By Okong’o Oduya
The world Bicycle relief in partnership with child fund Kenya has donated 240 bicycles to day school students whose homes are more than three kilometers away from schools in Nambuku Namboboto ward in Busia County.
St. Joseph Ganjala and Nyakhobi secondary schools were the first schools in the county to benefit from the program in which 120 students from each school were given buffalo bicycles. Launching the program dabbed , Bicycle Education Empowerment program Busia County’s first lady Judy Ojaamong noted that girls were major beneficiaries with 70 per cent of them receiving the bicycles while 30 per cent had been been given to boy students.
Judy lauded the World Bicycle Relief and Child Fund Kenya for the program and challenged the heads of two schools to take advantage of the free bicycles to improve the school performance in national examinations.
However the first lady urged the girls to develop reading culture and stop being lured into premature sex leading to unwanted pregnancies and early parental hood.
According to Child Fund Kenya Program Director, Daniel Kinoti they will monitor bicycle usage, adding that they will open up more partnership with the County Government to enable more deserving cases to benefit. He further hinted that they partner with Lake Victoria Child Support Program and the Ministry of Education to implement the program in the remaining nine schools in first phase.
On his side the WBR regional representative Peter Wechuli noted that the program begun last year with intention to ease the movement to the day students get to school early enough which will help in improving their academic performance.
He said the project will also help to reduce sexual abuse and school drop outs among girls as well as safety of girl-child. Ang’oromo, Bumala AC, Nyakwaka, Bujwanga, Busende, Alupe, and Namboboto are among the schools remaining to benefit from the program.
