Educating orphans & the disadvantaged in Kenya

With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting everyday life, we thank you for your continued support and wish you and your family good health.

As we adapt to these unprecedented circumstances, we’ll continue to serve our community as best we can. Food, soap and mask distribution is ongoing to those families and elderly ladies in need. In addition Peter is busy planting vegetables such as sweet potatoes and kale on the school land which we will give to those who are struggling to feed their families and also sell to raise income.  

It seems such a long time ago now since we were at school enjoying the successes and overcoming the small challenges which are normal in the day to day running of a primary school. Pleasure was found in seeing the pupils’ smiling faces as they start the day, always happy to be at school and eager to learn.

We are really pleased to share with you the success of our Learning Support Programme introduced in January. It is a sad fact that many of our sponsored pupils have missed out on full time education mainly due to being excluded from school for non-payment of fees. When they join us it is evident that they have fallen behind and unless we intervene they will have little chance of catching up.

Our programme was initiated by two volunteers from Catalonia and Germany. Teresa, a qualified teacher from Catalonia and Tatjana a student from Germany stocked up two rooms with graded reading books and learning resources with the aim of improving literacy and comprehension. Working in cooperation with our teachers they began one-on-one reading practice and play activities such as puzzles and memory games with those pupils who were struggling.

This vital ‘catch up’ programme has proved to be successful within such a short space of time with reports from parents and teachers of noticeable improvements in reading.

We are committed to continuing this programme when the school reopens.

Here is a short report from Teresa of her time volunteering at Roko 20.

A certain day in October 2019, I started looking for a place to volunteer for two months, between January and March 2020. My personal and professional situation allowed me to take a break during this time.

When by chance I came across Roko 20 School in Kenya, I couldn’t imagine what was waiting me.

So, I began to prepare my volunteering personal project and I called Tracy Neale-Ferreira, Roko 20’s Director. Far away, from somewhere in Wales, she explained to me everything about the school, about her project there and about the children’s needs. As she was speaking and giving me details, I could perceive that she was a confident and brave person. Her clear ideas about how education should be at Roko 20 grabbed my attention and I knew that I had finally found my place. I wasn’t wrong.

Tracey Neale together with Job Thuo Macharia (Roko 20’s Manager) run the school with excellence. They have created a school with a difference. I’ve spent eight weeks at Roko 20 and my experience there is unforgettable and highly enriching.

Thanks to Tatjana Winter’s ideas, support and help, we started the Learning Support Program based on teaching reading skills to the children who are a bit behind. I had an amazing feeling when the reading support began to give good results and the children were able to read. Tatjana (the other volunteer), who was my flat mate, my friend and my second daughter during those eight weeks, had the same feeling and we both believe that the Learning Support works.

Moreover, I’d like to point out that the best thing I came across in Kenya was its people; I fell in love with the country, with the children and their humanity and innocence. Kenya and its culture, landscape, language, wilderness, colors, music….. is an amazing country and Roko 20 is the best place to volunteer.

Finally, I can affirm that the Roko 20 community has made a very deep change inside me. So, let me quote Lenin:

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

I have no doubt; my eight weeks in Roko 20 are as valuable as eight decades.

Thank you.

M.Teresa Gassió i Ribé

Catalonia, May 2020

I would just like to end this update by saying that all of us at Roko 20 thank you for your continued generosity and support without which we would not be able to carry out the work that we do.  

We hope that you keep safe and well in these exceptional circumstances.

Links:

• Roko 20 Website

We are pleased to report that we started 2020 with all of the teachers who ended the year in 2019.  Maintaining the team is as a direct result of the hard work of our Manager, Job, who has single handedly improved communication and brought harmony. 

Teamwork is of course an essential tool to achieve success for any organization and thanks to Job’s management skills he has built upon morale and improved productivity.

Job is a man of many talents but of importance here is his sensitivity and understanding of people.  When he notices a problem with a staff member he is quick to encourage a discussion giving time to allow any grievances to be aired.  In this way he has worked successfully towards resolving issues before it becomes too big. 

Workshops and Team building lunches were an important introduction to increase cooperation between staff members.   Our workshops involved all staff and allowed for participation in the decision-making process giving each employee the opportunity to voice their opinions and share their knowledge with others thereby improving the relationship between staff and Management. 

The community has more confidence in us because of stability with staff and this year we have noted a significant increase in the number of pupils enrolled.

To sum up our Manager gets the thumbs up for improving the quality of education at Roko 20 Academy with a team of self-motivated teachers and staff.

The Roko team is proud of where they work, feel supported and want to see the school go from strength to strength.  Our school is a much happier place for our staff to be and this is down to Job’s commitment and dedication to the success of Roko 20 Academy.

Thank you as ever for your continued support.

Links:

• Roko 20 Website

You recently received our September 2019 Newsletter giving an update of the highlights and main points of interest for 2019.  Apologies if this GlobalGiving update seems to be somewhat of an ‘overload’ but the GG platform requires that we update supporters every three months on projects that we are working on.

So, we are coming to the end of the school year for 2019 and next week will see the close of Term 3.   We will finish the year with 102 pupils of which we are pleased to be sponsoring 72.  

Most of our children live in the surrounding small villages with a few from Murang’a town, but we have broadened our catchment area and now pick up children from as far away as 11kms from the school, an area where the choice of schools is limited.    There is still a 4km walk for these children to get to the pick-up and drop off point but they have no complaints and are happy to complete the journey on foot.

We still have 16 children on our list to be sponsored so if you are interested in sponsorship or know anyone who would be happy to do so then please let us know.  

This year has seen many improvements both in terms of academics, staff development and expansion of the school.  Not least improving the comfort of children and reducing the environmental footprint of the school.

The first, and perhaps the most important, initiative was to double the class ceiling to reinforce the thermal insulation. This is important because the roofs are made of corrugated sheet metal, which warms up very quickly in the afternoon under the effect of the African sun, and which then radiates heat on the heads of students (and teachers), making their concentration difficult.

The simple solution was to nail plywood planks just under the roof; the result was immediate, with a reduction of several degrees of heat in the classes that were equipped. Teachers and pupils are pleased with the results and productivity has increased.

Another major improvement was to the way meals are prepared in the school kitchen. The fuel used for cooking is, as is very often the case in Kenya, wood, the intensive use of which for food cooking is a major contributor to deforestation.Thanks to the financial support of American missionaries, the school was able to acquire efficient stoves. The result: a wood consumption divided by two, and a reduced environmental footprint.

We continue with our mission to help the elderly grandmothers and our Elderly Ladies Group received two lots of donations of maize and beans this year.  A week before each of the two rainy seasons we call the ladies to the school for a small lunch so they can socialize and catch up on all the news and to donate a bag each of maize and beans for planting.  We are currently in the midst of the long rains and it promises to be a good harvest as rainfall is consistently heavy throughout. 

These are exciting times in Kenya as the Ministry of Education has made radical changes to its Curriculum, which has not changed since 1985.  The new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) is good news for pupils as it concentrates more on a child centred approach to teaching. Roko 20 has made a good start on the new CBC and teachers are working hard to adapt to the new system.  We are pleased to report that after completing our own research we found that we are much more active with the new CBC than other schools in the local area. Next year places emphasis on improving teaching methods with in-house teacher training to fully deliver the new CBC.    

These improvements, simply put, would not be possible if it wasn’t for faithful donors like you.  So a big thank you for supplying the funds that we need to make a difference in the lives of our pupils who would not benefit from such a good full time education in a safe and supporting environment. 

Here follows an update from Roko 20 Academy as we approach the end of Term 2.

As the year progresses, we are pleased to report that the performance of our pupils has improved dramatically.

During the County games, two of our Class 5 girls qualified and played handball for the winning team.

Exam results were recorded and compared with other primary schools in the district. One of our Class 3 boys came 1^st in his year out of all the 10 competing schools within the district. In addition, mid-term exam results put our Class 4 pupils in third position.

Our Debating Club has done extraordinarily well and, whilst it started with debating at our neighouring school, word has got around and now other local primary schools have shown an interest in debating with us. We have some bright and confident pupils from Class 4 and 5 who put up a good case expressing themselves in English.

There have been major improvements not only in academics and behavior but also in cleanliness. It’s no mean feat for children to keep clean whilst playing in the playground at breaktimes. It is literally a dustbowl during dry season. Handwashing is encouraged and a ‘white’ towel and soap is provided at the water tanks. A Soap Monitor is on duty to ensure the soap bottle remains topped up. Hands are washed before entering class in order to keep their books clean.

Recently cut off from the town’s water supply for almost two weeks we thanked our lucky stars to have remained with a constant water supply due to the large water storage tank kindly donated by Narberth and Whitland Rotary Club.

All this progress would not be possible without the commitment from our team of teachers and staff who are working together as a team to get the best out of our pupils.

After a rigorous academic first half to the year, our pupils and staff got to spend some well-deserved time enjoying an educational trip. Upper classes visited the Mwea Irrigation Scheme and Sagana Tanneries, followed by some adventure playground fun and a dip in the swimming pool. The younger two pre-school classes and Class 1 and 2 had an interesting nature walk near Thika where they met with porcupines, crocodiles and ostrich to name just a few. Following this they had the most exciting time on the rides at an adventure playground finishing off with a very cold dip in the small paddling pool.

As you can see the school is going from strength to strength. We couldn’t be more grateful for your support.

Thank you.

Links:

• Roko 20 website

We are happy to update you with news from the first term of 2019.  

Athletics

This year we were fortunate enough to be able to participate in the zonal athletics competitions competing against nine other local schools.  

Two of our pupils, John Kamondia and Beatrice qualified to the next level in the 5000 metre race.  

Beatrice, who is 11 years old, amazed everyone by winning her race and beating the runner-up with a gap of 200 metres on the finishing line.  Unfortunately, whilst competing in the sub-county level races she became sick in the last lap and went on to finish in 6^th place.  Despite the set-back Beatrice will still qualify to the next level. 

We recognise that Beatrice has focus, perseverance and talent.  We will do all that we can to ensure she reaches her full potential by helping her to maintain good health and become more self-confident. 

Water Tank

We are so very grateful to have received £550 from the Rotary Club of Narberth and Whitland to purchase a 5,000 litre water tank. 

We have now become self-sufficient having a permanent supply of drinking water and reserve water for the kitchen. 

Pupils and staff maintain good water drinking/ hydration habits so they do not develop any unnecessary health issues as a result of dehydration or suffer from the illnesses associated with poor water storage.

We fitted three taps outside the pre-school classes so pupils have easy access to drinking water as well as a constant supply for hand-washing.

A big thank you to all those who made this possible.

Level ground for the playing field

Rebecca and Matt, two volunteers from the UK, are doing great work assisting teachers in class and on the playing field developing football and athletic skills. 

Shocked by the state of our playing field, which these days rather resembles Mount Kenya as the incline has become quite steep, they decided to start a fundraising campaign in an effort to help us fund levelling of the field.  Their JustGiving campaign did tremendously well and they exceeded their target raising £620.

During the recent school holidays we hired large machinery to level the soil.  We dug deep trenches to prevent soil erosion and have plans to lay tarmac on the field in the not so distant future.   Pupils will be thrilled when they return to school for Term 2 to find a playing field which will allow their game to improve.

Big thanks to Rebecca and Matt as this is a huge step forward for Roko 20.

Roko 20 depends on the generosity of people like you, to raise funds and give precious time to helping us improve. 

We are indebted to our staff on the ground who, despite considerable challenges, are dedicated to making Roko 20 one of the best performing schools in the area giving pupils an opportunity to change their lives for the better.

Thank you all so very much!