Build School for 80 Students in Arid Kachuru Kenya

The school term started well in Kachiuru primary school with the new headteacher managing all the school activities as planned until when all the institutions were closed indefinitely by the president of the republic of Kenya as a result of covid 19 pandemic in mid March 2020.  This was a huge blow to many parents and guardians since it was unexpected and their children have been having their meals in the school in school feeding program hence they had not budgeted for breakfast and lunch at homes.  They had to adjust with the new development although most of them could not afford 3 meals per day since their source of income was as well affected by the pandemic resulting to low income and others not earning any income at all.  It has been very difficult moments for many Kenyans as most jobs and businesses were closed down due to the pandemic and mostly affecting the very vulnerable families who mostly depend on casual labour for their daily income for the survival of their families.  Through our community animator in Kachiuru we have been following up on the situation on the ground where she has reported that many families are facing difficulties in getting food.  In Kachiuru village, residents mainly depend on livestock rearing for their source of income where they sell livestock products and livestock for their income which is heavily affected by the corona disease thus leaving them very desperate.  Our organization and our partners have decided to intervene on this by distributing food, soaps and face masks to the most vulnerable families in the village to ensure at least they are protected from the disease as well as having food on their table even if it’s one meal a day.  Most families in the region are very needy and don’t receive government support and they don’t have access to information.  Schools are still closed and children encouraged staying at home for them to be safe as we wait for further directions from the government concerning the education program.  Our community animator have been sensitizing community on importance of observing safety during this monster pandemic by keeping social distancing, regular hand washing, sanitizing etc.  To be able to support the Kachiuru community with more food and other essentials during these harsh moments we invite all well-wishers, friends and colleagues to support us with any type of support for us to extend the same to the very needy and vulnerable community members.  We appreciate your continued support that we have received and request for further support whenever possible.  Thank you and stay safe.

Kachiuru primary school resumed after long December holiday with some management changes. This is after the headteacher was transferred to another school and a new headteacher reported to the school although this took sometimes for the pupils and parents to adjust to the new changes, normal school activities are now going on as usual. We held a meeting in January 2020 with the new headteacher and school Board of Management (BOM) to brief the teacher on our various interventions in the school as well as discussing the way forward. One of the issues we discussed was the previous plans of holding a fundraising ceremony with the parents and other guests to raise funds for purchasing school desk. As earlier reported, the parents suggested that the ceremony to be held this year. After long discussion with the BOM, it was agreed that the fundraising be held next term that is between May and July 2020. This is to give room for the new teacher to understand the process well as well as knowing more about the interventions. It was also suggested that the headteacher to call for a teachers parents meeting in the course of them so that they can as well have a clear picture of the promises and to commit themselves in participating and contributing the money for that development. We are happy and wish to thank our partners for sponsoring feeding program in the school for another year and also for providing scholarships for the most vulnerable pupils in the school 35 pupils benefited on scholarships and we appreciate the support. Kachiuru primary had candidates sitting for national exams in November last year and we are happy to report that the candidates did well and most of them joined secondary schools with few of them joining vocational training centres congratulations to the candidates. Through our partners, we have also supported a few students who joined the secondary school and 1 vocational training student. We are happy for the good progress and feel sorry that we were not able to support all the students who requested for the support due to limited resources. We have encouraged them to apply for bursaries and seek support from other organizations and banking institutions we wish them well. Thank you to all who have supported us and the Kachiuru community in one way or the other and we are optimistic that we get more support from our friends, well-wishers and our partners.