For the first year Camp Forest extended the Camp experience for Home Schoolers and others right up until hunting Season!
The small group had intensive training in their desired skill sets. They refurbished the birch bark wigwam, worked on fire making,coal burning, plant identification and more.
Here is a paren'ts comment
Thank you for a great week of outdoor fun! The boys had a fantastic time...& as shown, they continue to do so after camp! Thank you, Camp Forest, for teaching great skills & nurturing a love of nature.
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This month two new girls were rescued and are attending Kipsing Primary School.
Dela is ten years old and in Class One (First grade). The girl had voluntarily come to school, after a week her father came, took her home and brought a boy in exchange for the girl . Teh administration at Kipsing Primary school followed the matter. Finally the family allowed the girl go to school as long as the school would take care of her.
Juliza is nine years old and in Class One (First grade). She walked 10 km to the school. She was promised to a moran, (a Samburu young man who is in the period of life when they are the warriors. During this time they travel with the other Morans. After this time they marry and settle down.) This Moran who had given her beads and was engaged to marry her. She did not want to marry, she wanted to go to school like other girls. So she ran away from home to come to school.
The principal contacted us about these two girls and thanks to generous donors, Dela and Juliza are sponsored through the end of this year.
In March of 2012, Expanding Opportunities will be bringing another Community Educaiton Workshop to rural Samburu. WE have limited space on this journey. If you would like to come along, please visit the website for more informaiton.
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Expanding Opportunities received a smal grant to get this project off the ground! I flew to Kenya to adminsiter the grant. Arriving in the late afternoon, the members of the Rabondo Community Project were already gathered with the major contractors. Lots of discussion about the work and the ever-rising cost of materials concluded with the estimates for completion of the one room to begin services as soon as possible.
Community women were excited about the idea of having language classes worked in around their home schedule, one woman wanted to begin computer classes the following Monday! The search is on for the employee with hopes of locating an individual within the next week.
Work began on the room on September 28th. Already the power is installed, the ceiling in place, the interior door is ready to be installed and the painting will be complete in one week.
We are far ahead of schedule and excited to begin services as soon as possible.
We are slightly over budget for the completion of the room. But the community has located desks and chairs stretching the funding further.
Another bonus to this project, The Rabondo Community Project had received a container of books to begin a library. They have been unable to move on this project.
As I am supervising the contractors, I have been sorting and cataloging a portion of the books. We will begin a small fundraising campaign to raise about $100.00 USdollars to build shelving and add a small browsing and lending library in one of the unfinished rooms of the new location.
October 6, 2011:
I mentioned things are moving fast especially for Kenya. The Rabondo Community Project has hired a young lady to begin on October 10th. The advertising is already formatted, logo, course offerings, forms etc. Today the desks were moved into the newly finished room. The interior door was installed and painted., the chalkboard painted on the wall free hand and it is perfect! Tomorrow the advertising hand outs will be printed and the computers moved in! School children on their break were helping to move the desks. They were so taken by the books that will be in the reading library. Even the head teacher at the primary school was excited and wants to be the first to get an advertising flyer.
Today was wonderful! All the furniture is in our one room. A private donation was given for a few book shelves so we can begin a lending library. An adjacent unfinished room was fitted with two bookshelves today. I carried the books that I had been cataloging and before I could get them all on the shelves there were several young people lifting them off and browsing the images. A little later three young men who were on a school holiday, came in and sat down and read until they were called home. It is so exciting to see the desire to learn. The computers, two of them, will be installed tomorrow! The flyers about the opportunities went out today. Groups of individuals carrying several with them and distributing them to the people in villages 15kn distant with excitement for opening day on Monday.
We are on our way! Please consider helping us to develop this center into all it can be. We have only 2 computers. That will not be enough for the hundres of people interested in learning and connecting to the world.
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