Kenya Update 2

So much seems to happen everyday that I do not know where to begin giving updates. Each day brings a new experience and a new challenge. I have been doing a lot of evaluation on schools and the community. Currently I am working on evaluating a secondary school (high school) that was built this past February. The school has one room, for 75 students and 4 teachers; 3 who are employed with donations from parents and 1 by the government. The students range in age from 14-20. It costs a student 6000ksh per year which equals $75. They do not have government funding yet so it is a real challenge getting books and supplies for the students. Today I met with the BOG (board of governors) to discuss ways they can, as a community, help sustain and improve the the school in the future. We talked about fundraising, however with much of the community living on less then $1 a day, they are struggling to keep themselves alive. Everything here is a challenge. There never seems to be a direct answer and there is always a problem that we encounter.

They applied for government funding and hope to get some money this fall, but even so, it is not enough money for 1 student to get 1 text book. Each student needs about 8-11 textbooks. The BOG have a goal of getting 3 classrooms for each age level. It is a sure challenge for them.

While speaking with 5 students today, I asked them questions about themselves as well as the school. It was very informative and great information, however I found out that 4 out of the 5 have no parents. They live with relatives, who often have a hard time supporting themselves. One boy told me that he dropped out of a different high school because he had no money, but was able to go come to this school because it was cheaper and closer. As it is he walks an hour and a half one way to the school each day. Many of the students were in the same situation. If this classroom had not been built, they would not be in school.

Education is extremely powerful and absolutely essential.