Kenya School

Before 2008 the school was of mud wall construction, situated on some privately owned land over a mile from the main road from Eldoret. At that time there were approximately 45 pupils and 3 teachers.

By 2008 the school had relocated nearer to the main road, and was sited on land belonging to a branch of the organisation known as Christian Outreach. Again, the school was of mud wall construction, but with three classrooms and over 200 children from the mainly poor rural community around Hawaii.

By 2010 Step-Changers International had been able to replace this structure with a five-classroom corrugated iron structure. Further classes were held in the church hall as by this time pupil numbers were over 250. Becasue of its size, the school had come to the attention of the local authority. It required registration and was indeed registered as Step-Changers Academy! Twelve teaching staff were now required along with 3 non-teaching posts.

The charity was able to provide for the construction of a brick-built administration block and one classroom in 2016/7, and the mud-hut kitchen was replaced with a brick construction with dining room in 2019.

In the eleven years since the corrugated iron classrooms were built, they have gradually deteriorated, needing constant weather-proofing and are especially prone to flooding. The concrete floors are disintegrating and further improvements are now required to comply with the local authority standards.

The simple desks and chairs have proved inadequate to satisfy covid requirements, the school has very little by way of resources, including no library. Despite this the school has achieved high standards of education. Some pupils have secured help to progress to higher education and whilst staff are on meagre salaries and therefore the school does not attract well qualified staff, some staff have been enabled to go on to secure higher qualifications, being able to look back to the school as a stepping stone in their own careers.

As well as providing funds to pay for staff salaries each month, the charity enables the school to provide one meal a day for all pupils.

Currently £1500 per month is required to pay staff, provide minimal food and educational resources. Some parents are able to help with occasional small financial gifts or contributions in kind.

There is now an urgent need to replace the corrugated classrooms with a more robust construction. A two-storey, eight classroom construction is being considered. This is estimated to cost about £200,000.

These pictures illustrate the current situation in the corrugated iron classrooms.

In 2023 pressure was mounting, particularly from the local education authority, to have the current classrooms effectively repaired, or preferably replaced. The £200k was not forthcoming. The school director looked around and came up with a cheaper solution: to initially construct a block of six classrooms with proper concrete foundations in order to prevent flooding and provide a floor surface, construct walls of brick approximately to half the required height, and finish off with better quality corrugated iron walls and roof. Also providing electricity for lighting etc. This work amounted to £20k which was donated by a U.K. supporter. The old classrooms were demolished during the December break, and pupils began using the new classrooms in January 2024.

It is hoped that a further six classrooms of similar or better construction can be built in 2024/5, as it is the ambition of the school to provide a facility which will enable pupils to proceed to the first stage of secondary education. At present only a few pupils proceed to secondary education as the provision is much further away from their homes and so costly in terms of transport and other expenses. A local provision would give all the pupils the option to stay on into at least the first stage of secondary education. This would inevitably require more funding for additional staff and therefore increase the need for more regular donors. The school continues to provide a high standard of education, reflected in the annual examination results. Thus, providing better life prospects for the local children, including those who continue to come from a life of begging or living on the streets of Eldoret.