Student Spotlight: meet Evon our inspiring engineer

International Women in Engineering Day is celebrated on June 23 every year around the world, to honor women in the field of engineering. It focuses on raising the profile of women who are changing the field of engineering one degree at a time.

At Kids League Kenya we support many different professions and now seems a great time to shine the spotlight on one of our engineers.

We’re partnered with Unity Homes who have kindly made a corporate donation to our cause, they are also going deeper in their commitment to helping others by collaborating on some new and exciting projects. Evon is one of our recent graduates and has recently spent time with them, exploring their working practices and learning that #UnityisCommunity is truly lived in their organisation.

Let us introduce Evon and hear some of her story in her own words. She’s on her way to the career of her dreams and with her upbeat attitude she inspires everyone she meets.

In her own words

“My name is Evon, and I am 24 years old. I am the firstborn in a family of six children. I was raised by my single mum, who does laundry for people for us to earn a living. My father died when I was seven, and life was difficult; I lost hope of achieving my goals.

I would like to thank and appreciate Unity Homes for their partnership with Kids League Kenya in supporting my brother by funding his school fees. He is currently in Form 4.”

“I am truly humbled and grateful to have accomplished my goal of becoming an engineer.

It was not easy for me because I did not know if my dreams would come true today as an orphan with a single mother who our family members abandoned us and did not support educating a girl child, but thanks to Kids League Kenya who have supported and helped me achieve my dreams.”

[Photo of Evon at her university graduation with Kids League Kenya Trustees An and Jan].

International Women in Engineering Day 2023

We were delighted when Unity Homes offered to work with us on a campaign to highlight the importance of trail blazing women in engineering by inviting one of our alumni to visit their site, stay at their impressive Tatu City complex in Nairobi and learn about their work.

The theme for #INWED23 is ‘make safety seen’ so as part of meeting all of the inspiring team of Unity Homes, Evon also took part in a number of activities led by women, explaining their day to day roles across a number of different departments at Unity Homes. A fantastic learning experience for Evon and we thank them for their generosity.

Challenges in the field of engineering

“Since I am a woman in this field of engineering, I cannot promise that it will be easy, but it is simply a matter of focusing and being smart because I face challenges working with men.

Others believe that because you are a woman, you are less courageous and weak, and you cannot supervise work to the standard perfection, but I thank God that I have overcome all the challenges.”

Evon talks about this theme a little more in the video below:

Getting to know Evon

Evon has been extremely helpful to our organisation. From volunteering to clean the shop in her spare time to supporting the Twinning online meetings, Evon always comes to prepare juice and tea for the kids and teachers.

She always makes time to speak with students who are still in secondary school in order to encourage them to put more effort into their studies. On the tuk-tuk tour, she also happened to guide our visitors from the United Kingdom to the Kongowea area. They were all overjoyed, and they did not forget to thank Evon when they returned.

As she goes forward with her career, we asked Evon if she had any words for us to share:

“May the Almighty God bless Kids League Kenya for their kindness and love, and thank you to Madam Julie, who has always been my advisor and role model, and who has always encouraged me that I can do it. Through God’s grace, I have seen the fruits of education.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind my fellow scholars that nothing is impossible with God; it just takes hard work and smart work. My dreams of becoming an engineer and helping other children in need would not have come true if it were not for Kids League Kenya.”

We thank Unity Homes for their time and energy in giving Evon this amazing experience. As our students are from disadvantaged backgrounds, they are motivated, smart and conscientious, but do not have the work environment experience. By getting a chance, they can increase their understanding of employers, build their confidence and their CVs.

If you’d like to partner with us on work experience for our alumni students, please contact us.