Educate Jane plus 1000's more with Tatua Kenya

As 2014 has ended, we want to say thank you for another incredible year. We’re so inspired by you, our amazing supporters who believe in the mission of Tatua and help us to be the change we want to see. Because of you, the  “Boresha Elimu”(Improve Education) Campaign is possible. We are glad to let you know that this campaign was featured in the 2014 Leading change network global gathering that brought together organizers from around the world to learn more about campaigns from around the globe directly from the organizers, themselves  through reflection, discussion, and Q&A. This campaign is geared towards addressing  the poor academic performance in Enomatasia primary school as well as the poor relationship between the teachers and parents.

Before closing school for the holidays in November 2014, 90 parents together with teachers of Matasia met as a step to plan and act to create change. The major cause being lack of food thus low concentration in class was agreed to be the urgent challenge. Parents are pledged to donate 260 KGs of dry food stuff to feed the 634 children in Enomatasia Primary school beginning January 2015. Olesurutia and Kimara primary schools have also shared their interest to do the same thus increasing the number of children to over 2000. The parents and teachers hope to have regular meetings geared towards creating transformational relationships based on trust and mutual respect between them. As school re-open this month and as is a new year also comes with new beginnings. As the children move on to the next class so will the community in Matasia move to the next stage of the campaign, which is ACTION. Looking forward to giving you updates on the campaign as we kick off this year.

Looking forward to giving you updates on the campaign as we kick off this year. Happy New Year 2015 and thank you for joining our movement to reach out to those in need and provide resources for a better future. Please do share your thoughts with us. What do you think about the campaign? What message do you have for the Tatua Kenya team? What message do you have for the parents, teachers and children of Matasia?

Links:

• Read more about Tatua's Work
• Leading Change network global gathering
• Interact!Join our social network

First and foremost, thank you for choosing to support Tatua Kenya. As promised, we continue to send you an update on the progress of this project. Rose Chege has continued to lead the Matasia community towards creating the change they want to see as regards the education of their children. As the Matasia community, they identified the challenge to be poor academic performance caused by lack of food for the children. Most of these people in Matasia are small scale farmers and upper lower class families earning at least a dollar per day. Years back, a feeding program was introduced by Government with support from WFP in the Arid and semi-arid areas (ASALS) and some schools in the slums of major towns in all Kenyan public primary schools. The Government could not sustain the program due to lack of funds; therefore, the program stopped and it was the responsibility of the parents to feed the children. However, this change has created a misunderstanding between the teachers and parents( the teachers ask the parents to provide food but the parents still believe the government is supposed to provide it). There are two government primary schools in Matasia, Enomatasia and olesurutia each with a population of over 600 pupils. The academic performance in both schools is poor as most children come to school on an empty belly which directly affects their concentration in studies. The relationship between the teachers and parents has been no different.

Having collectively witnessed this challenge, Rose Chege a community organizer from Tatua Kenya brought the parents of Matasia together to form the “Boresha Elimu”(Improve Education) Campaign. This campaign is geared towards addressing these two inter-related challenges. Parents have also formed the “Boresha Elimu” subjects committee. It constitutes 3 parents per subject in all the 6 subjects offered in primary school, i.e Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Social studies, Christian Religious Education and Science. This committee will meet with the teachers and discuss the academic progress regularly.
This month, a meeting held in Enomatasia primary school 90 parents stand up and say, “we have left all the work to the teachers, it’s time we own education in Matasia because it’s our children who suffer”. This regular meeting of parents and teachers is geared towards creating transformational relationships based on trust and mutual respect between the teachers and parents. Parents are pledging to donate 260 KG dry food stuff to feed the 634 children in Enomatasia Primary school. Purity Mbugua, a parent and leadership team/committee member talks about the program and meeting in THIS VIDEO

Now Other Schools want to do it the Matasia way.
The Project Leadership Team plans the same magnitude of community to support Olesurutia and Kimara primary schools. This will involve forming of leadership teams in these 2 other schools. Jacob (Tatua’s Campaigns manager) received a call from Kimara primary school requesting for the same. Rose reflects" I walk into Matasia with great joy as I remember how this work began and sees how much impact it is creating. It is amazing."
These three schools have a population of over 2000 children. Your support is enabling us to involve more people and impact more children…more than 800 above the initial aim of 1200 children. It has also created an opportunity for the Matasia community to come together as well as involve others interested in justice work in order to mobilize their resources and address their own challenges. Like Nelson Mandela would say, “education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world” so thanks so much for helping to make a huge difference in Jane and Purity’s lives, in the 2000+ children and community as a whole .Thank you for supporting this cause, for standing up for global change! Share this with friends and let’s celebrate this achievement together.

Links:

• Tatua Kenya Blog