Our Story

TaC was established in 2007 by Pamela Steele. Our founder knows first-hand the challenges of the Nyanza region, since she grew up there, later raising her relative’s orphaned son and funding his education.

 

Some years later, Pam moved to the U.K. to work for Oxfam. It was then that she saw the need to make her private generosity into something much more formal. This came to fruition when, in conversation with her co-workers, Pamela “spoke of the burden [she] carried for the many orphaned and vulnerable children of Nyanza who are trapped in a life of poverty with no one to help them”. A few months later, TaC was born, funding of its first two orphaned students – Mary and Nancy – through a local secondary school. After completing their exams, Mary went on to become a web developer and designer, and Nancy progressed to university, making her TaC’s first university graduate.

 

Since then, TaC has gone from strength to strength. By 2022, we have funded over 220 students through secondary education, many of whom followed in Nancy’s footsteps and made the transition to higher education. Furthermore, we have garnered international financial support from donors in the U.K., Switzerland and beyond, which has allowed us to further expand our programme. As our patron, Pamela –  and her family – remain closely involved in TaC; her husband, David, serves on the board of our U.K. affiliate, and her cousin, Margaret, chairs the Kenyan outfit.

 

TaC also has an active volunteer community – of UK and Swiss affiliate trustees ad local Kenyan community members who support its operations. This includes assisting with student selection, our annual gathering, ensuring student welfare and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

 

As a result, we remain rooted the region we serve and are able to understand and respond to the individual needs of our students, thereby delivering our goal of ‘Education for Life’ to those who need it most.