Hello Everyone! Whilst in Kenya this time we revisited a small community school called 'Bethel' which we saw for the first time three months ago during a previous visit.

It had around 40 students from kindergarten 1 to 3, with one iron sheet building, a volunteer teacher and a blackboard, the director Elizabeth was educating these children for free every day in an attempt to provide some of the local families with crucial education they could not have afforded for their children. Whilst small and modest, three months ago this school was a very promising start to what seemed to be a wonderful new centre.

When we returned last week we were astonished to see the immense progress and the transformation the centre had undergone in such a short time with such small amounts of funding.

Now, Bethel has grown and accomodates 70 children including baby class, kindergarten 1-3 and even afternoon tuition for children in standards one and two at the government school. There is now one more building which has been erected to accommodate the large baby class, made of similar materials the second classroom is a largely iron sheeting construction with palm frond roofing. The second building also has a small blackboard and logs of wood or rocks are used for desks and benches.

The school has very little to no money coming in from school fees since many of the children attending are unable to pay even the 8Op per month Elizabeth currently tries to charge. As a result they are trying to get by with the little they have but are not disheartened by the challenges this presents. Elizabeth is currently in the process of applying to the government for funding to start a feeding programme for the children, since it is painfully obvious that they regularly go without meals at home.

'Children's Care Centre' is an accurate name, since this project is much more than a school. Although the volunteer teachers prepare the children to attend government primary schools and provide additional tuition for slightly older children, it also aims to be a feeding centre, has future plans of a parents project to assist the families in the community to find work, and often assists the children in its care with medical fees too.

Whilst visiting we were lucky enough to have lots of relevant educational materials kindly donated to us which we could pass on to the nursery school for them to use in classes. Thank-you so much to everyone that donated something! Take a look at the pictures and see if you can spot your donation!

Keep tuned for all our news on this exciting new linked project.

Amy

Hello all Our most recent visit to the Mbazi group last week showed once again just how determined and motivated this group are. The small building which was the only classroom over easter has now been expanded to a much larger building with a high roof accomodating more children with lots of space. Their plans extend to a second classroom which is currently being constructed next to the first of equal size. The new facilities they have built also include a brand new toilet on site which is being well used by the children at the school and the feeding programme on a saturday.

Whilst we were there the first aid kit got lots of use, just as it always does at this project. Being next door to a quarry there are many stones and rocks in the area, meaning it is much too easy for children to trip, fall and cut themselves. This is a common problem in the area we work, and since many of the children cannot afford shoes small cuts can easily become very dangerous, especially at this time of year in the rainy season. The large pools of dirty water infect cuts and scrapes and with medical care out of reach for many of the families this can cause extremely serious problems for the children.

For this reason we had prioritised the shoes many of you had donated were crucial to take to this group as soon as possible. wellies especially came in very handy and lots of happy smiling kids were thrilled to receive shoes and clothes. Everyone who donated something which was handed out this time will receive photographs of their items specifically as well as a group photo in the post as soon as possible, so thankyou very much to all of you!

Enjoy the photos!

Hello All, We landed in Kenya yesterday and have big plans for our trip this time. As well as checking on the progress of our boys we will also be arranging the first volunteer programme for Milele. We also have lots of shoes and clothes to give out as well as some school supplies for one of the local community schools.

Keep checking the site for more news and hopefully a few pictures!

Rich and Amy