KSP in Africa

Our mission is to help eradicate poverty and inequality in a sustainable way by providing education and training programs for children and women.

Evelyne’s Story

Evelyne Keomian, Founder of The KSP

Growing up impoverished in Côte d'Ivoire (CIV), Evelyne Keomian was deprived of education and slipped into schools in a culture where only boys were educated. Determined to break the cycle of poverty through education, she founded the Karat School Project (KSP) in CIV to empower the next generation of leaders.

After immigrating to the US, she noticed families living in vehicles around Silicon Valley who faced barriers she once endured. Refusing to be a bystander, Evelyne expanded the KSP to educate and empower families to become financially independent.

Challenging the education system to help kids without a permanent address to register for school, Evelyne prioritized addressing poverty and barriers to education in her home country, and in her new community.

Trailer for Splicer Films’s award-winning documentary, Fear Not, about Evelyne’s quest to break the cycle of poverty through education for her communities in Côte d'Ivoire and Silicon Valley.

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KSP Programs in Africa

Karat School Education Center

The Karat School campus is a thriving space of joy and learning that promotes academic excellence, practical skills, and overall wellbeing. Our holistic, hands-on, inquiry-based learning approach integrates modern technology and local culture. The curriculum is child-centered, loving, and attuned to the local environment.
Enrollment is free, and each student enjoys two warm meals daily. The center is also a community hub where we welcome students and their families and host events and gatherings.
Girls' Education Incentive Farming Program

Many Ivorian girls are kept out of school because girls’ education isn’t valued and girls’ labor provides needed family income. Meanwhile, mothers lack the education and skills to improve their financial situation.
The Girls' Education Incentive Farming Program directly addresses these concerns. Girls attend the Karat School full-time while their mothers receive a stipend to participate in a 6-month hands-on training program that covers literacy, financial basics, and climate-resilient farming practices. The program boosts girls’ enrollment, produces food for the school and community, and helps mothers improve their economic status.
Period Poverty & Girls' Empowerment

Each year, thousands of girls who fought hard to have access to education miss school because they lack period supplies. In Cote d’Ivoire, 65% of women and girls reported being unable to afford these essential products. In partnership with a sustainable hygiene products company, we supply middle school girls living near our school campus with sustainable period products that empower them to stay in school during their monthly cycles.
The Vision: A New Legacy Campus

The Karat School campus is a transformative center for education and community engagement. But we’re limited at the current location by space, rent increases, and vulnerability to eviction at any time.
It’s clear - we need a new campus of our own! The work has already begun. We’ve secured the land and have architectural plans for a new campus that will accommodate up to 500 students. We invite you to be part of creating this new Legacy Campus, which will ensure a stable and empowering educational environment for the next generation of Karat School children.

Our full time education center opened on October 3rd, 2018. It was built to accommodate 60 students for our first year. Every student receives free uniforms, shoes, school supplies, and 2 meals and 2 snacks a day.

We know that education is the most sustainable way out of poverty. We are creating culture-sensitive, skill-based eclectic curriculums to advance academic and social-emotional learning for all children. We engage our students in hands-on and inquiry-based learning that includes modern technology and value culture to enable them to acquire skills that can be leveraged to build human capacity in their communities.

Our center has three early childhood education classrooms, after school education programs that include basic computer skills for children, a reading and writing program for school-aged children who are not enrolled in school, and skill learning programs for mothers. In addition to that, because learning doesn’t have to be boring! Our curriculum also incorporate a handful of extra-curricular activities, to keep our student engaged inside and outside the classroom.

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Amandine’s Story

You have changed a life! Thanks to your support, we are able to support Amandine and her mother who happened to be one of the recipients of our Women's Health Education and Screening Day.