Ahead of the big 10th Anniversary Ball next Saturday Emily (one of Milele's wonderful trustees) thought it would be a nice idea to have a more informal event for sponsors to be able to meet up with Rieder and hear about how their sponsored children are getting on over in Kenya. So we hired Leire village hall, baked some cake and invited sponsors along to meet Rieder and get a sneak preview of the photo boards being prepared for the ball.

The event was a big success with lots of sponsors who are unable to make the ball getting to meet Rieder for the first time . Rieder was able to regale stories about the children and tell their sponsors just what a difference they are making. When he returns to Kenya he'll be able to tell the children how kind their sponsors are and how passionate they are about education.

It was wonderful to see Rieder come into his own whilst interacting with the sponsors during the event. His confidence has grown immensely over the course of his trip and he was also able to share with sponsors more about his role & responsibilities in Kenya, which enabled them to understand just how vital his role is to Milele.

We're now back into ball preparation mode and putting the finishing touches on what is set to be a great evening for all involved.

Don't forget to check out our star auction item and make sure to tell anyone you know who us going to Kenya (or nearby) before October 2019 as you can bit even if you're not there on the night.

See you on Saturday!

Hi All, As we approach Milele's 10th anniversary we have been thinking about what Milele has achieved so far and how we define success.

The most obvious measure of success is academic achievement. When the children sponsored by Milele get top grades in a school or university that they would not have been able to attend without sponsorship then we know that Milele is making a big difference in that child's life.  We are endlessly proud of the children sponsored by Milele and they consistently surpass our initial expectations but Milele is not an academic scholarship. We do not consider aptitude for education when children are sponsored so it seems unrealistic that every child will be top of their class in every subject.

The Milele mission statement talks about 'facilitating choice' and perhaps this is more what we are really aiming for. Enabling children to have some level of control over their lives and the ability to make real choices about what they want to do. For so many children across the world their path in life can seem predetermined, reliving their parent's struggles and perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

Milele Mission Statement

For the children on the Milele programme, we hope that they are able to see beyond their immediate situation and imagine themselves having alternative lives. When they are able to do this we feel that they will be able to make an informed decision about their future and make active choices about what they want to do in life. It is perfectly possible that they make the decision to continue living in the family village and work in the family trade but the important point is that they had alternative options and they chose that life.

As Emmanuel Kai approaches the end of his university degree he is starting to think about what he wants to do in life. Having lived in Nairobi for the past few years he may have got a taste for big city life and choose to stay living in Nairobi, or perhaps he will want to go and explore other cities across the world or maybe he will want to move back towards his family and use the skills he has learnt at university on a project closer to home. The point is that whatever he chooses to do he has been able to make an active choice about his life.

I'm proud of all of our children and know that by being part of Milele they are all exposed to more options in life and that the choice of where they go will be in their hands!

Richard

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

Thanks to a generous donation from the Dorothy Holmes Charitable Trust we have been able to start sponsoring a wonderful little girl called Riziki.

Rikizi is 8 years old and lives in Mtomondoni with her Mother and 2 siblings. They share their home with Riziki's grandmother and her 7 youngest children - which makes for a very busy home!

Riziki's mother works in a large factory near to Mtwapa where she is able to make a regular wage but as she is the sole earner in a household of 11 people it just doesn't stretch far enough. This means that as well as working 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week she spends her solitary 'day off' doing odd jobs to make a little extra money. In fact, Rieder first met Riziki's mother whilst she was doing washing for one of his neighbours.

Riziki has been attending school on and off since she was little but as money became more tight she was able to attended less and less which means she has fallen behind her peers. When we took her for her interview at Mtwapa Elite she was placed into KG2 which is usually for children around 5 years in age, but after just a week of school she is getting back into the swing of things and already starting to show her aptitude for mathematics. Her class teacher is giving her extra tuition whilst the younger children sleep and also after standard classes finish; this one on one tuition is really helping her to regain confidence and improve her performance.

Riziki is a very sweet little girl who is really enjoying the chance to go to school. In fact, she has taken to dropping in on Rieder on the way home from school just so she can show him what she has learnt during the day.

We are really excited to be sponsoring Riziki and can't wait to see what the future will hold for her!