PROJECT-SUPPORT KENYA

Harambee e.V., Neusiedl, Austria

Country / Place

Kenya, Kilifi

Kenya is a country in East Africa. It borders South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast. The capital and largest city of the country is Nairobi.

Kilifi is a small town on the coast with about 15’000 inhabitants. At the same time, it is the largest town in Kilifi County, the poorest in Kenya.

General

The charity organisation for families enables children from the poorest backgrounds in Kenya to attend the school built by them (Kilifi Vonwald School). There are numerous classrooms in a total of 5 school buildings. In addition, there are two large dormitories for 120 children in each, three toilet buildings, a kitchen with dining hall, and an office building.

Harambee - this is a word from Kenya's national language, Swahili, and translates into "Let's make a difference together".

Beneficiaries

Over 600 pupils attend the Kilifi Vonwald School. The children receive two meals a day, and in the boarding school also an evening meal, and they are all provided with medical care. They receive the necessary books and school utensils. All running costs are financed by one or more European sponsors per child, who make school attendance possible at all.

The philosophy is not to produce unemployed people who can write and read. Therefore, the school has the best teachers, small classes (by Kenyan standards with class sizes usually up to 100 children), good books and school supplies. Due to the healthy meals, there are no hungry children sitting in the classes, which also has an impact on their learning performance. The children of the Secondary School live in the school during schooltime, and thus can fully concentrate on learning and living on site.

Project-support

Project Rainwater Harvesting
In Kilifi County there is extraordinarily little rainfall and there are areas where it has not rained for several years. Consequently, an economical and proactive use of water is urgently needed. In the future, it is planned to collect the rainwater in the school in an underground tank and use it later for gardening, toilets, and cleaning. A specialised company from Nairobi was commissioned to install the tank.    

Project Slope stabilisation after severe weather
A severe storm front has roared over East Africa and parts of Kenya. People who already had nothing have lost the last thing they had, the roof over their heads. To provide immediate emergency aid, the association is organising food, blankets, and warm clothing. Money is also being collected to build new huts where the old ones have simply been washed away.  At Kilifi Vonwald School, the slope urgently needs to be stabilised, i.e. a terrace needs to be built, and a drainage system installed, otherwise everything will slide down to the new multi-purpose hall.  

Project School books
It is particularly important to the organisation that all children have good schoolbooks. Unfortunately, this is not a matter of course in Kenyan schools, but it is absolutely necessary in order to learn sustainably and fulfil the requirements of the new curriculum. As the school in Tezo is new (built in 2024) and there are children in grade five there for the first time this year, new books are needed for this group. Additional schoolbooks also need to be purchased for the student of grade nine at Kilifi Vonwald School.