Education and Poverty

Today we will talk about poverty and education.

The most important tool to fight poverty is education. When you have entire communities of people who have never learned to read or write, who have never been taught trades to provide for their families, and who don’t understand AIDS and disease prevention, you’re faced with a cycle that is unstoppable until some degree of education takes place. 

32 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa alone are completely uneducated. This is more people than the entire population of Texas.

Globally, 757 million adults lack basic literacy. Two thirds of these adults are women.

According to the Global Education Fund, 8.5% of Kenyans complete high school. Less than 60% enroll (with a 41% attendance rate). School tuition is incredibly overwhelming for a family in poverty.

Public school in Kenya is “free.” By this, I mean that students must pay for uniforms, books, exams, and other “fees” that cover the cost of teachers’ salaries—and many families aren’t equipped to afford this. When a family makes less than $10 a day (80% of the world) and has multiple children who want to go to school, this “free” education quickly becomes unreachable. And high school is a much higher expense. 

When you sponsor a child with CRF, you are covering these impossible costs. $35 a month might triple a family’s monthly income—and it’s going directly to the needs of your child. 

When you educate one student, you’re empowering someone who can make a tremendous impact on an entire community.