The Children of Kibera Foundation announced on Wednesday the launch of $12 for 12 Campaign, an ambitious social media campaign aimed at raising $25,000 for high school students in Kibera, a large slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Campaign organizers are reaching out to their Facebook friends for 2,012 donations of $12 over the course of 12 days.

The $12 for 12 Campaign was conceived by 15 Washington-area students who recently traveled to Kenya to participate in a three-week service project run by the Children of Kibera Foundation. The non-profit organization focuses on education projects for orphans and other at-risk children who live in Kibera. As part of the service project, the $12 for 12 Campaign organizers volunteered at the Red Rose School, an elementary school in Kibera, and one of the Children of Kibera Foundation’s signature projects, and bonded with the foundation’s high school scholars.

“This summer I made friends with some amazing kids in Kibera who live in terrible circumstances, including extreme poverty, but still manage to be the top students in their high schools,” Caroline Meisel, a senior at Potomac School in McLean, VA, said. “While I know I will go to college, kids who grew up in Kibera are not so lucky and have to worry about how to pay for school, books, transportation, meals, and shelter. By asking each of our Facebook friends to donate just $12, we can raise enough money to make a big difference in the lives of these great students.”

“I am a witness to the impact that small donations can have on the life of a student who is motivated to get a quality education,” Ken Okoth, the founder and executive director of the Children of Kibera Foundation, said. “I received scholarship help when I wanted to go to high school and college and that changed my life forever. With the $12 for 12 Campaign, these great [DC area] youth volunteers are reaching out to their friends to provide the same opportunities for children who are highly motivated but are at risk of being held back by the fact that they live in a community that’s plagued by extreme poverty.”

Kibera is an informal settlement three miles from the center of Nairobi. It is the largest slum in East Africa, with population estimates ranging from 200,000 to 1 million; all in an, area the size of Central Park. People in Kibera face grinding poverty, AIDS and other diseases, poor sanitation, crime, lack of healthcare and a lack of other basic services. Even though public education is free until the eighth grade, many students still cannot afford to attend school. After the eighth grade, their ability to pay for four years of high school, and beyond, is simply impossible.

To learn more or contribute to the campaign, please visit the Children of Kibera Foundation website at http://www.childrenofkibera.org or email contact@childrenofkibera.org.

About the Children of Kibera Foundation

The Children of Kibera Foundation (CoKF) is a charitable and educational foundation working to create opportunities for underprivileged children living in Nairobi’s largest slum—Kibera. The foundation partners with individuals and organizations whose creativity, skills, generosity and dedication make it possible for the children of Kibera to overcome the obstacles of poverty, disease and social alienation, and to realize their dreams as productive, healthy citizens.