Kyaithani Cluster Schools project receives grant from Rotary Foundation

After almost 3 years of grant seeking effort, our project has finally succeeded.

Just before Christmas we received the news that The Rotary Foundation (in the USA) had approved our grant application for the enhancement of education within the cluster of 7 schools in the Kyaithani area of Kenya.

With all the grant funding our project will be able to:
1. implement a solar light rent-to-own program to provide a light for each of the 1300 students and teachers in the 7 schools.
2. implement a computerized Learning Resource Center in each of the two secondary schools.
3. provide certificate level online training for the 70 teachers in the 5 primary schools.
4. provide solar-powered teaching materials at each of the 5 primary schools.

The project will take about 2 years but we expect that the solar program and the implementation of the Learning Resource Centers will be complete in 2016.

Some of our 1300 students with the 140 solar lights from our pilot project

Thanks to:
our 10 Rotary Club sponsors
Rotary District 5040
The Rotary Foundation Canada and the Government of Canada
The Rotary Foundation (International), and
all our supporters of all our work iin Kyathaini.

For individuals and other Rotary Clubs, you can help our efforts at these cluster schools by supporting our scholarship program.  Check out www.ndandini-scholarshipfund.blogspot.com . 

Project team meets in Kenya

November 1st was a great day.  All our project members got together in Wamunyu village at the Kenya Connect Learning Resource Centre, which is midway between Kyaithani (where our schools are located) and Machakos (where our host Rotary Club is located) and only about an hour from Kyaithani village.

Our Project team meets in Wamunyu Kenya 

It was the first time that the teachers and administrators from the two secondary schools had met together with our Rotary project members from Machakos and Canada.

Even more significantly, we were meeting at Kenya Connect's Learning Resource Center and meeting with their two IT field managers/trainers (James and Patrick).

Over the past several months we have been working together with Kenya Connect in Maryland USA and Kenya to determine how we can best work together to leverage off their experience in implementing/operating a Learning Resource Centre so close to our own area of eastern Kenya.  The opportunity to have three similar Learning Resource Centers with common objectives and sharing the support structure is encouraging and compelling.

In addition to updating everyone with the status of our project, everyone learned about the capabilities of the Kenya Connect Learning Resource Center and was able to see it first hand, including some computer demonstrations by two grade 6 students being taught by Patrick and who first touched a computer only 3 months ago.

Kyaithani Cluster School Project gets Rotary Canada grant

In August 2015, the Government of Canada agreed to provide The Rotary Foundation Canada (TRFC) with funding for the next 5 years to support international humanitarian projects.  Grant applications could be submitted starting October 1st.

We are happy to report that our project was the first Canadian project to receive this new Canadian Government grant funding.

As a resut of this extra funding, we will be able to expand our project deliverables.  Instead of providing only a few computers to start a small computer lab at Kyaithani Secondary School, we will be able to implement a full computerized Learning Resource Centre at both Kyaithani Secondary School and Lower Yatta Secondary School (the 2 secondary schools within the Kyaithani Cluster of area schools).

Each Learning Resource Centre is expected to have 20 student computers with a large local/offline repository of educational and vocational material as well as internet connectivity.

Below is a photo of a Learning Resource Centre that we will be modelling our own centers after.

Kenya Connect's Learning Resource Centre at Wamunyu 

Thank you TRFC and Government of Canada!  

Donors respond to help victims of Fire at Kyaithani Secondary School

Fire Damage to 37 bunks and personal items

One evening in early May while the students were attending a study session at Kyaithani Secondary School, some still unknown malicious person poured petrol on most of the bunk beds in the boys dormitory buildings and set them on fire.

37 out of the 52 boy boarders lost all their items. 

Most of the families of these boys do not have the money to replace the lost items. 

Boys now sleeping on the floor of a classroom

Damage to personal items, books and the building totalled almost $3000.
 
Fortunately, there were no injuries or casualties as a result of the fire or during the major efforts by everyone to put it out before it spread to the other school buildings.

Members of the Sunshine Coast-Sechelt BC (Canada) Rotary Club have donated $1500 to help and the Chatelech Interact Club in Sechelt contributed an additional $300. 

Chatelech Secondary School Interact Club donates $300 to help

These Chatelech secondary students are making a bond with the students at Kyaithani as earlier this year they contributed $300 towards the scholarship program that we have to help enable students from poor families to attend school here in this remote rural area of eastern Kenya.  They have also begun an email exchange program between the two schools.

Thanks to every one who has contributed to this emergency need.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so on the "donate" button near the top right of this page.  Please add a notation that your donation is for the fire.

Terry

New Solar Project to Proceed - major funding milestone reached

eager recipients of solar pilot project lights

In October 2014, with the financial support of the Rotary Club of Sunshine Coast-Sechelt and two individual donors, Terry and Jan initiated a pilot solar lighting project for 148 students and teachers at Kyaithani Secondary School and Lower Yatta Girls Secondary Boarding School in the Ndandini area of eastern Kenya.  This pilot project provided individual solar lights to the secondary students to enable them to read and study at home rather than having to come to school before sunrise in order to have light to do their homework and study.  It was also intended to gather valuable usage and benefit data as input for a follow-on project that would provide solar lights like these to every primary and secondary student in the area.

We are now happy to report that we have been successful in raising $34,000 of the $37,000 cash donations that we are seeking.  We now have the minimum amount that we need to proceed with this project. We hope to yet raise the additional amount and also to secure a grant from The Rotary Foundation to completely fund the whole $60,000 project.  We are targeting to have the project complete by the end of 2015.

The partner Rotary Clubs behind this initiative are:
Sunshine Coast-Sechelt BC Canada
Machakos, Kenya
Gibsons BC Canada
Belleville Ontario Canada
Sussex NB Canada
Richmond Sunrise, BC Canada
Terrace BC Canada
Richmond Sunset, BC Canada
Rotary District 5040 (BC)

The major focus of this solar and education project is to improve the learning environment and academic achievement of the 1300+ students in 7 schools in the Kyaithani area (5 primary schools and 2 secondary schools). It is based on academic performance improvements which we have seen achieved since providing some solar power and lighting and a couple of used computers in 2011 at the Kyaithani Secondary School. It is also based on requests from the administration of the 7 schools.

Let's get lights for all 1300+ students in the Ndandini area!

There is no power available in any of the 5 primary schools. These schools have very primitive facilities. There are no computers, internet access or any electronic teaching aids.

This project will see a basic solar power system installed at the 5 primary schools and, for each of the 7 schools, it will provide 2 internet-enabled laptop computers (with software) and 1 projector. After the project the teachers at every school will have lighting in their working area, computers for research and lesson preparation, and a projector for classroom presentations. Each school will have sufficient power for charging the laptops and projector. Volunteers from our partner clubs will spend time at these schools training the teachers in the use of these computers and projectors and their access to the internet specifically in ways to improve the curriculum and academic performance of the students.

The project will also provide individual solar task lights for each of the 1300+ students to enable them to do their studies and homework at home. Providing overhead solar lights in 2 classrooms at Kyaithani Secondary School in 2011 resulted in students coming to school at 4am and staying late into the evening to study. This is not ideal and not appropriate at the primary school level.

Here is some initial feedback that we have received from the principal of the secondary school after providing the pilot solar lights to the 148 pilot participants in October.  The provision of such lights in the homes for all the schoolchildren in the community will have a profound effect immediately on child and family health and on the children's academic performance.

The students are able to use the solar lights at least four hours a day,two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening while undertaking their studies.The families also use the  lights as they also undertake their studies.When the students are not studying, the families use the delights for other purposes especially while taking their meals.The lights have never run out of power battery.The lights are usually recharged in an open place at home.The family is able to save at least KSH 350 that was used in  buying paraffin. 

This is quite an overwhelming support from you and the families of the students are really happy. At least the students have no excuse for not doing their assignments at night.  Once again we say a big thank you.