Cycling to Nairobi

Our fundraising challenge to raise money for the mentorship scheme

Between the committee we will be cycling or walking the distance from Oxford to Nairobi in 6 weeks!

We start today and by Easter we will have travelled 4,284.40 miles collectively with each committee member cycling, running or hiking part of the distance. Bridging the distance between Oxford and Nairobi we are celebrating and raising money for the launch of our first collaborative pilot project! Our new mentorship scheme is a joint project by Kite Oxford and Kite Nairobi which was launched in January.  

What is the Kite Oxford-Nairobi mentorship scheme?
Our mentorship scheme aims to reduce the rate of dropouts in high schools, develop pupils’ entrepreneurial skills, and bring awareness of vocational training opportunities to students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Kenya. The scheme will utilise university student mentors who have been trained to act as enthusiastic and able role models for high school age mentees and who will provide them with effective careers and skills development support in one-on-one sessions, group activity sessions  as well as special activities.

Being university students themselves, our mentors are of an age which is relatable to the mentees and are familiar with the challenges mentees face in getting to university. That makes them ideally suited to act as a role model to the mentees and to guide them through the process of developing the skills and the mindset needed to tackle the challenges they will face in the job market upon leaving school. There is also the added benefit that the mentors will gain skills, and hopefully feel empowered to continue working for social change.