Still some unsponsored orphans

Many thanks to the new sponsors of Renson, Saviour, Deborah, Caren, and Sharon from the last post!  Karmal, Felix, Joel, Sophy, Brian, and Mike still don't have sponsors.  Please spread the word and help get these deserving orphans sponsored!

Remaining 11 orphans need sponsors and 2nd sponsors needed

Thanks to everyone who has renewed their support so far.... we have 11 orphans who still need sponsors.  The students in Class 7 all need a second sponsor to fund the texts and tests required for their final year of Class 8 which starts in January!!  The teachers also require two sponsors per person.

$300 - sponsors a student in preschool thru Class 7 for a year or a Class 8 student for six months
$400 - sponsors a teacher for six months
$600 - sponsors a Class 8 student for a year
$800 - sponsors a teacher for a year

Kubasa, Karmal – K

Please spread the word and help get everyone funded!!

Renson Karori - preschool

                             Saviour Wanyonyi - preschool                             

  

                  Felix  Maina - K

               Deborah Nyongesa – K

            Caren  Juma– Class 2

                 Joel Wanyonyi – 2

Sophy Wanyonyi – 2

 Sharon Muyoka – 5

Mike Barasa - 7

Rising to Class 8 – all
need 2nd sponsor

11 teachers – all need
2nd sponsor

Brian Simiyu - preschool

Renewal time, plans for 2014 and new orphan stories

This is the time of year many sponsors decide on renewing their support for the Academy.  Last year, by December, we had every single orphan and teacher sponsored!!!  Sponsorship relieves the stress of subsistence for the school directors and we are so thankful for everyone's participation in this great cause!  

Little ones getting every last drop out of an orange slice treat

The Kenyan school year changes on the calendar year and their "summer break" is in December. Starting in January, we will continue our plans to add a class per year and will start teaching the final grade - Class 8, similar to 8th grade in the states.  We have other big plans for 2014.  We are starting survey work to drill a borehole that will provide water for both the school and the local community ($41,000).  Water is currently provided by a hand-dug well and a roof water catchment that helps a lot in the rainy season.  The combination is not sufficient to provide for the year-round needs of the school.  We are also planning to build one final classroom in the next few months to allow the preschoolers to be separate from the bigger kids so they can nap without being disturbed by the noisy older kids ($15,000).  Lastly, we need to improve sanitation to meet Kenyan school guidelines by building a new set of latrines for the boys ($6750).  Please consider additional donations to the general fund to meet these goals.

Waiting in line to wash hands in a bucket

Spread the word about Kisima to let others know about us because we do have more orphans than sponsors and we would love to have 100% sponsorship again by December!!   The local community has become comfortable with the school and many local impoverished students attend as well.  This has led to local leaders spreading the word that orphans can be well cared for and obtain a great education at Kisima Academy.  Over the past year, we have enrolled 17 new orphans - six in preschool, four in Kindergarten, one each in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th and three in grade 7.

Kids checking out the visitors at a recent visit

Many of the new orphans requiring sponsors have similar stories....Shadrack is a preschooler whose mother died, his father remarried, and the stepmother refused to care for him.  Deborah is a 1st grader who was born out of wedlock, the father refused to care for her and she was abandoned by her mother.  Sharon is a 5th grader whose parents were killed in post-election violence in 2008.  She went to live with her grandmother who then passed away in 2012.  Phelisher is a 7th grade girl being raised by her single mother who passed away of AIDS earlier this year.  Bonnie

Strong exam performance

Kisima again did very well on district exams.  Class 7, for example, placed 5th out of 100 schools in the district and 3rd out of 47 schools in the zone.  Congratulations to them!

Good news and bad news

There's good news and bad news from Kisima Academy.  First the bad news--after no rain all of July it's done nothing but rain since then.  A low crop yield at Kisima means more funds have to go to buying maize and beans and less are available for textbooks, supplies, clothes, medicine...

Now the good news:  the electrical grid is finally being extended to Kisima!  The solar power system has been wonderful for lighting the dorms and classrooms but it doesn't generate enough power to run any machinery or even recharge more than a couple of computers.  Having adequate power will open a world of possibilities!

 

(Nearly) indestructible soccer balls!

Soccer balls at Kisima enjoyed only a very short life due to the barbed-wire-fenced fields surrounding their play areas.  Henry Edwards did some research into sturdier soccer balls and came up with balls developed by One World Futbol Project.  From their website: "In 2006, One World Futbol inventor Tim Jahnigen was watching news footage about traumatized refugee youth in Darfur playing soccer on dirt using a ball they had made by tying trash together with twine. In that instant, Tim saw that these kids had such strong, indestructible spirits and felt they deserved better. He realized there was a global need for a nearly indestructible ball that could withstand the harsh conditions often faced by youth living in refugee camps, disaster areas and other disadvantaged communities."  Sandra Cress at the One World Futbol office in Nairobi generously offered to donate some soccer balls for the girls' and boys' teams at Kisima.  Martin reports that the teams are very happy to receive them and that they have a tournament in a few days to try them out.  Many, many thanks to One World Futbol!  Check them out at www.oneworldfutbol.com.
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School uniforms donated

 Dennis Uniform in Nashville, Tennessee, donated several suitcases full of school uniforms for both boys and girls.  The girls loved their plaid skirts and jumpers so much that they asked if the official school uniform could be changed.  Thanks so much, Dennis Uniform!

August 2013 visit

Gerda:  A group of 11 of us returned August 12 from a successful and productive trip to Kisima Child Care Academy with a renewed sense of the value and importance of caring for and educating these deserving children.  The group included two old friends of mine, two doctors from San Francisco and their daughters, 11 and 13, two people from our church (Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Loudon, Tennessee), and my grandson, 12.  The focus of the group was the medical clinic.  Although the doctors were pleased by the overall good health of the children, they did see some serious problems, prominent among which was a fast-moving infection in a seven-year-old boy’s leg.  Had the doctors not operated the best scenario would have been that he never would have been able to straighten his leg; the worst would have been loss of his leg or his life.  What a blessing our timely arrival was.

The rest of us sorted and passed out clothing, did lots of crafts and lessons with the kids, worked with computers, and did what we could to support the medical team.  I brought a young friend of mine with us, a soccer player from Nairobi, to coach the soccer team and he was a huge help in all the activities.  He even preached a sermon at the Sunday service. The kids who came were a huge help also.  You can get a better idea of the activities by checking out the photo album--link on right to August 2013 Visit.

Summer fun - June 2013 !

 The students and visitors had an awesome time playing with the new jump ropes and balls in their free time.

Many students received new sweaters to ward off the chill of the coming Winter.

Laptop training was very popular !

 EVERYONE loved having heir photos taken.  

  

Postings from Bonnie

From now on you'll also be hearing from Bonnie Lefbom who led the trip last month and who is President of For the Kids International, our newly formed nonprofit in support of Kisima.  Welcome to Bonnie!

Henry's blog and photos

Henry Edwards did a wonderful blog of the JCPC visit complete with lots of photos.  He also created a photo album.  The links for both are at the right.  Take a look!

JCPC visit

The group from John Calvin Presbyterian Church just finished a very successful and productive visit at Kisima.  Looking forward to hearing details from them when they return.

Our own foundation!

We’re very happy to announce that we've formed a nonprofit organization to handle the contributions for Kisima Academy.  Bright Star Foundation very kindly took us under their wing but it’s now time to go on our own.  The name of the new organization is For the Kids International, Inc. and the website is www.forthekidsintl.org.  Your donations can now go to the address above.  As before be assured that 100% of your contributions will go directly to benefit the children of Kisima.

More solar; roof water catchment

The children are very happy about two wonderful improvements:  solar lighting was expanded to the dining hall and two more classrooms and a roof water catchment  system was installed.  You can see the huge water tank at the back left.  The hand dug well became inadequate to supply the needs of the increased number of children.  Both these improvements were largely a result of a grant from the Rotary Club of Vienna, Virginia.  Huge thanks to them!

 Big excitement at Kisima.  The boys' soccer team won their first match!  Dan Agalomba (last photo) scored the winning goal.  The girls' team tied their match.  They've all worked very hard.

Meeting with the Ambassador!

We had a good meeting with the Kenyan Ambassador, Elkanah Odembo.  He's in the middle and Sheila Wairimu Muthemba, his public relations officer, is on the left.  Our group was Denise, Bonnie, me, Nancy, and John.

Water supply, crop failure, solar

 

There are now 125 orphans and 125 community children from very poor families at Kisima.  The water supply from the hand-dug well is not adequate for the increased number of children.  There are regulations governing the digging of bore holes for water and research is being done to see if one is possible.  In the meantime roof catchment and a big water tank are augmenting the supply from the present well.  Many thanks to the Rotary Club of Vienna, Virginia, who donated a large portion of the money for this project and also for upgraded solar power.  Currently if the computers are charged there isn't enough power for lighting at night.

Crops were planted a few weeks ago.  The maize in two of the fields failed (right) hereby the maize in other fields germinated well (below).  It's too late to plant more maize so sorghum will be planted among the few stalks that did germinate.   

NAU visit

 A group from the School of Education at Northern Arizona University just completed a very successful visit to Kisima.  They taught some classes and worked with the teachers on lesson plans and teaching strategies.  They also bought some much-needed textbooks (seen in the photo below) and supplies.

necklaces

.  .Have a heart for Kisima!  The hearts are made at Kazuri, a workshop for disadvantaged women in Nairobi.  They train, pay a living wage, and provide medical and child care to the women who work there.  I buy the hearts and make them into necklaces.  All the proceeds go to Kisima.  So their sale benefits both Kazuri and  Kisima!  They are $20.  If you would like one email me at kisimakids@gmail.com.

Multipurpose hall

And here's the hall with the entire school in attendance.

This and that

The kids are enjoying the new dining/assembly hall.  Only the 123 orphans are in the photo.  When the 120 community children are there also it's a full house.

This is one spiffy set of latrines!  There are three latrines on the opposite side as well making a total of 14 in all.  Five years ago there was one.

 Victor, Nickson, Dennis, Kevin, and Irene are happily sporting new uniforms.

It looks like these boys are having a good time washing their uniforms.

Soccer boots complete the uniform!

 

The kids are so excited now that the soccer boots have arrived to complete their uniforms!

New uniforms

The sports teams have uniforms thanks to two caring and considerate boys who wanted to share their Christmas with the children of Kisima.  Thanks, Kendrick and Garrett!  Shoes have been ordered and will arrive next week to complete their outfitting.