Solar Lanterns for Tana Students

Dear Donors & Friends,

We are grateful for your continued support towards opening more opportunities for academic excellence through your continued support of this project. This term we were able in conducting a field visit to two primary schools located in the interior of the Tana Delta namely Ozi primary school and Kibokoni primary school.

The team met the teachers from Class 7 and Class 8 of both schools, the teachers explained that their main challenge is lack of electricity connection with the government as the area is very far from the national electricity grid as well as not having road accessibility. The only means of transport is motorbikes. As a result, their students do not have the opportunity of conducting their evening studies. Hence, this deters their academic performance as for the last year exams they performed very poor. One of the students known as Abdalla was quoted, "I do conduct my studies at home using a torch, so if I can be assisted with a solar lantern, it will be of great assistance." While another one Mwantum said she uses her mothers phone to do night studies once in a while.

After the survey we have identified a total of 144 students to provide them with Solar Lanterns, where Ozi primary has 59 girls and 62 boys from both class 7 and class 8 respectively and Kibokoni Primary has a total of 23 students, 9 boys and 14 girls.

The team found it prudent to provide solar lanterns to the deserving students of the targeted primary schools so the donations for this time will go towards purchasing lanterns for those students.

Be blessed.

The Solar Lantern Project began in 2017 and currently benefits children and students from the most remote interior villages in Tana Delta of Kenya.

It is an effective and economically sustainable method of improving the learning environment for many students from rural villages by enabling students to do their homework at night. Additionally, it also provides lighting for rural homes in place of the kerosene lamp, which is not very affordable for many, and poses health and safety risks.

These solar lanterns are also used to light up the common area in homesteads, benefitting all children who are in school as well as the adults, who can do meaningful work even as dusk falls. These include mending fishing nets, tailoring and weaving mats.

The latest activity in November 2021 saw the Tana Rive Life Foundation team distribute solar lanterns to two schools in Ndera Location in the north of the Tana Delta. A total of 185 students, 26 teachers, 4 school cooks and 4 watchmen received a lantern each.

Apart from students, we decided to provide lanterns also to the different people who contribute to improving the teaching and learning environment for the child in a rural school. This initiative was very well received and appreciated and is certain to make a more significant positive impact on the education of the students.

On behalf of all the beneficiaries, we at Tana River Life Foundation thank all our benefactors who through the GlobalGiving platform, have enabled us to make such an impact in lighting up lives and futures of many students from Tana Delta.

• GG_NOV_2021_PHOTO_REPORT_01.docx (DOCX)
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Greetings from Tana Delta, Kenya. We hope that this report finds every one of you well and in good health amidst the challenges imposed by Covid-19 pandemic.

Our team paid a visit to two targeted secondary schools (Minhaj Secondary School and Kitere secondary school) located in the interior of Tana Delta for sampling as our initial focus was only for primary schools. Both schools are day schools and one of the major challenge was lack of electricity in the schools and the neighbouring villages where the students reside. Though the government installed solar systems through the Ministry of Energy, the schools are a few kilometres from the villages and near a wildlife conservancy hence not preferable for students to study at night in the schools. This has contributed to their poor performance.

After sampling,TRLF has concluded that it will be necessary to provide solar lanterns to needy secondary students in the region starting with the 2 schools. By targeting form 2s, we believe that in the next 2 years when they complete their form 4 exams, we can have good results.

We are grateful to all donors for their noble gestures towards helping the students of Tana Delta, Kenya in attaining their educational goals and aspirations. May God continue blessing you abundantly.

Dear Friends,

Receive our greetings from Tana Delta Kenya. Hope you are all keeping safe during this pandemic.

Schools in Kenya have opened for the last term of the year 2020 which will run for 2 months and later in July they will start the 2021 academic year. Our monitoring and evaluation team visited Bahati and Mnazini Primary schools who were beneficiaries of the project. In the previous year of 2019, Bahati Primary school had a mean score of 177.1. In the year 2020 National Exams, the class scored a mean score of 196.88. This showed a significant improvement. Their class teacher informed the team that the results were due to the students using the lanterns during night preps and early mornings in their homes.

For Mnazini primary school. In the year 2020, TRLF donated Lanterns to class sevens of this school and they will be doing their exams in March 2022. Mnazini village is not connected to the national electricity grid. The headteacher Mr. Mwalili acknowledged that through the project they’ve come up with better strategies of helping their students where Board of Management (B.O.M) teacher, is tasked to supervise students during their night studies at the village. They are expecting to have better results when they sit for their exams.

From the observations by the monitoring and evaluation team, the project has been of great help in the interior schools of Tana Delta, precisely to those that are not linked to the national electricity grid. Thus, continued support towards such schools will in turn bring out positive impacts to the students and the entire community. The lights will shine brighter to both the learner and the community at large.

God bless you all for your continued generosity.

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year 2021! It is our hope that this update from Tana River in Kenya finds everyone of you well and in good health.

Schools in Kenya have re-opened on January 4th, 2021 after 9 months of unprecedented closure mandated by the government of Kenya beginning 16th March 2020.The government has imposed stringent measures to be adhered to by all learning institutions for the safety of the students while the Covid-19 pandemic continues.

The Ministry of Education has barred visits to schools by members of the public, until May 2021 subject to the Covid-19 situation in Kenya. As a result, Tana River Life Foundation (TRLF) will suspend carrying out its field trips until it is permissible to do so.

In 2021 TRLF is looking forward to helping more students in the interior of Tana River with solar lanterns so that they are able to continue with night studies at home. As previously mentioned in our August 2020 report, TRLF has received additional Solar Lanterns requests from secondary schools in Kitere and Minhaj which are not connected to the national grid. Hence, we are hopeful that in this year of 2021 we shall be able to provide an essential tool to the students to work towards achieving their educational goals and aspirations.

We are very grateful to all donors for their continued support to the students of Tana Delta, Kenya through their generous aid of Solar Lanterns. God bless.