Our newest trustee, Clare Jones, will be visiting Kenya later this month to meet with out locally-based partners and see the work that Kipawa has been funding this year. This will be Clare's first visit to Mukuya School and to Kenya and she is very excited to experience for herself the important work Kipawa is doing there. 

Once again, our good friend, Lindsay Given, has been collecting good quality, used, children's shoes in Richmond, Surrey and we are delighted to be taking over 300 pairs with us this year! We have also asked what other gifts we might take with us and have been told that reading books, sports and art materials and clothes for the children would be much appreciated. So, we've set up a Virgin Money Giving page specifically for this, and any donation you can make, however small or large, will be spent in Kenya to provide some of these useful supplies on our trip.

The link the the donation page is below. Please contact us if you would like any more information about this trip. And watch this space for updates, photos and news from the visit.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=kipawavisittokenya&isTeam=true

Kipawa founder and trustee Kirsty Welsh describes her recent visit to Mukuya school to see first hand how our donor's money is helping the children of Riuru:

"After a pretty hectic run up to our trip, my brother and I were dropped off at Edinburgh Airport at 4.30am with 150kg of bags full of all the donations and supplies so generously provided by Kipawa donors. A friend had arranged for KLM to give us extra baggage allowance but we exceeded even that!

After a brief stop in Amsterdam and an 8 hour flight we arrived in Nairobi at 9pm to a remarkably organised Kenyatta airport considering the summer fire had impacted most of the airport. Maaike and Chenge from Macheo had kindly come to collect us and before long we were on our way to Thika. After a good night’s sleep we set off for Mukuya School accompanied by the Macheo team, Maaike and Faith, who told us that the school were very excited about our visit and likened it to Christmas – I’m not sure we were going to live up to this expectation! As we drove along the dirt road to the school I was surprisingly emotional returning to Mukuya, as the school we talk about so much came into view.

We met with Mr Peter the Headmaster in his office and discussed the good progress that’s been made, before beginning our visit by checking in on the nursery classroom block which we funded the refurbishment of earlier in the year. By any Kenyan standards this is now a bright, lively classroom full of kids sitting at their tables keen to learn and play. I had been shocked to see young kids trying to play and learn in rooms with piles of rubble and crumbling walls so it was great to see such a transformation. We also gave out some of the smaller shoes that were generously donated by folks from Broomfield House and Marshgate Primary schools in Surrey, Lilypad Retail in Biggar and others.

It was great to meet Margaret, the new social worker funded by Kipawa, and Karen, our counsellor, and talk to them first hand to understand what they do day-to-day. When they showed us into a small, dark, bare room, which had been a storeroom, furnished with 2 plastic chairs, they told us how grateful they were to have a space to work in. The thought of Karen counselling vulnerable kids in this space immediately showed us that whilst we had made progress this year there is lots still to do and we must make sure that in 2014 there is a safe, warm, light place for the kids to go for counselling and support. A lot of the classrooms aren’t in much better shape with crumbling floors, no windows and 4 or 5 kids sharing a 2 person desk while trying to study for end of year exams. 

We briefly popped our heads into each classroom to say hi and were greeted warmly; again it was particularly nice to see both Class 4s in a much better environment than before, in their newly renovated classrooms. 

In true Kenyan style, the school had planned a presentation for us and as we walked out towards the garden in the middle of the school the 600 kids started singing. No matter how many times I experience this I don’t think it will stop taking my breath away as we were led to sit at the front with the headmaster. After the children had sung some songs and made some lovely speeches about how grateful they were for Kipawa’s support we presented a few of them with gifts for the school – books, stationery and sports equipment. One pair of football boots went to a boy who had had a poor attendance record at school. Since involving him in the school football team he has turned into a great role model with perfect attendance and is encouraging his friends to do the same. This has also sparked an idea that we can use sports and other activities to incentivise the children to attend school and inspire them to do well. Following the presentation it was great to see all the kids line up and enjoy their lunch, after all that’s the foundation of what we do – the feeding programme is what brings the children to school and allows us and the school to really start helping them.

As we were leaving, Margaret introduced us to Morgan, a boy in the nursery class who she had tracked down after he had stopped attending school due to ill health. After his parents separated, Morgan's mother could not afford to take him for ongoing treatment. Thanks to Margaret’s support, he has now resumed treatment and is being referred to Kenyatta National Hospital for an operation in January. Whilst the family still faces a lot of problems, at least we have been able to ensure he accesses the treatment he needs and is restored to good health. In 2014 we hope to fund Margaret to go beyond the school grounds and help pupils and vulnerable families by supporting them in whatever form that takes – accessing medical treatment, supporting parents or referring them to appropriate organisations.

We left Mukuya happy to see so much progress and full of new ideas and made the short trip to Ruiru Township Secondary School where five of Mukuya’s former pupils are now studying thanks to Kipawa sponsorship. After meeting with them and their teachers it’s clear that they value their education as it’s not something that they thought they would be able to carry on with. As we were interrupting the school day, we stayed for just a short visit but long enough to hear what our sponsorship means to them. We would love to help more children like these fulfil their potential by sponsoring them through secondary school.

My trips to Kenya will always give me a great perspective on our problems in the UK and make me more committed to supporting the children we work with in as many ways as I can. It certainly has given me the drive to undertake the next phase of planning and fundraising knowing its having so much impact." 

As you can see, the children of Mukuya School were very pleased to receive the shoes so generously donated by Kipawa supporters, and delivered when our trustee, Kirsty, visited this month.

Many thanks to Lilypad Retail for their very generous donation of new shoes and to Lindsay Given and Clare Thompson and the families of Marshgate Primary School and Broomfield House School for the fabulous collection of used shoes.

Every pair of shoes will help a child living in poverty in Ruiru, saving their families money and making the walk to school so much easier.

A fuller report - and more photos - from Kirsty's visit to Kenya will follow soon!

Many of you donate not just money but clothes and shoes and toys for the children we meet. Particular thanks this time has to go to the incredible Lindsay Given, who collected over 100 pairs of shoes to give to children at the Macheo orphanage. 

Thanks too to Gill Thompson and our friends from Lloyds Bank who coordinated a collection of toys from friends and family in early November - two rucksacks full of teddy bears, dolls, cars and stationery were given out to nursery children at the Mukuya School on Friday 16th November. 

Thanks to all who donated