CURA
CURA Orphanage where hope has a place to grow.
Cura Orphanage is a residence for children who have lost their parents to AIDS. Their home is located in the village of Cura, in Kenya, Africa. Fifty children currently live there. Cura Orphanage is committed to providing a loving home for children, where they find safety, health and a new family. Cura’s children attend the local pre- and primary schools, and Cura strives to be an integral part of their local village. Cura is a place where hope has a place to grow.
Cura Orphanage was a Civic Action Project project for Creative Visions , media producers who inspire solutions to global challenges with their work. What began as one visit to Cura Orphanage with Creative Visions’ International Program Manager, Hayden Bixby , evolved for Jennifer Gross into a series of visits to the orphanage over the next four consecutive years.
Seeing the kids she met growing into their teenage years, and being there when their secondary school was built and they first started attending classes, moved Jennifer. She feels that because she had the privilege to go to university, Blue Chip should give others the opportunity as well. The educational future of the Cura orphans, with no parents and no support system when they graduated from secondary school, was a legitimate worry for Jennifer, as only 2% of Kenyans attend university.
Blue Chip’s financial support provides Cura’s kids an incentive to try to achieve the goal of a university education, or to follow the alternative path of vocational training. It also supports a paid position for a guidance counselor on Cura’s staff. Jennifer is currently a member of Cura Orphanage’s advisory committee.
Cura Orphanage’s work aligns with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals :
4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
4.A Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
4.B By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrollment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programs, in developed countries and other developing countries
8.6 By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
