By Claire Mathijsen | Project Leader
Dear Rafikis,
Elizabeth T, patron of Rafiki Ya Maisha Kenya has made it to France after 18 years! Elizabeth and her family have made good on their promise. We are thrilled to share the latest news from our schools. But we are even happier that our dream of sharing life experiences is happening. The grand goal of develpping cultural exchanges is taking place in both directions. Claire will be hosting a Board meeting followed by a RAFIKI party for our past volunteers next week too.
We are happy to report that our two schools are growing and developing beautifully. They are quite like babies taking less wobbly and more assured steps. We are proud of their achievements and exhilirated to witness the impact of our partnership with the Kenyan government.
The Sergoek VTC (Vocational Training Center) opened it's doors in 2008 with 1 student; 2 years later, there were 28 registered students and today - fast forward 10 years - the enrollment reached 356 out of which nearly 200 are taking the artisan examination in October.
The county government has become a very active player by: (1) sponsoring 25 students (2) funding a ladies' dorm (3) providing tools & equipment worth €16.300/$18.800 (4) funding 2 classrooms and a restaurant. Meanwhile, the national government has resumed it's tuition subsidies and is providing scholarships to 300 students. All this makes wanting to learn a trade more available to the youth.
Rafiki Ya Maisha is pressently funding a modern kitchen thanks to the generosity of the FAWCO (Federation of Amercian Women's Clubs Overseas) development grant. Our support is still very much needed in the area of infrastructure. The school is also dreaming of more land to add a playing field.
A first local RAFIKI YA MAISHA fundraising evening was organized for the benefit of Koshin TTI (Technical Training Institute). It was successful and well attended. We are growing and gaining traction.
Thank you all for your help, your support and your belief that these rural youths can develop their talents at home. Asante sana!
Claire
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
