“The greatest danger facing modern society today is not of dying without achieving your dreams but dying without dreaming at all.” This is the motto by which Sophia Tsenge lives. Sophia comes from a humble background in a family of seven, in Sasenyi Village in Taita Taveta County, Kenya, and is one of Wildlife Works education bursary beneficiaries.
One of the core ways in which Wildlife Works supports local development is through distributing the profit made from carbon credits back into conservation project’s communities we serve. Much of the funding programs go towards supporting community groups who submit needs proposals for committee approval.
Another major funding funnel is our education sponsorships. Since 2004, more than 3,200 local students have been awarded over $260,000 in education scholarships, helping to give opportunities to a generation of rural students in our project area.
Sophia Tsenge, Wildlife Works education bursary beneficiary
Sophia is one of these lucky ones. When Sophia’s parents divorced seven years ago and her grandmother took responsibility for the children. Living in a grassy, thatched house with mud floors and a lack of beds, affording the next family meal was sometimes a challenge.
That, however, was not a barrier for Sophia in pursuing her education and the right to education became a strong pillar in her life. “Attending school came with a lot of difficulties. My grandmother had no money to pay for the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) funds but I would still come to school without having paid any fees,” she says.
Sophia outside her old primary school in Sasenyi
Despite all the difficulties, Sophia worked hard and managed to score high marks in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam. This earned her an opportunity to join Voi Secondary School, a provincial school in the county which only accepts high scoring students.
At this stage, money became a major problem and her grandmother sold a bull in order to pay for her boarding requirements and fees. In Form One, Sophia would be sent home three times a month to collect school fees.
But her perseverance paid off. As a result of her good grades in Form Two, Sophia’s biology teacher connected her to the Wildlife Works Sponsorship Program. She was accepted into the program and Wildlife Works paid her school debts and 100% of her fees up to Form Four. She worked as hard as she could and scored a grade of B- in her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam.
Now Sophia is dreaming of her future; she is aiming to join Mt. Kenya University to pursue clinical medicine in September this year. “In ten years time, I would like to be working to help sick people. I would also like to mentor others on how they can achieve in life, especially girls,” Sophia says.
Sophia has a big heart and she wants to not only help the sick but also her community. As she waits to join university, she is teaching at her old primary school and inspiring the students to work hard despite their challenging circumstances.
Sophia in class teaching
She adds, “I thank Wildlife Works for their firm support and urge to embrace education. If it were not for them I could not have managed to go to secondary school.”
The Wildlife Works community is happy to have supported Sophia in her education and wishes her all the best in her future endeavors.
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Wildlife Works is the world’s leading REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), project development and management company with an effective approach to applying innovative market based solutions to the conservation of biodiversity. REDD+ was originated by the United Nations (UN) to help stop the destruction of the world’s forests.
Over a 15 year history Wildlife Works established a successful model that uses the emerging marketplace for REDD+ Carbon Offsets to protect threatened forests, wildlife, and communities.
The company helps local landowners in the developing world monetize their forest and biodiversity assets whether they are governments, communities, ownership groups, or private individuals.
