On Saturday we distributed lots of clothes and shoes to the children at Royal Academy, their brothers and sisters and some of the local children in the area. We managed to give out to at least 100 children over the day, many of whom had very few clothes and were dressed just in rags or cloth tied around them. They were so excited to receive them and I hope you will enjoy looking at these photos just as much – see if you can spot your donation!

When we went back to Royal the following day to hand out some of the food parcels and saw so many of the clothes being worn in the village - it was really lovely! Clearly they are favourite items already!

Thanks once again to everyone who has donated something!

One of the first things we have done on this trip so far has been to see quite a bit of our eldest sponsored child – Emmanuel Kai. Since he is now attending Malindi High School some distance away, we rarely enjoy the opportunity to spend much time with him and his family. However, the school term has only just started over here after the Christmas break, so we have had a few days before he returns to Malindi.

We have been able to visit his home, where he lives with his father and a very large extended family. Part of Emmanuel’s family tribal traditions include building your own house when you reach the age of sixteen, so Emmanuel, now 19 years old, has build his on his father’s land. He was rightly so proud to show us around the farm and to welcome us into his house, preparing tea for us there (another happy tradition when receiving visitors!)

We have also discussed his future plans in much more detail, putting into place an idea for his career after finishing secondary school. First he would like to complete a computing course, to familiarise himself with IT. Then he would like to go to university to study law. Emmanuel has ambitions of becoming a human rights lawyer. In his own words, he would like to make sure that everyone has the chance to get their own rights and to have a fair chance. All I can say is how proud I am of what an intelligent, sensitive and mature young man he has become and how pleased I am that this intelligence will now not be wasted. He has every chance of going on to be a lawyer – thanks to your sponsorship and I have every faith he will be an excellent one – besides, with his posh new office shoes how could he fail?!

Keep checking the site for details of our next few days  as the school term begins and we admit a new child to the sponsorship programme.

Emmanuel Kai in the house he built with his smart new office shoes for a lawyer!

Hi again,

Whilst here we have visited the Mbazi project, giving out some of the smaller girls clothes and shoes as well as the remaining mosquito nets. The children were really excited to see us and we were pleased to see lots of familiar faces since the last time we were here.

Billy has also been working on this project teaching some basic maths and social studies to a small group of children, and is clearly a firm favourite, happy to co-ordinate regular games of football!!

Despite unfortunately loosing a member of their team to a heart attack a couple of months ago, the group have managed to make some progress with the building, having secured the first classroom and begun to make a blackboard for it, and started a second classroom. A large area has also been cleared of the long grass and weeds to make space for a playground for the children.

Once again, enjoy the pictures!

Hi Everyone,

We have spent a bit more time at the Bethel project during our visit this time, and have been really pleased to see them under the care of their founder Elizabeth blossoming into a fantastically successful school providing quality education to many of the areas poorest families.

Bethel now have 85 children who attend regularly in the babyclass, kindergartens 1, 2 and 3.

For the youngest children, Bethel provides the opportunity for parents to go out and find work during the day, meaning they can try to put food on the table at home.Before Bethel, this service was normally very expensive, making it unaccessible to the parents who need to use it most. Elizabeth's solution is to run the care scheme herself, and ask for only 100 shillings (around 80p) contribution per child per month, a sum which is achievable when paid in very small installments throughout the year.

For those in the kindergarten classes the school is providing an invaluable foundation before they enter the government school system. They are acheiving among the highest nursery school marks in the area, a huge achievement for an essentially free community school. This preparation for school will mean children from Bethel have the best possible chance of absorbing as much information as possible within the government school environment.

Upon joining the government school, Elizabeth still provides support for the children who have outgrown the programme, through after school hours tuition at the project.

Our volunteer, Billy, has spent a lot of time there and has really enjoyed working with the project. Elizabeth said that at first the parents were doubtful that their children would understand Billy's english accent, but dramatically changed their minds after seeing Billy's class achieiving the highest positions in the area in their entry to government school assessment! Billy is now considered a real part of the team at Bethel, he will be sorely missed when his time in Kenya draws to a close in January.

During our trip here we have been able to give out some of your donated clothes and shoes at to the children attending the Bethel project, and thanks to a donation from Micheal Wright have managed to buy 100 exercise books; 109 pencils; 10 sharpeners and 200 peices of chalk for use in the school, as well as some additional mosquito nets for the youngest babies!

We hope you enjoy the photos!

Amy and Rich