Kenya Big Dream

KENYA BIG DREAM

Empowering Kenyan girls to know they are worthy.

Hope for Kenyan girls and boys.

Kenya is a vibrant and inviting country full of life, intrigue, opportunity, and hope. Yet, there are places where child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) have held girls and communities back for generations. We know it doesn’t need to be this way. We know because we’ve seen God transform lives and communities in Kenya and we won’t stop until child marriage and FGM ends everywhere we work in Kenya.

2030 GOAL

Reach 1.2 million people to help them reach their full potential through the Kenya Big Dream.

Give to Kenya Big Dream

Kenya Big Dream

The need

In many cultures, FGM — also known as cutting — symbolizes the transition from girlhood to womanhood and is a harmful cultural practice done on girls as young as 10 (in some places, on girls even younger). In areas of Kenya, it’s traditionally seen as a precursor to child marriage, but both FGM and child marriage can have devastating physical and psychological effects on girls.

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  • Girls are hurt by harmful cultural norms and traditions, including child marriage and early pregnancy. Every year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18. That's 22 girls every minute.

  • At least 200 million women and girls worldwide have endured female genital mutilation (FGM). That's more than the entire female population of the United States.

  • In Samburu County, 86% of women ages 15 to 49 have undergone FGM, and 77% were cut to become eligible for marriage. Only about one in 10 girls is enrolled in secondary school here.
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Our response

Turning the tide on child marriage and FGM requires a multi-sector approach to create lasting change. Following INSPIRE — the WHO’s evidence-based strategies for best practices in child protection work — the Kenya Big Dream changes social norms harmful to children, strengthens household economic conditions to reduce financial incentives for child marriage, promotes education and life skills training for girls, and more.
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We do this by:
  • Mobilizing faith leaders to strengthen their communities by leading child protection efforts, including Alternative Rites of Passage ceremonies to replace FGM.

  • Empowering families to become economically resilient and financially stable, so they can prioritize girls' worthiness as they support community-wide laws and cultural mindset shifts against child marriage and FGM. 

  • Prioritizing education for girls and boys, giving them the chance to know their potential for changing their societies.

Our impact

World Vision's child protection work in Kenya has resulted in fewer children experiencing violence and abuse. From 2016 to 2019, the number of children among those surveyed in our project areas in Kenya who said they experienced violence and abuse went from 71% to 37%, while youth who said they were "thriving" in life more than doubled.
 
This dream is big, but it’s achievable within our lifetimes. In over 10 years of work in Kenya, we’ve seen the acceptance of FGM and child marriage plummet. And girls’ secondary school enrollment rates have skyrocketed — in an area where they were once nearly zero. “In 1999, the prevalence rate of FGM was over 95% in Chepareria area of West Pokot. Today, it’s less than 10%,” explains Moses Chepkonga, the Kenya Big Dream program manager.
 
With your partnership, see the impact we’re making:
272K people reached

272,137 children, youth, and adults reached in FY23 through Kenya Big dream — 103% of target.

960 children graduated

960 children graduated from five-day long Alternative Rites of Passage (ARP) ceremonies.

212 savings groups established

212 savings groups were established. Members of one savings group, after learning the value of their honey, showcased their product at an agricultural trade fair — which led to them tripling their previous years income.

Read our most recent progress report.

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Video gallery

See the people and places whose lives are being transformed in the name of Jesus Christ. Watch videos to learn more about our work.

Our Partners

We are blessed to partner with hundreds of Christian philanthropists and couldn’t do this work without them. And we’re able to reach more people because of our highly collaborative local and global partnerships within private and public sectors.

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Margo Day

donor partner, Washington

“I met a group of 34 young girls at a rescue center in West Pokot, Kenya. God placed a fire in my heart for those girls...and that trip proved to be the beginning of an incredible transformation...for the girls, for their community, and for me.”

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Suzanne Broetje

donor partner, Washington

“I’ve seen firsthand that when young women’s lives are transformed, they in turn become powerful agents of change in their communities.”

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2023 Financial

 
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