We hope you and your family are all keeping well.
Everything continues to go well at Mikoroshoni with the teachers and the pupils all working hard. The normal school day is 7.00am to 4.00pm but for those pupils who are preparing for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams (KCPE), they are starting at 6.00am and finishing at 6.00pm each day.
For the past 2 years, 2021 and 2022 the school year in Kenya has been condensed into 4 terms with shorter holidays, instead of the usual 3 terms. This is so that the pupils can make up for the lost 2 terms in 2020 because of Covid.
Evelyn and John, Trustees from Edinburgh visited Mombasa for 3 weeks in April this year and spent a considerable amount of time at the school.
As always it was a pleasure for Evelyn and John to see the joy and positivity radiate from the children and especially from the new children who have just started in the Pre Primary 1 class. Evelyn and John have reported that just as with everything around the world, the costs of food is rising rapidly. They have seen how essential it is for all the children at Mikoroshoni to receive their free meal each day. The families living in poverty in Kenya are finding it harder and harder to be able to buy food for even one meal a day.
Evelyn and John had the most unfortunate incident during their visit in May, when 2 laptops that were kindly donated for Joshua’s use and Evelyn’s purse were stolen from Joshua’s office. Whoever stole them entered the school unseen and made off with the items and no trace of them was found even though the incident was reported to the police out there. Not only was this very upsetting for Evelyn and John it also meant that the workload relief Joshua would have got from other teachers using the extra laptops was no longer available. If anyone is aware of a redundant laptop that could be utilised for the school’s use, please get in touch.
Evelyn and John were able to see first hand the difficulties faced by our Headteacher, Joshua in trying to recruit teachers to replace 2 teachers who have left in the past 12 months. Deputy Headteacher, Ocsar and another excellent teacher, Kulthum both obtained much sort after posts in Government Schools where salaries are double those we can afford to pay. Joshua has managed to make one appointment but has had problems making a second appointment simply because the level of salaries we are able to pay is lower than elsewhere. A new Deputy Headteacher was appointed from within the existing staff.
The loyalty of our Headteacher Joshua needs to be mentioned simply because with the qualifications he has gained since being at Mikoroshoni, it would easily enable him to obtain a post in a Government School. Joshua tells us that he has stayed loyal and will always remain loyal to Mikoroshoni because of all the opportunities that he has been given. Without his dedication to the education at Mikoroshoni the school would never have been where it is today.
Mikoroshoni Primary School has been in existence for 26 years and the ‘new building’ was constructed in 2005. However, buildings in Kenya deteriorate much quicker than in the UK which is caused by the very hot, dry and humid conditions. Over the past 12 months we have had several maintenance issues which have been expensive but necessary to repair.
Our charity, ‘The Friends of Mikoroshoni Primary School’ is possibly unique in Kenya because our charity owns the land and buildings on both sites. The main school stands on the original site and the playground, the school kitchen and one classroom are on the other site which is about 100m away. Consequently our charity is fully responsible for all the expenses of running the school.
Mikorsohoni Primary School is fully registered as a Private School in Kenya.
From very humble conditions 26 years ago, Mikoroshoni Primary School has become extremely successful in being able to offer a high quality and vital free education to hundreds of children from the very poorest families in the poverty stricken community of Shanzu. None of this would have been possible without the fantastic support the Trustees have received from many individuals, and all the many groups and organisations. This great support has enabled Mikoroshoni to have a wonderful school building, to be able to provide a daily meal to all the children.
The restrictions caused by the Covid Virus throughout 2020 and into 2021 prevented the Trustees from organising events etc to raise money for Mikoroshoni. Thankfully during this very difficult period our regular supporters continued to donate and that has been so vital. We are always needing new sponsors and as we have leaflets promoting Mikoroshoni we would politely ask if any of our sponsors and friends would consider giving out the Mikoroshoni Leaflets to family members, friends, work colleagues or anyone who may be interested in supporting the children at Mikoroshoni. If you would like to have some leaflets please let us know how many you would like and we will post them to you.
Our many thanks to everyone for your continued support.