The StandUP For Education and Youth Empowerment , currently running the One Chance Fund project, was founded in 2022 by five friends and schoolmates : Silvano, John, Charles, Shon and Lee.
Silvano, John and Charles met more than 15 years ago at By Grace Disabled and Orphans Center, located in Kayole, Kenya. Kayole is one of the largest slums surrounding Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. A normal day conversation over a cup of tea would turn into life questions that somehow seemed hard to answer. But, this found a fall back on the fact that their life experiences alone were an inspiration and a clear reflection of change and transformation.
Despite their humble backgrounds, the three friends shared a common bond and a deep desire to create positive change and transformation in the lives of children at the By Grace school. They had all personally experienced the struggles of relying heavily on well-wishers to support their high school and university education, and they wanted to ensure that other children in similar circumstances would have access to the education they deserved.
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, the children at the orphanage faced significant challenges in accessing education, as they lacked computers and essential learning materials. The sudden shift to online learning threatened to widen the gap for these vulnerable young learners.
To address this pressing need, Silvano, John, and Charles launched a heartfelt fundraising campaign called "A PC For A Kid." Their mission was to establish a 20 PCs computer lab and resource center for the wonderful children at By Grace, giving them a fighting chance in a digital world. It was through this heartfelt initiative that Pastor Lee and Wonkyu Shon from Mission Incubators joined forces with the team, helping to turn this dream into a reality.
Having seen the impact of the lab and upon full realization of the huge learning gap in Kenya, they decided to broaden the spectrum to reach out to more needy and vulnerable kids , who were on the verge of dropping out of school because of financial constraints. Their shared vision and determination led to the creation of the One Chance Fund, with the focus on providing educational opportunities and support to needy and vulnerable children in slums and rural areas.
