Last summer, I travelled to Kenya and had the pleasure of meeting some truly awe-inspiring girls. Team Kenya looked after me like a member of the family and in the time I spent in Ndhiwa I visited 8 schools sponsored by the charity. I witnessed first hand the impact Team Kenya is making on many young children - but in particular - GIRLS! 

Team Kenya's work focuses on: girls education, advocacy for safe communities and economic sustainability & food security. At the forefront of all of their work is women and girls - and for good reason:

In Ndhiwa, 75.5% of children attend primary school but only 15.7% progress to secondary school, and very few of these are girls.

Girls in Ndhiwa have fewer educational opportunities than boys due to deeply entrenched traditional attitudes towards girls leading to widespread and tolerated abuse of their rights. 

57% of women & girls in the County have experienced physical violence and 31.6% sexual violence.

In Homa Bay County, 63% of people live in extreme poverty and at least 1 in 4 people are infected with HIV – the highest rate in Kenya. Adolescent girls are most at risk due to lack of sexual health education, widespread sexual exploitation, gender based violence and harmful traditional practices including polygamy, wife inheritance and child marriage.

And so - I am going to run 26 miles in May - so education in the schools I visited can continue to thrive and so that some of the gorgeous faces I met continue to learn about their rights. WHO RUN THE WORLD?  GIRLS!!!!!!!