During our annual visit, this November members of our visitor's group of twenty volunteers decided to work on putting a little love and beauty into the Live and Learn in Kenya Education Center's grounds - and the children loved being a part of it all.
Learning to plant, care for and enjoy plants and trees is an essential part of growing up in a place where it can literally save your life and the lives of those you love and care for. Putting beauty into it is just one of those luxuries in life that should also be prioritized.
Along with Heike, with Völker, and a couple of teachers, the children planted a beautiful little lavender field in front four newest constructions - the tailoring workshop and the IT lab. The 6th graders at the Live and Learn in Kenya Primary School have the responsibility to care for the little field, harvest the lavender, dry it and sew it into little pouches for their homes. They have decided that they will pass down this responsibility year after year to the following 6th-grade class! I think this is a wonderful project and a fabulous learning experience.
Trees for shade are another one of those wonderful luxuries in life when you live where the sun pounds down on you with all its strength. The famous American teacher, poet, and author Lucy Larcom once said "He who plants a tree, plants hope". That is so true. The children, the teachers, and the visitors who planted trees and flowers planted hope for the future of the Live and Learn in Kenya Education Center in Nakuru - and for every child passing its gates. The children will be caring for and watering the trees.
With extra special thanks to the professional gardeners, Heike and Völker, for the wonderful donation of trees and flowering plants and for planting with the children.
We must still build 4 more workshops under the new rules of the Kenyan Ministry of Education - so we are hoping for the best during the Christmas season!
Asante Sana - thank you so much!
Well ... we "thought" the classroom constructions were nearly finished! We had only planned on two more classrooms for vocational training and zap - the Kenyan government's Ministry of Education took a turn for the better... and for us, it means six more classrooms need to be built - which will be so-called "workshops" - eight in all. Thank goodness we already have two. Our beautiful school library and our recently completed IT workshop are lifesavers in that aspect as they are both considered "workshops" - but we still must build six more as soon as we have the funding for them. The first three to be built will be "Home Economics" - which will develop the knowledge, understanding, skills, and values necessary to achieve optimal, healthy, and sustainable living for every child and youth as an individual, and as a member of their families and society. Three interconnected topics will be Food, Health, and Culinary Skills; Responsible Family Living; and, Textiles and Crafts. This will entail having to provide a small kitchen area for the students to learn how to cook healthy meals.
The next workshop will be for "Arts and Crafts" The curriculum sets out clear expectations for students, across the two integrated topics of Arts and Crafts. The qualities that Arts and Crafts develop are crucial components of the rounded general education that all young people should experience. These personal attributes include creativity, critical judgment, working with others or working individually, providing and receiving constructive criticism, and respecting differences. Our present Art teacher will be thrilled to have a "workshop" of her own filled with art materials to bring out the "artist" that exists in every child/person!
So now we just have to work on getting these two finished ... and then move on to the other four!
Asante san - thank you so much for any assistance possible!
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It won't be long and the construction of the next classroom - now known in the new Kenyan school system as a "workshop" - will be completed. It is due to be finished latest by April 16th when the chairwoman of LIve and Learn in Kenya International - Brique Zeiner - and a group of sponsors will be officially dedicating the classroom during their visit to Kenya.
Yes, the Ministry of Education has made many changes. We thought that we would only have to construct two more classrooms and we'd be finished... Well - our work will never be "finished". According to the new school system regulations, we must build SIX more classrooms within a 3-year period or face our school being closed down. Although we have quality buildings, teachers, learning materials, and much much more - it isn't enough. So we will go on needing as much support as possible in order to make this work.
Many privately owned schools in Kenya will be closed down in 3 years - leaving thousands of children on the streets - but we are going to make sure that that doesn't happen to our school!!!
Asante sana - thank you for your support and for your future support in assuring our children a wonderful scholastic future within the walls of the LIVE AND LEARN IN KENYA EDUCATION CENTER! It can only get better :)
The Live and Learn in Kenya Education Center in Nakuru is about to grow again! Now that all 8 elementary school classrooms, 3 kindergarten classrooms, kitchen, dining hall, administration building with its offices, day clinic, and library are built and the first classroom of the Career Center is built - it's time for Career Center classroom number two! The cement slab is already in place - and the walls will go up as far as the donation takes us.
Having recently received a lovely donation to be able to begin construction - the plans are being drawn up for the IT classroom at the Career Center. This classroom will not only be used by vocational trainees - it will be used for all of the upper grades at our elementary school.
This is a major step towards independence for hundreds of children - as computer literacy is not only a necessity in today's world - it is the future of the world. We are so happy that our Live and Learn in Kenya Children will also be able to grow up with the ability to use computers to their advantage - and possibly their careers.
We still have a way to go to get the job done - and an even longer way to go to raise the funds to buy the necessary computers, but we know it will happen - because it always does :)
Asante Sana - thank you so much for your caring support!
Sometimes it's just necessary to just stop - take a long breath - sit back and look at what you've achieved and consider what still needs to be achieved in order to reach your goal.
This is the situation with the construction of the next classroom at the Live and Learn in Kenya Education Center.
Our construction plans for the Information Technology lab have been forced to pause for the time being. Covid 19 has thrown us off balance and we are wracking our brains trying to keep up with the ongoing costs of the education center, of paying all of the school, college, and university fees, paying our staff and teachers, and feeding the children. It would be one of those wonderful - out of the blue - acts of kindness to receive the funds to complete the construction of the next classroom. At least the base is finished.
It may take a while - we believe that we can - so we will! :)
Asante sana - thank you to all who have been supporting our word. Without our wonderful and generous supporters, we would never get anywhere!
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