Hello all Our most recent visit to the Mbazi group last week showed once again just how determined and motivated this group are. The small building which was the only classroom over easter has now been expanded to a much larger building with a high roof accomodating more children with lots of space. Their plans extend to a second classroom which is currently being constructed next to the first of equal size. The new facilities they have built also include a brand new toilet on site which is being well used by the children at the school and the feeding programme on a saturday.

Whilst we were there the first aid kit got lots of use, just as it always does at this project. Being next door to a quarry there are many stones and rocks in the area, meaning it is much too easy for children to trip, fall and cut themselves. This is a common problem in the area we work, and since many of the children cannot afford shoes small cuts can easily become very dangerous, especially at this time of year in the rainy season. The large pools of dirty water infect cuts and scrapes and with medical care out of reach for many of the families this can cause extremely serious problems for the children.

For this reason we had prioritised the shoes many of you had donated were crucial to take to this group as soon as possible. wellies especially came in very handy and lots of happy smiling kids were thrilled to receive shoes and clothes. Everyone who donated something which was handed out this time will receive photographs of their items specifically as well as a group photo in the post as soon as possible, so thankyou very much to all of you!

Enjoy the photos!

Hello everyone! We did a car boot at the A47 near hinckley this morning and managed to raise a whopping £150! Thanks to the kind people on the gate who let us in for free and the even kinder people who bought things from our stall or made a donation, it was a really lovely morning and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

We often receive lots of wonderful donations of clothes, books, toys or shoes and most of them find their way out to Kenya eventually, however the few which are too big, bulky, heavy or which are not quite fitting with the culture we keep stored up until we have enough things to do a car boot! The money we raise then goes directly back into the charity and helps another child to start school.

So thank-you so so so much to everyone who has donated items to us, and please dont stop! Everything is very gratefully received.

If you think you have anything to add to our horde or just met us at the car boot and want to get in touch please do leave a message on this news article, or send us an email to milele@live.co.uk

Amy and Rich

Hello everyone Yesterday we went to a neighbouring shanty town; Mtopanga to visit a school there which has been set up by the manager of the children's home in partnership with an english sponsor. The sponsor pays the rent and Mr Samwel and his brother George (the headteacher there) have employed teachers in training as volunteers. This obviously means that learning is FREE! The 50 or so students who attend the school are all from very humble backgrounds and would not otherwise get any form of education. It was an inspiring day and serves as a wonderful testiment to Mr Samwel and to others like him who are working tirelessly to improve the lives of the local children and give them opportunities to learn that they could not have previously thought possible. The equipment and facilities at the school are modest, but are growing all the time and i am confident it will prove to be an asset to the community for years to come.

When we first arrived we did lots of singing and jumping around with some of the very excited children from the school and have lots of lovely photos to post up here!

Whilst there at Mtopanga we also distributed some of the clothes which have been donated by everyone over there at home! You would not believe the excitement! Within half an hour of opening the cases we had a crowd of more than 50 children crowding around outside who had heard of what was happening and run to see if there would be any clothes for them.

As we left we handed out some balloons and soaps to the village children which was a huge success. We left happy in the knowledge that a few more children would be walking around Mtopanga fully clothed with shoes on their feet.

Thank-you so much to everyone who donated. Every item was so valuable and will be loved and well used for many years to come by the children we gave them to, as well as all their family, friends and neighbours.

All in all a conservative estimate comes to 168 different individual children who received clothes or shoes, not including the other children who were outside and received balloons and soaps, and there were at left 100 of them! Congratulations to everyone back home for making such a difference to so many childrens' lives!