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Primary School How eager are you to go to school?Would you walk 5 kilometres to go to school? The young children in Mabirikani, a small village in the Coast Province of Kenya walk twice the distance every day, each morning and afternoon! People in Kenya realise the importance of education and will sacrifice a lot to go to school. In Kenya they do not have to pay school fees for primary school, but that does not mean everyone goes to school. There are not enough schools, not enough teachers, not enough teaching material. This means many children do not go to school or have to walk a long distance and find themselves in class rooms with 80-90 children. Mabirikani village is such a place where the children have to walk 5 kilometres to the nearest (overcrowded) primary school. Mabirikani Primary School The parents and the local authorities sat together and made plans for a primary school. The local secondary school was willing to donate a piece of land where a primary school can be build but they do not have the funds to build it themselves. The village is part of an area which is ranked the 2nd poorest constituency in Kenya. Its people survive largely on relief aid. This is because of the rainfall pattern hence no meaningful agricultural activity can be carried out. Therefore very little financial input can be expected from the residents towards the building of the school. The community however will volunteer to offer manual service where possible. The projectThe community approached Outreach Europe and applied for our financial assistance for building the school. A construction plan and budgets were prepared by a local contractor. The construction of the school will consist of 8 classrooms, an administration block (offices) and 8 toilets. All will be permanent buildings. The community will help with digging and provide for the benches and desks. When the construction is finished the ministry of education in Kenya will assign and employ the teachers. The school will run under local management. A warm welcomeIn July 2005 we visited the village and the site where Mabirikani Primary School will be build. We met with the community, parents and children, and the local authorities, to agree on the construction plan, the budgets and the project procedures.Several trees were planted as a formal start of the project. We visited the local nursery school and met the children who might be in the first class of the primary school next year. The community performed several dances. In their songs they expressed the need and importance of education for their children. January 2006
Early January a couple of
volunteers from Outreach Europe visited the school to look at the
progress. The building is going according to plan. The foundation of 2
classrooms and the office are finished and work is being done on the
walls. Sponsoring by Outreach EuropeOutreach Europe has approved this project and the first phase of the project has started in September 2005, but we need your help. We are looking for sponsors who are willing to support this project. Construction will take several years and will cost a total of €38,000. With your financial support you can provide education to the children of Mabirikani and give them better chances for the future. You can support Mabirikani Primary School by transferring your donation to our Postbank account 2055 (IBAN NL06PSTB0000002055) with description “Mabirikani”. Our address is: Outreach Europe, Postbus 9056, 3007 AB Rotterdam, Netherlands. |
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Click here for photos from the Mabirikani Primary School.
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