The 2025 Lugari Girls’ Leadership and Mentorship Camp, held at the Lugari Community Resource Centre, located in the vilage of Musembe in the Lugari District of Kenya, has delivered extraordinary results. The camp helped to empower 250 adolescent girls from across Kenya and setting in motion a national ripple effect that will touch tens of thousands of lives.
The camp was partially funded by the Soroptimist International Foundation’s War-Torn Countries Fund. Although Kenya is a democracy, it is surrounded by countries affected by armed conflict, and protests and unrest continue within its own borders. Many of the girls come from regions directly impacted by these challenges and represent diverse communities across Kenya. Bordering five countries, including Sudan and Ethiopia, Kenya is affected by terrorism, violence, banditry and landmines, realities that shape the daily lives of these girls.
A Partnership With Extraordinary Heart
The 2025 camp was delivered through the collaborative efforts of Willing Hearts International Society of Canada and Soroptimist International, continuing a partnership that has equipped over 2,350 girls since 2011 with the skills, confidence, and networks needed to transform their communities.
In Lugari this year, 250 extraordinary hearts began shaping the future of Kenya. Their testimonies reveal the stark realities facing girls in the country’s war-affected and marginalised communities. Each participant represents hundreds more living under the same conditions across Kenya.
The Final Evaluation Report, recently released, shows that the 10-day residential programme not only met all its objectives but exceeded expectations across leadership development, gender-based violence awareness, career guidance, community engagement and long-term resilience building.
The camp directly supports the Soroptimist International commitment to uplift girls in war-affected, high-risk communities. Participants included girls from regions where insecurity, extreme poverty, early marriage and gender-based violence threaten daily survival.
The programme’s proven model, empowering vulnerable girls with capability-building, mentorship and community action embodies Soroptimist International’s mission of advancing the rights of women and girls everywhere.
Addressing a National Crisis
The girls who attended the camp represent thousands more across Kenya who face insecurity, hunger, loss of parents, discrimination, early marriage pressures and a lack of access to menstrual health and basic sanitation. For many participants, the camp offered their first experience of safety, dignity, nutrition, and hope.
A Model With National Reach
The camp’s strength lies in the cascading impact created, when one girl becomes a leader:
- It creates a Peer Education Network with potential to reach 7,500+ beneficiaries Every participant commits to train at least 30 peers in their county in gender-based violence awareness, menstrual health, leadership, food security, small business skills, and career guidance, supported by school monitoring and community verification.
- Stronger Families: each girl brings new knowledge to households averaging six members, improving nutrition, sanitation, conflict resolution, income-generation, and attitudes toward girls’ education.
- School Transformation: participants are driving change in schools across Kenya by creating mentorship clubs, leading gender-based violence reporting campaigns, advocating for period-friendly policies, and taking on leadership roles that influence entire student bodies.
- Community and County-Level Impact: girls from conflict-affected counties in Kenya, including Turkana, Mandera, Baringo and West Pokot are returning as peace ambassadors, economic innovators, and gender-based violence prevention leaders. Their projects include sewing cooperatives, vertical gardening groups, tree-planting, education advocacy and climate resilience initiatives.
Practical Skills, Wellness, and Creativity: A Holistic Camp Experience
The 2025 Lugari Girls’ Leadership Camp offered participants a wealth of hands-on experiences designed to build practical skills, confidence, and community awareness. A Soroptimist from the USA (a nurse by profession) kindly facilitated the shipment of a container to establish a medical and dental clinic, providing many girls with rare hygiene sessions. Participants also had the opportunity to try yoga for the first time and took a mini course in sewing reusable panties, combining sustainability, self-reliance and menstrual health education.
All modules were fully delivered, including a career fair, leadership and self-confidence workshops, gender equality and gender-based violence awareness, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, reproductive and menstrual health, environmental sustainability, communication, teamwork, and community service.
Environmental awareness and food security were also key focuses: 150 trees were planted, and participants created vertical gardens capable of feeding families and generating income.
Sports and wellness activities, including yoga, games, and competitions, promoted teamwork, physical health, and cross-cultural bonding, with awards recognising athletic excellence and sportsmanship.
Soroptimist International of the America’s ‘Dream It, Be It’ programme delivered sessions which were the most popular, with over 50 per cent of girls identifying them as their favourite camp activity. Finally, the Talent Show celebrated cultural diversity and creativity, allowing girls to perform music, dance, poetry, drama, and comedy, whilst building public performance skills and confidence. Outstanding presentations received recognition awards, rounding out a camp experience that blended learning, wellness and personal growth.
A Programme Creating Intergenerational Change
Long-term tracking of over 2,350 camp alumni shows profound outcomes:
- Camp graduates complete secondary school at nearly double the rate of their peers.
- Many go on to become teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, and entrepreneurs.
- As adults, alumni champion girls’ education, reject early marriage norms and lead community institutions.
Over the next decade, the 2025 cohort is expected to continue this pattern, becoming a powerful force for peacebuilding, economic stability, and gender equity in Kenya.
Rigorous Evidence of Impact
The final evaluation shows exceptionally strong performance:
- 100 per cent programme completion
- 98.4 per cent attendance
- 96 per cent participant satisfaction
- 38 per cent average improvement across all learning modules
- 11 professional sectors engaged in mentorship (medicine, law, engineering, business, IT, education, agriculture, government, arts, journalism, social work)
The programme exceeded its enrolment target by 25 per cent due to high community demand – evidence of the growing trust and credibility of this demonstrably successful initiative.
Remarkable Transformation: Confidence, Clarity, and Courage
Statistics from the post-camp evaluation process reveals dramatic gains:
- Leadership confidence rose from 42 per cent to 87 per cent: a 107 per cent increase.
- Awareness of gender-based violence increased from 38 per cent to 91 per cent: a 140 per cent improvement.
- Career clarity jumped from 33 per cent to 88 per cent: a 167 per cent rise.
All 250 participants produced detailed community action plans targeting 7,500+ direct beneficiaries, with expected broader influence through peer networks, families, and schools.
A Partnership With Extraordinary Heart
The 2025 camp was delivered through the collaborative efforts of Willing Hearts International Society of Canada and Soroptimist International, continuing a partnership that has equipped over 2,350 girls since 2011 with the skills, confidence, and networks needed to transform their communities.
In Lugari this year, 250 extraordinary hearts began shaping the future of Kenya. Their testimonies reveal the stark realities facing girls in the country’s war-affected and marginalised communities. Each participant represents hundreds more living under the same conditions across Kenya.
Camp Participant Testimonies
These testimonies document the reality of life in Kenya’s war-affected and marginalized communities. Each girl represents hundreds more facing identical circumstances across the country.
Agnes (age 16), living in the Kenya-South Sudan border region
“In our community there is no water. We struggle to get water even to cook. My parents cannot take care of us, no money for food, clothes, or school. Every day I walk for over half an hour across dangerous terrain to reach school. Sometimes I cannot go because my parents lack school fees. But the worst is the fear. Constant, paralysing fear. Anytime you can hear gunshots during lessons we have to hide under our desks, and sometimes arrows are even being thrown across. We wonder: Is today the day they come for us? When violence comes, we hide. Sometimes we go an entire day without food because it is too dangerous outside. In our community they do not value girls’ education.
“They criticise us constantly. This camp gave me hope for the first time. For ten days I slept without fear. I learned I could be a leader, go to university. I am going back to teach other girls. I want to break the cycle of fear and poverty.”
Lilian (age 16), orphaned without a permanent home
“My parents are no more. We live as ‘wachunga boma’. Therefore, we don’t have a home, only staying in different temporary shelters as nomads and we barely eat. Most days we rely on God’s grace. We go to bed hungry, wake up hungry. I could not go to school. My guardian cannot afford fees or even textbooks. And the war. Always war around us. Always gunshots. Always violence. We never sleep in peace. At night I listen for danger. Will tonight be the night bandits come?
“But I went to camp. And for the first time I experienced peace. Real peace. I slept through the night. I ate three meals. I learned I matter; my life has value, I can do more than survive. Now I am going back with skills and knowledge to help other orphans, other girls in temporary shelters who think they have no future.”
Fartur (age 16), dependent on well-wishers
“I am from Mandera. My parents have no work. We survive entirely on well-wishers – people who take pity and give us food, money. We have no control over our lives. We have no water. During my period, no water to clean myself. Humiliating and painful. We do not sleep in peace. Bandits are always around. At night I listen wondering if tonight they will come to our house. I have missed so much school. I was even afraid to travel due to landmines on the road, and it took us 4 days!
“When well-wishers cannot help, I cannot pay fees. However, at the camp, I learned sewing! I learned modelling! I learned that with support I can reach far. But I need that support. I NEED people who believe in me. Please give me and girls like me a chance. We will change communities, save other girls, break cycles of violence and poverty.”
Michelle (age 16), lives with diabetes
“I am Samburu living with my single mother. I have Type 2 diabetes. In my community, diabetes is seen as a curse. People believe I am cursed, spiritually wrong. Every day is difficult managing my condition while carrying the weight of stigma. Living among Maasai, there is no security. My mother struggles to pay school fees and medication.
“Do you know what it is like watching your single mother choose between feeding the family and keeping you alive with medication? Michelle Obama is my role model. If she can overcome humble beginnings, maybe I can overcome stigma, poverty, violence, medical challenges and help others. This camp gave me hope when drowning in despair. Please do not let that hope die.”
Dinah (age 15), father deceased and working to pay for school
“I am last born of six. I was in grade two when my father died. Everything changed that day. We barely have money for food. I skip school many times because we cannot afford fees. I learned to plait people’s hair, I use that money to help pay school fees. A teenage girl working to pay for her own education because her widowed mother cannot afford it.
“This camp taught me skills beyond hair plaiting. Vertical gardening for food. Making sanitary pads so I never miss school during my period. Leadership and confidence. But I need support to continue. We need people who believe a girl who lost her father deserves same chances as girls whose fathers are alive.”
Cristina (age 14), faces size discrimination
“School is where I experience worst discrimination of my life. I lack school fees constantly. But worse than poverty is discrimination because of my size. Students laugh, mock, make me feel worthless. I lack basic needs. Food, sanitary pads, proper clothes. But I have a dream that refuses to die. I want to be a police officer. Someone who protects people stands up for justice.
“This camp changed everything. For first time in years people treated me with respect. The camp taught me discrimination is wrong. I deserve respect. My size does not determine my worth or potential. Football is leadership, teamwork, and strategy. I can be a leader. Watch me prove I can be police officer, leader, change-maker despite what everyone said about me.”
