Mentorship Project for Boys

Boys have been left out of the empowerment process across Kenya. Every day, more young boys are dropping out of school, running away to the streets, and giving up on their futures.  Our mentorship programs are changing the lives of young boys in Kenya.

Recent study findings indicate that drug use and abuse, HIV / AIDS and, boy-child bereavement, emphasis on girl-child at the expense of boy-child, family background and lack of role-modeling for boy-child are major socio-cultural factors affecting the boy child into early adulthood.

Specific Challenges for Boys in need of mentorship:

A fast-paced society, globalization and survival for the fittest has denied the boy child in Kenya the all-important direction for survival, lifeskills and growth. Boys are now resigning to fate: drug abuse, immorality and crime. They are not unleashing their potential in areas of their choice: education, sports, craftsmanship among others.

  • Nearly half of the homes in Kenya are single-mother homes, and the number of men abandoning their families continues to increase. Hundreds of thousands of boys are growing up without a father and/or a positive male role-model.

  • The academic performance of boys across the country is steadily declining.

  • There are more than 500,000 children living on the streets of Kenya, and the vast majority of that number is made up of boys. Life on the streets for these boys consists of crime, drug-use, illness, and abuse.

  • Despite the efforts to empower women, the rates of men sexually and physically abusing women and girls continue to increase.

  • The number of programs and organizations specifically addressing the challenges boys are facing remains exceptionally low.

Key Objectives and Strategies:

Our Mentorship Strategies:

Through working with partners, the initiative has adopted the following programme strategies:

  • Peer-to-peer interactions among and across high school boys.
  • Public dialogue through talk show discussions on diverse media platforms.
    Inspirational, motivational and career talks.
  • Community and corporate sector involvement through in school mentorship and involvement of old boys (alumni).
  • Promoting community service among youth-volunteerism.

The topics covered in this initiative include:

What We Do:

  • Definition of a man
  • Values for greatness
  • Responsible sexuality
  • Career development
  • Building character for success
  • Challenges of masculinity
  • Servant leadership
  • Positive patriotism
  • Building self-confidence
  • Conflict resolution
  • Community service

We envision a world where boys have every opportunity to be all they were meant to be.