Build a school in a deprived area of Mombasa

Our school in Mombasa is specifically for very poor children and the Trustees of the Mustard Seed Project  (MSP) are happy to report that the school is progressing well despite a lot of recent changes. Thanks to our excellent staff our national exam results have always been good, usually B- or B, with C being the national expected grade that opens doors to further secondary education and eventually work. Recently we have acquired Junior/Secondary School status, hard won with many hoops to jump through, but we now have children from 3 years in Nursery to 15 years in Secondary, previously 14. This status was very much the wish of our very supportive parents, staff and of course the children. It has been an expensive process as the Kenyan government completely overhauled the education system with a new curriculum and many new requirements. We have had to equip a laboratory, purchase land for a playground and recruit new staff among other things -  we even had to change the way the doors opened!. Also we are required to have a number of graduates on the staff, which was not the case in the past. We always ensured our staff had the correct teaching qualifications but this is no longer enough.

In September two of our Trustees will travel to Kenya and in that time hope to interview and appoint two more teachers, preferably graduates. One Trustee will be in Kenya for ten days but our Founding Trustee will spend a month there, which she does twice a year. They hope to include staff training and lesson observations as well as interviewing. 

In the past teaching in state schools in Kenya has been in very large classes (up to 100) with a lot of rote teaching. Our school has well equipped classes of no more than 30 with a curriculum similar to the uk so the curriculum changes have been taken on board well by staff, as much of it was already in place. As well as the expensive process of making sure we fulfilled all the  requirements for our new status (which will be taken away unless we continue to do so) we have to employ more staff because the children are with us for an extra year. Financially it is a difficult time for MSP and without the help of our generous donors we would not be able to continue to provide the children with such a good education.  Education is highly valued in Kenya and for our children it provides an opportunity for them, and often the family, to escape the poverty into which they were born. Thank you for your generosity, thank you for reading this and if you have not already joined us please think about donating. Even the smallest donation can help to change a life for the better.

Our new status as Junior Secondary School is going well to the delight of parents, teachers, children and of course both UK and Kenyan Trustees. Our Founding Trustee, Rita, has just returned from a month at our school in Mombasa and has at last been able to confirm that two of the three plots of land we need for our playground belong to the Mustard Seed Project (MSP). The Kenyan government has completely reorganised the education system and curriculum and a new requirement was that we must have a playground. Before the reorganisation the children played in a public area in front of the school, which was not ideal but possible. When we had completed the new school building we were not able to buy land as well because of the cost. Becoming a "Junior Secondary" school rather than just "Primary" school was in itself a difficult process because of the many new requirements. It means that our children stay with us from Nursery (three yearsold) to the age of fifteen instead of fourteen so we have another year group to provide for, meaning more staff, more resources and now more land. Our school is in an urban area and land is very expensive. The plots are small and we need urgently to buy the third plot. Our Founding Trustee said that on her visit in February she was astonished to see the pace of building in the area around our school within the few months since her visit last October. The owner of the land we need has been very keen to complete the puchase of all three plots and has given us limited time to raise the money for the third plot or he will sell to someone else. The new curriculum requires the children to plant and grow food, which we are now able to do. Within this area we must also provide sports facilities as well as an ordinary playground so we really need the third piece of land. The two plots we have are used for numerous activities and games already. Looking towards the future we hope eventually to have storage facilities for sports equipment and gardening rather than carrying everything backwards and forwards from the main building. The area is secure and is walled and gated. As Rita has always said, why should children, just because they are poor, not have the very best education we can give them? Education, very highly valued in our community, gives them and possibly the whole family a chance to escape the poverty they live with every day. We recently had a donation from one of our supporters who said that it should be shared between our very poorest families. Each was given a small amount of money to help them through the very worst of their difficulties. Rita said that every single one wept with gratitude. She witnessed three of the families and wanted to weep too, but work goes on. Thank you donors, every donation, however small, makes a difference to someone's life. Please continue your support, or join us if you have just learned about the Mustard Seed Project, Kenya.