Hi All, It has become something of a tradition for us to hold an event to welcome new children on to the Milele programme and celebrate the achievements of the children who have been working hard all year. In the early days these tended to be small events held at school with a few sodas and a pile of sweets but as we have grown, so have the events. This year we wanted to add in something a little bit special.

Every child has made amazing progress this year whether it be academically or socially so we decided to hold a prize giving celebration to let the children and their parents know just how proud we are of them and their hard work. Rieder called each child up and spoke a little about the progress they have made throughout the year and presented them with a certificate commending their hard work and a celebratory cake.

Emmanuel received a special award for being so exceptionally hardworking all year and in Rieder's words 'being perfect'. He has really focused on his studies and is showing great progress but he has also made a special effort to look after his books, uniform and school bag and has an impeccable attendance record.

We were also really lucky to also have Emmanuel Kai attending the event so he was able to speak to the rest of the sponsored children and share some of his experiences of University. We are so proud that he is being such an amazing role model for the other students and doing amazingly well at university! I'll post an update about his university life in a separate post.

Once everyone had received their award and a big round of applause, we celebrated with a huge amount of Pilau, Kachumbari and sweets before jumping into the swimming pool! There was so much Pilau left over that each family were able to take a zip lock bag home with them! (Thanks for packing the zip locks Jan!)

Thanks to the sponsors who donated so we could run this event!

Richard

Hi All, Just a quick post to say Happy New Year and thanks to all of those who have sponsored, donated or helped out in any way in 2015! We really appreciate your help and it makes such a big difference.

2016 is going to be a big year for Milele; we have Pendo, Safari and Kaingu who are all taking their KCPE exams and will be graduating from primary school as well as Josephine who is taking her KCSE and will be graduating from secondary school! Hopefully they will all do fantastically and by this time next year we will be celebrating their successes!

Thanks,

Richard

Hello All, I'd like to introduce you all to our youngest sponsored child Isaac.

We met Isaac 2 years ago when Isaac's family received a donated food parcel. Isaac is a happy, confident and active little boy, who is very friendly and loves going to school & playing with the neighbour children.

Isaac lives with his younger brother Anthony and  incredibly hard working mother. They all stay in a small rented room which is quite close to Victory Academy where Isaac and Anthony both attend school.

Every time we have met Isaac's mother she has been working hard; either selling nuts, washing clothes or other casual labour. These jobs are often pay very little so Rieder is working with Isaac's mother to see if Milele can help her to start a more profitable business. I am sure that with her hard work she will make the business a huge success.

For thew time being, Isaac will continue to attend Victory Academy as it is very close to his home and he is receiving a good level of education. When he reaches Standard 1 he will move to Mtwapa Elite Academy to join the other primary aged children sponsored by Milele.

Hi All, Charo (along with his brothers) was one of the first children to be sponsored by Milele. At the start of this year he reached a milestone in his education when he started at Chasimba High School. Like the vast majority of secondary schools in Kenya, Chasimba is a boarding school. This means Charo has also moved out of the children's home where he has lived for the past 8 years.

It has now been a few moths since Charo started at Chasimba and he has settled in well. He has made lots of friends, is liked by his teachers and has recently started leading prayers in assemblies which is a big responsibility.

We are very proud of Charo and hope that in a few years time he can follow in Emmanuel Kai's footprints by making it all the way to university. He definitely has the potential!