Hi All, The KCPEs are the set of examinations which are taken by every student in Kenya once they get to the end of primary school.  Despite 'only' being the end of primary school exams they are a very big deal in Kenya and can make a huge difference to the trajectory of a child's life. The KCPE result is used to decide which level of secondary schools you will have access to (National, Provincial or District) and which specific schools will offer you a place!

This is obviously a huge amount of stress in a child's life but we are pleased to say that Mtwapa Elite (where most of our children attend primary school) seem to get the balance right between encouraging the children to get good grades and not piling on too much pressure. They are able to do this by treating each child as an individual and setting achievable goals which stretch the child a little but give them a realistic target which they can work towards. If you ask any child in Standard 8 at Mtwapa Elite, they will be able to tell you what their target result is and how they plan to achieve that result - usually by ensuing that they score highly in the subjects in which they excel and being pragmatic about those where they struggle.

At the end of 2017 both Thomas and Emmanuel took their KCPE exams and completed their time at Mtwapa Elite. Both of the boys did incredibly well scoring well over 70% across all subjects and being given places at prestigious Provincial level schools.

Emmanuel is staying within coast province and has taken up a place at Emmanuel Kai's old secondary school - Malindi High School. Thomas has opted to move across to the other side of Kenya and attend Orero High School, another well respected provincial level school.

Thomas on his first day at his new school

We are obviously very proud of them both and I hope you'll join me in wishing them the best of luck at their new schools.

Richard

Hello All, Thanks to all the fantastic hardwork of people helping us to fundraise, we have managed to raise the funds needed to take on another child to the Milele Sponsorship Programme!

Emmanuel is around 16 years old, and is now attending secondary school. Ordinarially Milele sponsors young children beginning at their primary education, however we made an exception here for an exceptional boy.

Over the last two years we have worked with Emmanuel at his primary school, with Rich in particular developing a great relationship with Emmanuel after teaching some maths lessons at the school. Emmanuel would arrive before everyone else in the morning, and leave after them at night. He came to study on weekends and holidays, even when the school was officially closed! He repeatedly asked Rich to set him extra homework questions after he had completed the entire textbook worth of practice questions!!

Despite being exceptionally hardworking, Emmanuel and his family had some very bad news recently. After loosing his two year old sister in a fire accident, his mother was also diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Despite receiving treatment, she unfortunately passed away 3 weeks ago.

Emmanuel and his family value education above all else, and indeed his mother sacrificed the money saved for her operation in order to enable Emmanuel to attend secondary school and continue achieving. We feel it is crucial this does indeed happen.

Emmanuel is now sponsored as part of Milele, and we now need four new sponsors to support him!

Sponsorship costs £75 per year and allows us to provide Emmanuel with everything he needs for school including uniform, textbooks, school fees, exam fees as well as a daily school lunch. Not only this, Emmanuel will also receive heathcare through Milele.

We need four individuals, couples, families or organisations to sponsor Emmanuel. These sponsors will have the opportunity to write to him, and recieve letters back.

If you think you might be able to assist us in providing this young man with everything he needs to take control of his life and begin following his dreams of becoming a pilot or a lawyer, please please do get in touch with us at info@milele.org.uk. Feel free to give us a call for a chat or to ask any questions on 07950329398, or check out the sponsorship section of our website under 'Get Involved'

Thank-you!