his past August, we hosted 40 university scholars at our annual University Leadership Summit. This is the second leadership conference held in Kajiado town during the students' long holiday (summer) before they begin a new school year. Our goal in hosting a leadership summit is to provide intentional mentorship, speak on current issues that the girls are facing, strengthen the bonds of the community, and prepare for the upcoming school year. A special part is also having recent high school graduates join the university program and gaining tips on navigating college/university before the new school year.
For the first time in the university and high school conferences, we had a speaker addressing mental health issues, a topic many youth are grappling with. Mrs. Sheila Kekayaya, a counseling psychologist and mental health advocate, was our expert speaker on the topic. She shared about “Mindfulness, stress coping, resilience and enhancing emotional and social skills for mental wellness and positive development.” Her training was aimed at helping the youth deal with and navigate through challenges, enabling a mentally stable and mindful youth within society. Through her sessions, the girls remained engaged and keen to learn about how to take care of themselves at this stage of life.
The girls also received mentorship through a session led by Makena Mugambi, THS Education Program Coordinator, on managing finances and budgeting. The value of this session was how it taught the girls to steward their finances properly, no matter how little, and build good money habits that they can apply as they progress in life and their careers. During the summit, we had Joy Merian and Renay Saenik, two university alumni, present and able to motivate the university scholars to remain disciplined and work hard to finish their studies well. Having alumni present for the education program conferences is always an exciting time for the current students as many look to the alumni as role models.
The leadership summit concluded with a book gifting where each girl received a copy of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s - Africa’s “Iron Lady” - memoir, This Child Will Be Great, the first female president of the Republic of Liberia.
As each of the students began a new school year this month, we are hopeful that the University Leadership Summit gave them practical tools to navigate challenges and opportunities that come their way.
