By Lynne Smith | Trustee
The main aim of the Mustard Seed Project (MSP) has always been to provide good quality education for very poor children in Mombasa. This year once again, to the delight of teachers, parents, children and Trustees our 14 year olds exceeded the national average in external exams with excellent results. When we had a few spare school places for older children we had 150 applicants. We have built a beautiful school, have well equipped classes of no more than 30 and training days are held for the teachers, occasionally through zoom but mostly when Rita, our Founding Trustee, is in Kenya. Other UK Trustees have also been to Kenya and carried out staff training. MSP has just appointed a new teacher for Maths and Science. She has a degree (a recent government requirement). Her name is Emaculate, she is a good teacher and will be a great help to Amos in Upper School
As previously reported new rulings for education by the Kenyan Government has meant that we have had to jump through many hoops one of which is to have our own a playground. It is an urban area and land is very expensive. When we moved from our rented building into our new school the children played in an area in front of the school where rubbish could be dumped, people sometimes passed through and even motor bikes were occassionally driven. We were then able to rent a piece of land which was a great asset, but the owner is now very keen to sell. During her visit to Kenya in February/March 2024 Rita, went to see if the land would be suitable to buy, taking with her a Kenyan Rotarian, Solomon, and a lawyer. They were both impressed by the land which is in fact three small plots. The three together would be excellent as a playground but also for sport and other activities. Osman, the owner, wants to sell, as quickly as possible. We have the money for one plot but need to raise money for the other two as Osman has given us a final date of June 2025. As ever there are a lot of legal requirements for buying land but we have a lawyer both in Kenya and the UK and they will work together for us. Plot one is ready to go ahead. MSP needs to work hard to raise funding to buy the rest of the land.
We are still waiting to see if we have fulfilled all criteria to become a "Junior Secondary" school, which parents and teachers very much want. The older children (12+) are now required to wear a different uniform including a tie. Rita was so pleased to see how proud they were. It has been a difficult time for all of us because of all the recent changs in education in Kenya and especially for Rita who spends two months a year there. The staff at the school have had a lot of extra work too but they are still full of enthusiasm. Thank you for everything you have done to enable all the successes MSP has had so far. Without you, our donors, we could not have achieved so much. Please continue to support us or join us as a new donor. Lives change for the better because of you.
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