Experience Together

SSNDs influenced new school in Kenya

Young children anxiously waiting for school day to begin.

Judith Odero did not have many opportunities growing up in an impoverished family in Kenya. As a girl, her brothers’ education was placed above her own. When her parents could no longer afford to pay for her high school education, Judith approached Sister Jeanne Goesseling, SSND, principal of St. Theresa’s Gekano School in Kisii, Kenya. Sister Jeanne and the other School Sisters of Notre Dame serving there gave Judith a scholarship to continue school.

That act of kindness impacted Judith. She attended college with the goal of opening her own school for children in Mathare, the second largest slum in Nairobi. Destiny Junior Educational Center has grown from 40 pupils at its 2013 opening to more than 400 students.

The school educates both boys and girls, and Judith encourages parents in the slum to keep their children in school. She charges a minimal fee for school to make school more affordable, and feeds students larger meals so they can take leftovers home to share with their families.

Some students are orphaned or come from difficult home environments, and Judith hopes to one day open a rescue home for those in need. She also wants to purchase land outside Nairobi to teach students how to farm and grow their own food.

Read more about how the School Sisters of Notre Dame guided Judith, and how Judith is paying that kindness forward.

Photo courtesy of Morguefile

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