School in Siruti update
Thank you so much to all of you who responded generously to this appeal. You have already made a fantastic difference! We want to bring you up-to-date with what has happened, and what your donations have enabled.
THE STORY SO FAR:
A school founded by SPT in 2011, St. Mark’s Academy, recently hit challenges that meant it was facing closure.
The school is located in Migori county, a very poor area in south-west Kenya, and was set up to provide for orphans of HIV/Aids. They had been running successfully on the basis that fees were paid by children whose parents could afford to pay, which subsidised the education of orphans and poorer students.
RECENT CHALLENGES:
In October 2019 we learnt that the Kenyan government is enforcing new regulations on all schools, requiring a major improvement in the standard of buildings. The intention to improve standards is positive but the problem is that many schools do not have the finances to implement the required improvements. St Mark’s had the additional challenge that it operates on rented land and the landladies who own the land had doubled the rent.
As the existing site was no longer sustainable, it made sense for the management to find an alternative site and to relocate the school. Gordon Sum, the principal of St. Mark’s, succeeded in doing this and with support from SPT he bought a site for £3000, situated 3 miles outside Awendo towards Siruti. It therefore has the potential to attract children from the nearby LingLing Academy (another school founded by SPT) should that prove unable to continue – as well as to continue to serve its existing pupils. The plan is to build a new school with 8 classrooms.
ST PAUL’S CHURCH, CAMBRIDGE, RESPONSE:
At a morning service at St Paul’s Church, Cambridge in November 2019, LingLing and Richard (SPT trustees) shared this exciting plan and appealed for money to support the building of the school. We were overwhelmed by the response. Members of the congregation gave £2500 within a few days. Boosted by a similar amount raised by LingLing from her friends and a grant from the general SPT fund, we were able to send £5700 to Gordon Sum by mid-December. He and his colleagues dedicated the plot of land to God, started construction and had six classrooms ready to be used by the time the new school term started in early January. We give thanks to God and to you for this generous response and this speedy action.
THE NEED FOR TOILETS:
An essential facility still needed to be built however - toilets. In faith and aware of their necessity, Gordon Sum started the construction of a toilet block for the school, without having all the funds in place.
Thankfully in February 2020, SPT was able to respond to the school’s pressing need, and donate a further £750 to cover the cost of the 6 new toilets. This was raised by several generous donors so we want to thank you all!
There are still hopes to build two more classrooms, but at least now basic sanitation is in place for both students and teachers.
The new toilet block
Inside one of the new classrooms at the Siruti site
The six new classrooms