ABOUT US

PEAK – People, Education, and Action for Kenya is a Canadian charity and global partner dedicated to quality, equitable, and inclusive education for students in Turkana, northern Kenya (Africa).

Our Mission
Our mission is to work in collaboration with others to advance education in Kenya. We are focused on supporting the construction and operation of Nakwamekwi High School in Lodwar, Turkana, Kenya, Africa.

School classroom in a Turkana village

The Need
Less than half of school-aged children in Turkana attend primary school and only 5% of students go on to secondary school.  Quality, equitable, and inclusive education facilities are much needed in Kenya; particularly in Turkana County due to its remoteness and vast geographical distances. Availability of, access to, and resources for secondary schooling in Turkana make it difficult for most students to obtain a quality high school education. Education provides the key to future opportunities for improving their lives, as well as the communities in which they live. Helping others both near and far engages one’s heart, promotes universal understandings of others and broadens horizons.

Our Story
Former Rocky View School Division (RVSD) middle school teacher Lilli Heinrichs, and her husband Ebenyo Echwa, dreamt for many years of meeting the need/demand for quality education in Ebenyo’s village.  Both Lilli and Ebenyo work for the International Committee of the Red Cross and have worked in Sudan, Afghanistan and Gaza.  In their ‘spare time’ they have personally funded most of the school’s current construction and teamed with village builders, a board of enthusiastic and caring village leaders, and former school colleagues/directors in Calgary, Alberta, to build Nakwamekwi High School. Brick by brick, the school has taken root amongst amekwi shrubs that thrive in this desert savannah and features innovative energy efficient classrooms, dormitories, science and technology labs.  

PEAK Board of Directors (from left to right:) Janet Morgan, Lilli Heinrichs, Ebenyo Echwa and Larry Howe

The Canadian-based charity,  PEAK – People, Education, and Action for Kenya, and the Canadian operation of the NHS Project are being directed by Larry Howe (a former RVSD school administrator), Janet Morgan and Lilli Heinrichs.

In the coming years our Kenyan Founders, Canadian Directors and local Board members envision educational collaboration and sharing between our students and yours; our teachers and yours. Imagine the wealth of teaching and learning possibilities!