By Jimmy Oluoch | Project Leader
Dear friends and partners,
Easter Greetings!
The first learning quarter in 2018 gone. I want to ask for your indulgence once again as I share about our work here.
36 years ago, in a little village on the shores of Lake Victoria a little life made the first entrance onto this place called Earth. He had no idea what the future held. These were tumultuous times. There was a thirst for change. There were forces that clamored for a kind of transformation that would lift the masses out of a perceived iron fisted political oligarch. This little boy had no idea just how far these forces could go, as was manifested four months later when a bloody coup threatened to forever isolate the community he was born into. This was Kenya. The year, 1982. The little boy was me.
Today, as I celebrate my 36th birthday, much has changed. However, the oppressive forces that surround us. Poverty is still high, corruption is a monstrous force threatening to destroy the future of our nation and social injustice is keeping communities chained to a millstone that is the lack of life transforming progress.
Technology has brought you and I together to fight for the people where they are. Together we are affecting change through innovations like GlobalGiving. Humanity is winning. Care is bringing hope to where it is needed. Since January we have continued to see progress and hope. Yet again Acres of Mercy became a part of the stories of hope that are being woven across the global community through your involvement. We have enrolled 4 students who had been denied the opportunity by the public-school system to complete their primary school education because they were not able to make the grades. Armed with the believe that every student can learn, and every student deserves every opportunity, we took them in and started the hard work that will enable them and the other 100 students have the 21st Century skills they need to succeed; The problem-solving skills, the basic literacy skills, collaborative skills and the character they would need to navigate their next level of learning.
Noticeable is our declining student enrolment. This is Our One Big Challenge. The other is difficulty recruiting the right teachers for these students. We need advice on how to access teachers who can deliver on the learning objectives that will equip our students for life. As fate would have it, and I make a big assumption here, our crop of trained teachers who are locally available at our current remuneration offering isn’t skilled enough to teach students in the way the child can learn. We have a Human Resource challenge even with the curriculum changes happening in our education system. Our challenge, together as partners is How do we leverage technology to bring great teaching to these students? Can we overcome the challenge of accessing the best teachers using technology? Is it even acceptable as a matter of policy? How do we as grassroots organizations access the wisdom of others who are successfully intervening elsewhere around the globe with the same set of challenges? What market-based strategies can we implement to resource, train, and keep the best teachers?
Meanwhile, I call for more sustained support from you our partners. When we get more partners giving recurrently we can attract the best teaching talent from outside our locality. Let’s call upon friends and friends of friends to support the cause and let’s give the students what they deserve because the world needs better people everywhere to truly progress.
Thank you for doing it yet again these last three months. The gains are real. The challenges too, but together we are pressing on, building a better world, one child by one child, one teacher by one teacher, classroom by classroom.
P.S. Consider rallying friends to help us complete the new classroom block. Thank you
By Jimmy Oluoch | Project Leader
By Jimmy Oluoch | Project Leader
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