Mikoroshoni News – May 2017

February to May 2017

Visits

In February 2017 Evelyn Lyall, one of our Edinburgh Trustees went out to Mombasa for four weeks. Evelyn stayed in a compound near to school and so was able to walk to Mikoroshoni on her many visits while she was there.

Evelyn took lots of craft activities with her such as jigsaws and finger puppets. We take it for granted that the children know what to do with these things but they don’t! They had never seen a jigsaw before and took some time to realise the pieces made a picture and only fitted together a certain way. But what they lacked in experience they made up for with great enthusiasm. There is talk about introducing more practical activities in schools as it has been recognised that not all children are academic and can shine in other directions.

Evelyn also accompanied KG3 children on a trip to Ngutatu (Three Mountains), a small nature reserve where the children could see antelopes and giraffes.

In March/April John Brooker, one of our Middleton Trustees spent two weeks in Mombasa. His main task was to have many meetings with Headteacher Joshua and Deputy Oscar, to discuss the running of the school and the financial challenges facing the Trustees.

When John arrived everyone was waiting for the rains to come. In the north of Kenya near the border with Somalia, children and adults are starving. In the rest of Kenya there is a serious shortage of food and consequently prices of the basic foods have risen. Beans are now £13 more per 90kg bag- we use 3 every month, and maize is now £11 per 90kg bag more – we use 3 bags every month. Also the exchange rate of Kenya shillings to the pound has fallen by 20% during the past year.

At the meeting for the parents they did want to say a big thank you to all our supporters who help to feed and educate their children. Without Mikoroshoni most of their children would have no education at all.

Chess

The Mikoroshoni Chess Club is still going strong, overseen by teacher Janet Umazi. Ten of our pupils took part in an International Chess Tournament in Mombasa. They each played seven games. One boy won four of his games and all of them won at least one game. Quite an achievement as a few years ago the children had never even heard of Chess!

New KG1

The new KG1 class has settled in to their school routine although some still find it difficult to keep awake! They all look very smart in their new school uniforms which were very kindly provided by ‘The Crafty Lot There’, a group of 30 ladies in Stoke who make and sell their crafts to raise money.

Funding

Trustee Dennis Mwakulua, a Kenyan who has lived in London for many years, visited school earlier this year. It is through Dennis that we received 3 years food sponsorship from Eversheds International Lawyers Charitable Trust.

Another large donation came from Bolton Le Moors Rotary Club which will be used for the general running and upkeep of the school.

Another of our supporters, Stuart Healey from the Middleton Foot Clinic did a sponsored 100Km walk in the Forest of Bowland.

So a big THANK YOU to all these supporters and the many more who support us. Whether it is a large or small donation it is very much appreciated and when the hundreds of donations are put together we can give almost 300 children in Shanzu a Primary Education.

We started the newsletter with drought but now there are floods!

We have recently read that in parts of Mombasa torrential rain has come and has brought floods to two areas not far from Shanzu. People have been made homeless and help has been offered in some church buildings.

Many people in Kenya have a very hard life!