Updates and News from the Saituni Fund
SAITUNI SCHOOL NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2010
Dear friends of Ringa School, Kenya
Progress is still being made at the school, and some quite innovative methods of raising funds have been augmented. For instance for the last few months we had a successful sheep breeding programme at the school to boost school funds, which also teaches the children animal husbandry. Recently we have sold ten sheep which fetched KS16,600 (approx £160) which supplemented school expenditure. As you can see Risper and her staff often take the initiative in fund raising, and are not just reliant on donations from the UK; however that being said, there is always a need for more funds as the expansion programmes continue apace.
The things that we need are another twenty desks for example, also text books, which are in very short supply. Although we now have seven completed classrooms, there is always a need for more to accommodate ever more pupils. The reputation of the school is growing, so are the numbers. We're still feeding the children on a daily basis, we expect a good harvest of maize and beans this coming May. We have another development to report, and that is of the rental of a level playing field for the children, for sports and games etc. We have a number of soccer teams that are improving daily, and are now good enough to enter the local schools competitions. This is another sign of the success and the integration of our school into the educational mainstream. We are still working on a plan to bring us up to the level of a secondary school, but I'm afraid this is going to be more of a long term issue than was initially anticipated. However it will happen in the fullness of time.
Although our teachers are trained and dedicated to educate the children to the level where we are at the moment, eventually the time will come when we have to find better qualified teachers, or better still, send our own teachers on training courses.
Some of the fund raising events planned are an event by six young men from Greenbank Christian Centre to do a sponsored mountain climb in the spring; this will be a particularly tough challenge as they have set what appears to me an impossible goal, which is to climb the three UK highest peaks in seven days. If you feel you would like to sponsor this event, a sponsorship form can be sent or emailed to you. Please contact Liz Gegg on l.gegg@virgin.net, or myself oakmanchris@yahoo.co.uk .There will be a coffee morning and open gardens day in May at Catherine Park, Nr Looe, details to follow. The recent table top sale at Liskeard run by volunteers from Greenbank Christian Centre has raised £60, and we extend our most heartfelt thanks to the ladies that worked so hard on that day. Any more good ideas people?
Penfriends - at the moment I have a list of all the children at the school, their names and their ages, and one of our aims is to find pen-friends of similar ages, for these children, so if anybody knows of a child between 5 and 13 who would like to have a pen-friend in Africa, please contact us at the above email addresses.
Two of the boys who recently took the Kenyan National Exam- the equivalent of our 11+ as was, they got such good marks that we have found it easy to find places for them, one at a boarding school, and the other at a day school. Considering these two boys are complete orphans who two years ago were illiterate, I think this is testimony to the dedication of Risper and her team, who have taken these children in, cared for them and educated them to this level. This is just one of the many success stories that have been achieved because of your support. I thank you for your generosity so far, and I urge you to continue no matter what your level of giving, every donation no matter how small, goes directly to that school, nothing is taken out and you are making a positive impact into the local community. There is now hope where before there was none.
Chris Hirst