May 2022 rolled out the program at BPLK. Two BPLK staff and 12 students were taken through a UI/UX training program and website development for four (4) months.
Through this program, students have attained invaluable digital literacy skills. Big Picture Learning Kenya works with students from marginalized communities who have never interacted with laptops ever. When they joined the Utiva sessions, they could not turn on laptops, type, had no knowledge of the internet or how it works, open a browser, or join the class via zoom including muting and unmuting, turn the video on and off, share screen, etc.
Student Leadership Academy
The Student Leadership Academy empowers students with leadership skills and build their self efficacy to become change agents in their communities and prepare them for college and employment.
Many form graduates in underserved communities are plagued with many challenges from negative influences often leading to deviant behaviors, low self esteem, limited exposure to available career opportunities, limited employment opportunities etc., all these leading to a sense of hopelessness rather than healthy futures.
These young people however, are determined to interrupt poverty cycles in their families and communities. For them to lead change in their communities and beyond, they need to be empowered with skills to lead self and others.
The BPLK leadership academy is aimed at fostering self-direction, and develop in the students skills that will enable them to make positive contributions to their communities and prepare them for the future.
Fursa Mpya
The current pandemic has brought about several challenges in our communities. At Big Picture Learning Kenya, one of our values is courage and we have been looking for ways to encourage and support our schools in this tough season. For us, courage is not about being invincible, but about being resilient even in the face of adversity. Our focus is not about getting back to normal, because normal was not good enough. We want to respond to current opportunities and challenges and build new systems and spaces that will enable students to learn, thrive and fulfil their potential as they plan to get back to school.
The name Fursa Mpya, means a new beginning. This is an inspiration for us to work with our partners and stakeholders to create solutions that will work for our students, teachers and schools. The Fursa Mpya Program will focus on three main areas:
Infrastructure support: supporting schools with requirements related to Covid-19 preparedness
Students’ life skills training: engaging students in timely and meaningful life skills training
Teacher engagement: working with teachers to deliver lifeskills training
Miale Development Program
Miale is a Swahili word that means rays of sunshine.
At BPLK, we know that schools in marginalized communities do not always have access to basic resources needed to improve learning. The Miale program seeks to address this gap by providing small grants to schools so they can transform the learning experience for students. The Miale program uses a partnership model where we engage with our school partners to understand the needs, and we provide small grants to address pressing challenges. As the name suggests, we aim to provide some light in potentially challenging situations!
Tenets of Miale Program
The Miale Development Program provides partners with the rare opportunity of receiving a small grant to address persisting challenges. We understand that development funds are hard to come by yet needs are constantly rising. We have structured the program to ensure there is accountability from all sides to ensure that various stakeholders are consulted in project selection and funds spent effectively. Our goal for Miale is that it strengthens systems in schools which will lead to sustainability of projects implemented. In the end, even in a small way, we know that classes and schools will be transformed.