PLANT-A-BOOK INTERNATIONAL HELPS NAIROBI KIDS

Plant-a-Book International helps Nairobi Kids! This blog represents two registered nonprofit organizations, PAB and KKIN-UK, that provide support for the students at Galilee Primary School and Waddington High School, and children living in the Holly House orphanages in the slums of Nairobi Kenya. We are dedicated to lifting children from poverty through literacy and education. For more information, please visit PAB's website at www.plantabook.org.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Together We Can Make a Difference

Thanks to the efforts of our volunteer team, we were able to contact Moran Publishers and tell them about the work we are doing at Galilee Primary School and Waddington High School and their tremendous need to build up a library of books for the students.  Moran Publishers agreed to help and sent boxes of books to the school.  They arrived last week to some very happy students!  Many thanks to Moran for their generous donation.

Click to see larger version


If you would like to help make a difference please email info@nairobikids.org





Monday, May 23, 2011

Words From The Director

The schools opened for our second term on 3rd of this month. As this is the most crucial time in preparation for our KCSE  and KCPE  candidates  our teachers are in top gear at  shaping and doing all they can to ready them. In the next few weeks our KCSE candidates will be sitting for their mock exams.  We really want to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors who have been buying mathematics books, Maths table, maths sets and other textbooks.  When enough learning and teaching material are put in the hands of students and teachers it remarkably improves the probability of the students excelling in their National examination.

The opening of this term has been a moment of joy to so many of our students who have been given a gift of sponsorship by our sponsors. Those in this category received letters of sponsorship with a lot of joy and many promised to put in more efforts so that at the end of the High school course they are able to go to university and thus be able to change their lives and that of their families and communities.

Looking back  to the year 2002 when sponsorship started in our school  we have come  a long way and  we have continuously touched lives  and hope in the near future many families will be saying goodbye to poverty as their children join universities afterwards  get good jobs.

Thanks to Feed the Children International - they are in the process of constructing six latrines for our schools. As much as the latrines are not going to be enough for the number of children coming to our school it is a very good start we shall hopefully build on this.

Thank you everyone for all that you do, and continue to do.

FANUEL - School Director

Friday, May 20, 2011

Friday's Featured Student - Bright Student Seeks Caring Sponsor

Edina
Update - Edina has been sponsored!!!
Edina is 11 years old in class 3 and lives at Holly House. Her birthday is September 8th. Her dad is a teacher at Galilee Primary School and a Holly Heart (boys dorm) guardian. Edina's parents separated and her mother left town and her whereabouts are unknown. Edina is very bright and likes drawing and English class. Edina's sponsorship fees are only $15.00/month. Can you be her sponsor?

The children at Holly House orphanages are there because there is no where else for them to go. Most of them are orphans, or have only one parent who is unable to provide basic necessities for them. Some of them are displaced refugees, victims of war, drought, or post-election violence. Many of the children Fanuel, the school director, heard about and found them living on the streets and brought them to Holly House to live so they could receive an education and enhance the quality of their lives. Holly House orphanages are located on the campus with Galilee Primary School and Waddington High School. Coming here to live provides these children with hope in otherwise tragic lives.

Edina in 2006
This is what one of the sponsors who has traveled to Galilee had to say about Edina "I met her when she was just a tiny girl, and have since seen her a few times and she is just so sweet and so smart! "

Please email info@nairobikids.org today.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday's Featured Student - A Real Cutie

Vincent

Update - Vincent has found a sponsor!!
Vincent is 10 years old and in class 6. Not only does he have a smile that could light up the night, but he also is very smart. He came in 5th overall in his last exam scores. Vincent lives in the slums with his three siblings and his parents who are both employed. Won't you help Vincent continue to smile, by becoming his sponsor?

You can help Vincent leave the slums and change his future by becoming his monthly sponsor at $12.50 per month or sponsor him through our new SOS program.

Galilee Primary School Sponsorship
At $12.50/month covers a nutritious fruit breakfast, a basic school uniform, basic school supplies and a small stipend toward the school's operating costs. These sponsorships provide vital funding for the child's and school's needs. In return you will receive a photo and letters from your child each term, knowing that you are sending your child to school with fruit in their tummy and a nice uniform and supplies.

The Basic Program Sponsorship program (SOS)
While breakfast, uniform and school supplies are not included, these sponsorships provide an opportunity for children to exchange letters with their sponsors and provide a stipend toward the school's operating costs. What makes these sponsorships unique is that you can sponsor a child on this program for an annual donation to our "SOS (Solve Our Sanitation) Latrine Fund." (Note: future annual donation purposes will be determined according to the school's needs each year.) The school has received an opportunity to have six latrines built by Feed the Children, but the school must provide the land for the latrines to be built on. Consequently, approximately $4700 has to be raised very quickly to purchase the land. The School Director, therefore, has agreed to let ALL donations for Basic Program Sponsorships go completely to the latrine fund! 

By sponsoring a child through Nairobi Kids, you can help stop the cycle of poverty through education.

Please email info@nairobikids.org and learn how you can help.


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

SOS (Solve our Sanitation) Sponsorship Program

Meet the happy, grateful faces of children enrolled at Galilee Primary School! These children have so little but have dreams of completing their primary school education. Galilee Primary School has children from "Baby Class" through standard 8. Please scroll through the photos below and email us at info@nairobikids.org to tell us who you would like to sponsor!

We are pleased to announce the following changes to the Galilee Primary School sponsorship program AND a NEW Sponsorship Program opportunity!


Galilee Primary School Sponsorship fees are $12.50/month which now cover a nutritious fruit breakfast, a basic school uniform, basic school supplies and a small stipend toward the school's operating costs. These sponsorships provide vital funding for the child's and school's needs. In return you will receive a photo and letters from your child each term, knowing that you are sending your child to school with fruit in their tummy and a nice uniform and supplies.

NEW: Now we are offering a limited number of children on a Basic Program Sponsorship. While breakfast, uniform and school supplies are not included, these sponsorships provide an opportunity for children to exchange letters with their sponsors and provide a stipend toward the school's operating costs. What makes these sponsorships unique is that you can sponsor a child on this program for an annual donation to our "SOS (Solve Our Sanitation) Latrine Fund." (Note: future annual donation purposes will be determined according to the school's needs each year.) The school has received an opportunity to have six latrines built by Feed the Children, but the school must provide the land for the latrines to be built on. Consequently, approximately $4700 has to be raised very quickly to purchase the land. The School Director, therefore, has agreed to let ALL donations for Basic Program Sponsorships go completely to the latrine fund!
To participate in the SOS Sponsorship Program, choose a child from the list of adorable faces below and make a donation of at least $25, $35 or $50, whatever you are comfortable with. You can donate more if you like, knowing that the funds will go to purchasing the land for the latrines. For more information about the importance of new and improved latrines on the campus, please click here to visit our blog post.

The children listed below are available on either the Breakfast Program Sponsorship Program or the SOS Sponsorship Program.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of these children through sponsorship and through your donations!

Bravil

Meet Bravil - SOS2
Bravil is 9 years old in class 3. Bravil loves to read and one day hopes to become a doctor. He quite smart and scored 671 out of 700 on his last exams. Bravil lives with his parents 1km away from the school. His mother is unemployed and his father can only find casual jobs. His parents struggle to pay for his school fees, uniforms and basic school supplies. Won't you consider become his sponsor today to help him through the rest of education.
Wallace
Meet Wallace - SOS13
Adorable Wallace is 13 years old and in class 7. His birthday is Feb. 28th. Wallace's favorite subjects are math and Kiswahili and he dreams of becoming a engineer one day. Like most boys he loves to play football and read. Although living in the slums is not easy, Wallace managed to place 5th in his class on his last exams. He is a very hard working young man and even had this to say "I am working hard to pass well in my KCPE and go to high school next year." Wallace could use a caring sponsor to help encourage him to continue to try his best.

Victoria
Victoria is 11 years old and in class 6 at Galilee Primary School. Her birthday is June 18th. Victoria loves reading story books and one day she wants to be a lawyer. Both of her parents are jobless and struggle to pay for her schooling, yet she came in 4th overall in her class on the last exam. She loves school and even said "Our school is good and I love education." Won't you consider becoming the sponsor of this enthusiastic learner?


Dennis
Meet Dennis - SOS3
Dennis is 9 years old and in class 3. His birthday is the 24th of January. Dennis lives with both of his parents and two siblings in small single room house in Soweto slums. His parents struggle to pay for his school fees and supplies. Yet despite his hardships Dennis came in 12th overall in his last exams. Dennis has this to say about the school


Paul
Meet Paul - SOS7
Paul is 12 years old and in class 6. His birthday is Oct. 24th. Besides having a great smile, Paul wants to become a pilot someday. He also loves to eat to play football. Paul's favorite subjects are Science and Math and he scored 346 out of 500 on his last exams. Just imagine how big his smile is going to be when he hears he has found a sponsor.



Michael
Meet Michael - SOS6
Little Michael is 4 years old and in baby class. His birthday is Oct. 24th. Like most kids his age, he loves playing hide and seek with his 4 brothers and sisters. He is a very creative kid that loves school and even says he wants to be a teacher someday. Won't you be Michael's sponsor and help see this adorable little boy through his education?



Stephen
Meet Stephen - SOS8
Stephen is 12 years old and in class 7. His Birthday is Feb. 28th. Stephen lives with both of his parents who are unemployed. Stephen loves math and science one day he wants to be an engineer. Stephen scored 361 out of 500 on his last exams and came in 4th overall in his class. Perhaps with a caring sponsor Stephen can leave the slums and break the cycle of poverty.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Friday's Featured Student - A Hard Working Young Lady

Meet Winfred

Winfred (aged 14) is in form 1, her birthday is Feb 4th. She lives with her mother, father and two siblings in the Soweto slums. Her mother works hard to provide for her family by washing clothes for people and her father is unemployed. Winfred likes to read and would like to be a nurse one day. She scored 75 in Kiswahili and 84 in history, but only 8 in Maths. She would really benefit from someone writing to her offering encouragement. Winfred is still in need of a school uniform – a uniform is important in the slums because it offers an element of protection from `unwanted attention'.

Galilee Primary and Waddington High School offers the students a safe environment, with support, supervision and socialization. Here they learn life skills that can help them prevent diseases, like how to avoid HIV/AIDS and malaria in additional to a valuable education. It has also been found that educating a girls also dramatically reduces the chance her child will die before age five.
Unfortunately students who do not receive an education increases their vulnerability to abuse, exploitation and disease. Girls, more than boys, are at greater risk of such abuse when they are not in school. For the Kayole - Soweto slums, the schools also provides a safe haven for children, a place where they can find companionship, adult supervision, latrines, clean water, meals and health care.
Yet even these basics are beyond reach for hundreds of children in the slums of Kenya. These children are deprived of their right to education because their families cannot afford school fees or other related costs, or because they so poor the children have to work to help put food on the table.

Please consider becoming Winfred's sponsor today and help ensure she gets the education she badly needs to help end the cycle of poverty.


Monday, May 2, 2011

Run James Run


On May 22 2011, James will be running the Edinburgh Marathon to help raise money for new toilets at Galilee Primary and Waddington High School.


In order for the schools to remain open more toilets need to be built.  James knows how important the schools are to the children in the Kayole-Soweto slums.  Galilee Primary and Waddington High school are for some the only chance they have at an education and a chance to leave the slums for a better life.

Good luck James the students and supporters of Galilee Primary and Waddington High School are behind you all the way.

If you would like to donate go to James' Just Giving Page

Thank you!