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.