Austine, 19 years old, once lived at our Care Centre. He is now being raised by his older brother Peter, who is 32 years old, and Peter’s wife Kenties, age 30. Austine has been living together with them and their four young children.

 Austine joined a local high school less than a year ago with our support, but he really struggled academically. Rather than continue with high school for four or more years, well into his 20s, Austine decided together with his family to pursue a vocational course. He’s now studying automotive mechanics at Friends College Kaimosi, partly supported by his sponsorship and partly by our Education Fund.

 Meanwhile, Peter’s wife Kenties is about to finish a one-year Certificate course in tailoring and fashion design at Musoli County Polytechnic. She was already good at sewing, and with this education she plans to advance her skills before starting a tailoring business to earn income.

 Both Austine and his older brother’s wife Kenties are part of our vocational program. Most of the cost of their education is coming from our Education Fund, because there we do not have very much income from the family’s sponsorship.

 The family will exit our Family Care program at the end of this year, having also been helped in other ways especially in the area of livelihoods and farming. Peter, Austine’s older brother and Kenties’ husband, is farming and selling produce to support the family. He sells vegetables and bananas in the local market, growing some and buying the rest from neighbors. He also recently planted a lot of banana and papaya trees, which will start yielding fruit for sale from next year. Peter and Kenties are also raising pigs for income.

 This family is an excellent example of how our Education Fund complements our Family Care program. Austine will have a career as a mechanic, and through this he should be able to support himself as he grows further into adulthood. Meanwhile Kenties is planning for her tailoring business which will add to the income Peter earns from farming and selling produce.

 Our Family Care program does not last forever, and this family will soon graduate from it. By then Kenties will be done with her studies and be qualified as a tailor. Austine will continue for another year and a half in his automotive mechanics course, supported by the Education Fund.

 We are proud of this family’s progress and happy that the Education Fund has played a part in strengthening their future. We believe that soon, Kenties and Peter will be in a better position to educate their four young children. We also believe that Austine, once he is working as a mechanic, will be in a good place to start his own family one day.