Sheila is at the top of her class! She is bright, involved and energetic. She dreams of being a lawyer or an accountant. Her favorite subjects at school are history and math. Sheila is part of "Stigmatisation," a youth group working with individuals with HIV/ADIS. She is extremely hard working and "want[s] to change the state of poverty in which my community lives in."

Sheila is 17 years old, lives with her grandfather.  She's an expert at cooking, fetching wood and water and giving love and care to her 5 younger siblings. She has taken on the role of mother and father from early on as both of her parents passed away, doing it all while getting excellent grades and being involved in her community. Sheila is an unusual case, not many females are enrolled in secondary school and more scarce are the ones getting top grades. We are proud of Sheila's accomplishments and would like to see her efforts recognized and continue to support hear potential and dreams through schooling for the upcoming years. Sheila and SEED thanks you for your support. 

The School

Humwend Secondary School is a community-run school situated in Ukwala, Kenya. Here 57 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, and 24 per cent lives with the highly stigmatized human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Fifty students attend the school, 95 per cent of which are partial or complete orphans.

The cost of operating Humwend Secondary School for an entire year is approximately $21,000 USD. Although public education is subsidized by the Kenyan government, there are still mandatory costs (such as tuition, examinations and uniforms) which are preventing students from attending school.