Education Kenya Project #6922

Support Quality Schooling of 250 Kids in Nguluni

by Acres of Mercy, Kenya

Support Quality Schooling of 250 Kids in Nguluni

Project Report | Nov 17, 2015
Transition Time: 10 years of Education Investments bears Fruit

By Jimmy Oluoch | Project Leader

Graduating Class 2015

Dear friends,

Ten years ago we started intervening in the lives of vulnerable children and families, wth the aim of helping their parents stabilize socio-economically as their children received an education.

We started out with seventeen children in pre school stage.

Ten years later, all the original children we started out with have successfully completed primary level education. Through various challenges, false starts, unexpected successes, internal turmoils, parental instabilities, political upheavals- we have experienced the smell of primal success.

The average age of these students was 16 years, with the oldest being 18 years of age and the youngest being 15 years of age. The transition age at primary level would normally be 14 years of age. This means that we have successfully transitioned children who would otherwise have dropped out of school without our intervention. The graduating students will now be able to transition either into secondary school or into youth polytechnics and other tertiary schools.

Some of the key statistics are as follows:

Of the 15 students, 5 were girls (33%); 10 were boys (67%)
One girl was pregnant during her last year in school- giving birth to a baby girl in October, a month before the final exam.
She was supported through counselling and was still able to study and sit her final exams.

There were 5 other students who had interim periods at the school and whose benefactors were later able to afford higher fees. The total of students transitioning out of primary school because of direct and indirect intervention with the help of your support comes to 20, 13 boys and 7 girls, a completion rate of 117%.

From little boys and girls to young men and women, your faithfulness over the years has borne the fruits of dogged determination to give all children every chance.

Thank you, for making this possible.

Looking Back 2011-2012

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Sep 10, 2015
Building Muia's Future in our Present

By Jimmy Oluoch | Project Leader

Classrooms being worked on

Dear partners and friends,
Today I have a request; to tell you a story
To go with me into the present future

A future we all are giving today- the present;

of access to quality education

Allow me then to be Muia's voice...For the next 5 minutes see him, hear him, maybe even feel him and other children like him...he speaks...

"I am Muia. I hailfrom a small village called Mwisyani Village. I trust you aren't trying to pronounce these foreign names. I should teach you our local diction first- otherwise it'll sound out bad, like my real English. In truth this English here is still a long way off. I'll get there. My classmates too.
You see my family is currently struggling- both my parents are unemmployed. But this did not dissuade the from having six of us. You probably wondering why? You see my parents are not as educated as most people in the world are. But they know I deserve a chance- they may be poor economically, but they are rich in giving what is within their power;. Just like Acres of Mercy giving a place of hope; just like you, giving to the vision of hope. I too realise that I can make something out of my life as well, I just needed a chance. And I got one. I am a child again...
You see, about 18 months ago my parents took me to the school at Acres of Mercy. I was malnourished...But notice...the past tense...WAS. I only knew one language, my mother tongue. I was weak. I could not even play with the other children. But that was then. You see I have since learnt to talk in Kiswahili. I play with the other children now. I can even draw and colour. And I am stronger, healthier. One thing is certain, with more opportunities to get a good education I will someday write directly to all of you and thank you for giving my friends and I this kind of freedom- the freedom of education, literacy. Thank you for this building up." 

Together let's continue building up. Talk to friends and family and ask them to ssupport these children either with a one time donation; or a recurring donation to give children freedom, because every child deserves every chance. Give Freedom HERE.

Inch by inch we'll cinch it

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Jun 2, 2015
Mid 2015 Milestones

By Jimmy Oluoch | Project Leader

A student taking a Reading Fluency Assessment

It has been an amazing 5 months.

With 185 children in school getting an education, this is something to be proud about.

The children are getting 2 meals a day, 5 days a week in partnership with Caring for Kenyan Kids.

We are currently doing a literacy assessment to determine the level of literacy of the students. The assessment are two fold: one is to determine progress of students who have been at the school; the other is to determine lvele of literacy of new students who have recently joined.

This will help us determine how to proceed with them during our Reading Intervention Program

During the assessment I asked one of our students called Alex if he knows how to read. His response was almost disheartening. He said to me." I don't know how to read."

After the assessment I was elated- because though he had said he did not know how to read- Alex could read beyond what he thought and what I thought as well. You see he had come in 3 months previously- in February and did not know how to read at all.

Alex owes it to the teachers, and to you...that he can now begin to understand his lessons. And can read. His score was like this:-

He read 263 words; He had 33 errors. He took about 5 minutes. Ths may not be much but given where he was at the start of the term, this is great progress. Thanks to you partner.

Let's give more children the needed skills- move them from Basic literacy to functional literacy.

And because these children are in school, some have been able to develop their skills; On JUne 2nd will be the District Athetics Championships and two of our students will be competing.

June 1st, we had a local family and friends visit the school with learning resources- the event falling on the day Kenya celebrates self rule was dubbed "Freedom to Learn". The children received reading, writing, revision packs, food packs, sanitary towels and mentoring and counselling.

Thank you for making change happen.

Teacher Taking a student through the paces

Students receiving critical learning supplies

Student practicing for high jump

Keen Listening to a counselling session

More resources

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