GIVING HOPE TO 60 STAFF AFFECTED BY COVID-19

Among our four projects with GlobalGiving three are about a child; Feed a child to stay in school, Help Girls to complete school and rebuild a dilapidated school. Without staff no child would be kept in school, no girl would complete her education and even with the permanent building no child would be able to learn and enjoy the environment if there are no staff to teach them.

It is on this premise that we cannot make a great school with the demotivated staff who are not only poorly paid but sometimes miss their pay completely. We want to thank one of our committed donors who support five(5) of our staff every month. In both projects within Kisumu and Nairobi Counties we have fifty three (53) staff.  

Our appeal is to ask you to help us pay more staff as our income have seriously also gone down. In our country every electioneering period makes almost all commodities escalates in prices particulalrly food item. Since we do feeding as a matter of priority, our local resources cannot meet half of staff payment. 

It is due to such factors that we continue to thank you and appeal that you do not relent in sacrificing but also ask you to be our ambassador to help give hope to the needy child and provide them with quality education.

Links:

• Motivate our staff to do more of this

Dear Esteemed Supporter,

Two areas that have been our greatest concern is how to motivate our staff and make them totally be commited to our vision and sustaining feeding [program as a necesity to ensure the vulnerable children complete their schooling successfully.

During our last report we laid some strategies that we have applied to bring results but no much progress has been achieved. Your committing some regular monthly donation would do much better. Our monthly donors are still few but we are grateful to the few who have taken up this challenge. You have easen our greatest burden.

Since our last report through your donation and our own income generating projects we managed the following:

1. For the entire 2021, we managed to pay the staff on time every month for twelve months. The deficit of $2,500 was managed due to our globalgiving donors and our own income from our local projects and other local well-wishers.
2. We started the year 2022 on high expectations however, due to the national exams which is taking place in April-May and another one in November-December 2022 and long school holiday which has started from March to May, it will affect our income significanttly and may increase the deficit.
3. None of our staff in both counties (Nairobi and Kisumu), have left for greener pasture as oiur working environment is conducive, if only we can be sure that staff pay is no problem, we will go very far.
4. Oiur staff is very grateful to your help and are motivated because of your donation.

Thank you so much for your continued support as we look forward to an upcoming April 4-8, globalgving Little by Little Fundrasing opportunity. We are targeting to raise $20,000 from our supporters as we expect a matching of 50% from the globalgiving.

We are counting on you as the campaign begins on 4th - 8th April 2022. Any amount given upto $50 will be matched at 50%. Mark your diary for these dates. We will make further appeal just before the campaign starts. The importance of staff cannot be over-emphasized (see the link).

Stay Blessed,

Yours Sincerely,

Luke Jakoywa.

Links:

• The importance of a teacher

Our commitment to ensure that Sheepcare Community Centre has a capacity to outlive us and make it sustainable is our major goal as we look to the coming year 2022.  On our last report we indicated some measures we were taking to ensure that we consistently and on time pay our Staff. Some measures already taken are as follows;

1.  We are retaining 30% of our local income for salary saving. After doing this for six months, statistics indicate that we can only save a maximum of 50% that means every month we have a deficit of 50% (Us 2,500) monthly.
2. Appealing to our donors have not born much fruit but we want particularly thank Catherine Grannum, John Njoroge and Beatrice Ombura who are regularly giving to us every month. 
3. The bottled purified water should be a great breakthrough if we get the market, get a vehicle for transportation with a capacity that can carry from 800 crates. With the transport available, we can open market countrywide as the quality of water as been attested as one of the best.

APPEAL TO YOU OUR ESTEEMED DONOR.

That you as our donor gives a one time sacrificial giving to help us purchase a lorry to help in transporting our purified water all over the Country.  Of the 20 donors , if each can sacrifice a one time giving of $1000 then we would able to purchase the lorry by negotiating with the bank, the rest of the amount.

We also continue to urge you to be a regular supporter to help give a great future to these potential Kenyan whose realization of their potential depend on you and me. 

Yours Sincerely,

Luke Jakoywa.

Links:

• Chemistry Teacher doing practical with Students

No institution can be greater than its staff!

Good staff is retained by consistent remuneration and other general incentive. Staff retention has been and is still our major challenge. We have put some measures in place to ensure that we consistently and on time pay our Staff. Such include but not limited to the following;

1. Retaining some percentage from our internal sources of income from our normal weekly expenses.

2. Identifying some of or local donors and appealing to them to be active in monthly giving, which we have not yet succeeded very well.

3. Starting some other income generating project, a case in point is beginning a purified water business branded Milele as a full fledged business wing separate from our non profit activities.

4. Continue to participate in Little by Little campaign to help boost our income from generally our low income donors.

This endeavours are still struggling and have not born any fruit, however, in the beginning of July 2021 we received a grant from Airbnb to put into use for a project of our greatest impact. This news gave alot of encouragment to our staff members for the possibility that the deficit we have every month fior staff remneration may be eased out.

We intend to find the most appropriate Income Generating Projects to dedicate the proceeds to staff remuneration. This will help us meet the staff deficit pay and assist in helping retain the staff. The impact of this will be sterling performance for our schools and great motivation to the staff to perform and work hard thus helping us transform our community.

Remember retaining the staff is also providing job and livelihood to 53 members of the society and ensuring a future for over 400 students and pupils under our care. These pupils will complete their schooling as they are given quality education and provision of food thus making sure that they complete school and get absorbed as responsible citizens in the society.

Your continued support and mine is crucial. Please share our story with your friends, family and networks as help us to fulfill our vision of poor communities transformation.

 

Yours Sincerely,

Luke Jakoywa.

The threat that COVID-19 posed to our survival cannot be overstated. With our entire 60 staff sent home forcefully on March 2020 due to the pandemic lockdown with no pay and with no hope when to resume work,  we were not sure how many would ever come back when finally the lockdown is lifted, so when the Kenya Government allowed full re-opening of schools and other institutions on 4^th January 2021, to us it was pure miracle that out of sixty (60) staff, fifty three (53) managed to come back. This ensured continuity since it would have been very expensive to look for other qualified  staff.  The retention in both locations where we are currenttly working were as follows:

a)      Staff Retention - Nairobi County

The total number who reported back were 44. Out of this 13 teachers for Primary and 9 for the Secondary School while the rest from other departments. We have restructured and now forty four (44) staff managing the Nairobi's work. This was also necessary because of the effect of lockdown on our sources of finances.

 b)      Staff Retention - Kisumu County

In Kisumu county, we have a total of nine (9) staff, eight (8) teachers and one (1) foster mother working in the children Rescue Home. All the staff in Kisumu county came back despite the long days of suffering without any pay.

Staff Remuneration Challenge

Our greatest challenge now is the staff remuneration. Generally the entire economy of the nation is affected, money is hard to come by, businesses are closing down and the circulation of cash is limited. Many parents and guardians cannot afford to take their children to school and paying the staff is now a very uphill task. Those of our parents who were able to pay some little amount to help us subsidize are now not able. The need of us taking care and ensuring children are in school is paramount but this is impossible if staff are not retained. To retain the staff, they need to be paid regularly, something that we are struggling with due to the effect of COVID-19.

Staff Motivation

The fund that our supporters enabled us to collect in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic was a sure motivation, for this money was paid to the 60 staff who were by then staying at home. The money came as a surprise to them and this must have contributed to the majority reporting back. The effect of pandemic is seen by the many institutions which totally closed down. We know of some non-profit organization who could not survive.

For us we want to appreciate you, our donor for your contributon. You are the reason for us to continue serving this year 2021. Thank you for making us have hope that our vision of transforming the poor communities is on course.

Staff Budget Deficit Appeal

Our  total budget per month for staff remuneration is Kshs 550,000 ($5,500). Of this from our analysis since January we are able to meet comfortably from our own internal income generation 40%. We are appealing to you to commit monthly to help us meet the remaining deficit to help us retain the staff. No institution can be effective without qualified committed staff.  Our appeal is that it is now we are feeling the effect of the COVID-19, our sources of income have gone down and unless we find an alternative source of subsidizing the staff remuneration, it would not be easy keeping the staff. 

Thank you for choosing to support us and we trust that our partnership will continue. Please feel free and share our work with your friends, family and networks. Attached also are the photos to help you understand more of our work.

Yours Sincerely,

Luke Jakoywa.