A community-based organization in Homa Bay has stepped in to keep 120 vulnerable learners in school after raising Sh500,000 to cushion them from the effects of poverty.
Yamalang’o Community-Based Organisation (CBO) awarded each of the beneficiaries from North Kanyabala Sub-location Sh4,000 to help meet their education expenses.
The bursaries were issued in Homa Bay Town, with the organization saying the support would help prevent bright learners from financially disadvantaged families from dropping out of school.
The organisation’s savings and table-banking activities had enabled members to mobilize resources that are now being channeled into community development initiatives, including education.
Yamalang’o CBO chairperson MaryTriza Achilles said the they had raised Sh500,000 for education support programme, with Sh250,000 coming from members’ contributions and a similar amount raised through well-wishers and community leaders.
Achilles said the initiative was prompted by high levels of poverty in the area, which had left some parents unable to meet their children’s education expenses, resulting in school dropouts.
“We saw a growing number of bright students from vulnerable families dropping out of school and decided to support them to keep them in school so that they could have a better future,” she said.
The organisation’s education programme chairman, David Kongere, said the CBO decided to intervene after witnessing an increasing number of learners abandoning school due to lack of fees.
Kongere said some affected students were turning to boda boda riding, while others had started engaging in theft and other vices.
“We started this because we saw students in the area leaving school and going into boda boda business and others into theft. We wanted the students to go to school,” he said.
North Kanyabala Assistant Chief Washington Kideu said the bursary would help bridge the gap between government support and the actual cost of educating children from poor households.
He noted that many beneficiaries attend day schools and come from families unable to meet additional education expenses after receiving government bursaries.
Kideu said some families were unable to keep their children in school even after receiving bursary allocations of about Sh3,000 from the National Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), forcing some learners to remain at home.
“Some of the students are from poor backgrounds and their parents are unable to raise the remaining school fees required to supplement the bursary they receive from CDF. The gap is there, and as a community and CBO, we saw the need to come together and pool resources so that the children stay in school,” Kideu said.
He urged the beneficiaries to work hard and make good use of the opportunity, saying community members had sacrificed their limited resources to support their education.
Kideu also called for more well-wishers and stakeholders to partner with the organization to expand the programme and increase the number of beneficiaries in subsequent years.
Yamalang’o CBO was established in August 2025 and marked its first anniversary in August 2026. During the celebrations, members shared Sh4.7 million generated through their weekly savings and lending activities.
The organisation also runs programmes focusing on women and youth empowerment, as well as tree planting. However, education support has emerged as one of its key interventions targeting vulnerable children in North Kanyabala.
By Sitna Omar
