Proactive Junior School is one of our longest standing partnerships. We’re immensely proud of the work they do, and how we’ve been able to support them in the past. The teachers, as well as the children themselves, have shown immense resilience and perseverance over the years, and we look forward to being able to support them once again in their ongoing efforts to provide good education to vulnerable children.
We believe in good education, teamwork, and hard work. We have to. And we have to persevere. … We [aim] to make the community around us understand the value and importance of education. The children who are just sitting idle, the parents cannot afford school fees, we would wish for them to come to our school so that they can be in a safe place where we can nurture them.
Grace Atieno Sijeni
Grace Atieno, the founder of the school, has worked as a teacher for the past 25 years and dedicated much of her life towards the persistence and growth of Proactive Junior School. Grace herself has had the most difficult starts to life, fleeing from the bloody rule of Ugandan dictator Amin Dada and growing up in a slum in Nairobi. She got her first pair of shoes when she was around the age of 9, and was forced to drop out of secondary school due to lack of funds. Nevertheless, she persevered and discovered a passion for children and teaching, gaining a reputation in the Homa Bay schools community despite her lack of training, before the founding of Proactive Junior School in 2003.
Proactive Junior School has a turbulent history, having expanded to great success with a full primary school reaching up to grade 7, catering to 300 students at their greatest. But various logistical and financial challenges including difficult landowners and legal barriers have forced them to fall back down again. During the coronavirus pandemic, there were a mere 12 students.
Now, the numbers are regaining stability, and Proactive are looking to take on significant renovations to their premises despite a totally unresponsive landlord.
In the space of four tiny classrooms, over the course of four years, the children are introduced to not one, but two new languages. Often arriving knowing only Luo – their mother tongue – these children will be introduced to the national language of Kiswahili, and upon leaving they will be able to read and write in English. These skills are essential for a rapidly developing Kenya, and the teachers strain hard everyday to deliver the lessons.
To support the work of these inspirational teachers, head to our Donation Page, or see other ways to Get Involved!
