June 5, 2020
Dear Friend of GTL,
I hope you continue to keep safe in these unprecedented times.
I am also deeply grateful to all our friends who responded to the call in our May 5 letter for financial help, to support us pay for unexpected costs due to COVID 19. We appreciate that.
Since then, there are now, as of June 5, 2,340 cases in Kenya, 522 cases in Uganda, and 509 cases in Tanzania.
In Tanzania, GTL scholars in A- level, (the equivalent of grade 12 in the US) did not sit their national examinations that were due on May 4. They are all at home, and distance learning is not that widespread. There is no access to internet, electricity and computers. There is no infrastructure for online learning. These students are part of the class of 2020, and we are concerned that they will not be able to graduate at the end of the year. We are committed to paying for an extra year in school for any student who may need it to graduate. We continue to need your financial support to enable us pay for tuition for an extra year, come January 2021.
Click this link to read our statement on Impact of COVID-19 on GTL Scholars and to donate
All the students that we pay tuition for, come from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds, but the girls from the semi-arid areas, pastoralists communities in the 3 countries are particularly vulnerable. A recent local report from the ‘World Vision’ an international NGO advocating for the safety of children worldwide, states that the pandemic is in danger of putting 4 million girls in Africa into child marriage. The girls we educate in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania from pastoralist communities fall into this category.
It is unfortunate that these semi-arid areas in the North of Uganda and the Rift Valley in Kenya have been invaded by locusts and flooding, which have compounded the effects of restricted movement, due to COVID 19.
See pictures below, taken by Beatrice Merige, our Coordinator in the Rift Valley of Kenya, where traditional homes are flooded.
Stagnant water brings Mosquitoes, which makes Malaria another added threat to the community.
For more information on GTL program in East Africa, check out our website at growththroughlearning.org and follow us on social media; facebook.com/growththroughlearning/, instagram.com/growththroughlearning/ and linkedin.com/company/growth-through-learning-inc-/
Please continue to keep safe.
Sincerely,
Wanjiku K Mwangi
Executive Director
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