The reward for ongoing commitment: at the end of the 2013 school year, the first 18 young people from the Mothers’ Mercy Home (MMH) orphanage completed their secondary school education. The MMH is a center for activities supported by Cargo Human Care (CHC), an aid organization founded jointly by Lufthansa Cargo and German doctors in 2007. CHC provides rapid, unbureaucratic assistance for the sick and needy in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and surrounding area. It has also set up a sponsorship program to cover the cost of school fees and thus ensure that the older children at MMH can attend a secondary school.

“It is especially important for Cargo Human Care that our projects are sustainable. We want to give the children of the Mothers’ Mercy Home a good foundation for their future career. Education is the uppermost priority,” says Lufthansa Cargo fleet chief Captain Fokko Doyen, a founder member of CHC and chairman of the organization.

Obtaining a school leaving qualification is the first major hurdle on the road to employment. But in order to succeed in gaining steady employment, further professional training is essential. CHC finances the young adults’ education and living costs through full and partial training sponsorships.

In order to make sure that stepping into adulthood does not feel like being thrown in at the deep end, the protégés receive support for their transition to an independent working life. The CHC working group “ChiCa” (Child Care) has assumed responsibility for coordinating and managing the training sponsorships. Special emphasis is placed on providing careers advice, mentoring towards self-reflection and encouraging individual initiative. But guidance on maintaining family ties and finding a place in Kenyan society also plays an important role.