Founded in response to the HIV crisis, The Mango Tree has been working in Homa Bay County in Western Kenya to provide education for orphaned children and young people for the past 20 years.

Orphans, girls and disabled children are particularly at risk of being left behind in the education system and are also at greater risk of abuse. Many rural caregivers are elderly and have low levels of education or training. This makes it hard for them to pay the full cost of each child’s education and dropout rates at the end of secondary school, for children in the poorest families, can be as high as 70%. The household income levels of the orphans’ foster care families are low and unemployment levels are high.

The Learning and Skills for Life programme aims to support children and young people to succeed by giving them the skills to lift themselves out of poverty so that they can become resilient and independent. By improving educational opportunities and providing holistic support, this programme reduces teenage pregnancy rates, increases school retention and employability and creates sustainable livelihoods for disadvantaged children and young people.

This project will fund the secondary education for those registered orphaned young people attending secondary day schools. It will also support disabled children with additional support so that they are able to attend school.