Over the last few days, our main project has been to visit as many of the children in their homes as possible. This is useful in lots of different ways; firstly if they have already received a donation from us (many have received mosquito nets in the past), we can make sure that the family still have it and are using it rather than saving it for best; as well as taking some photos for you back home to see where your money has gone. Also, it gives us a really good insight into each child’s situation and how we can best go about helping them. It also invariably enables us to identify the families who are most in need of support and we have met some families who are really struggling in their daily life. We have so far visited families with children at Victory Academy Kindergarten (kids aged 18months to 7years), Royal Academy Primary School (kids aged 18months to 13 years) and Rescue Foundation Mtomondoni (kids aged 18months to 15years).

One family we met today have a child named Munera who attends Royal Academy. She is currently living with her mother and two siblings, one of whom is severely disabled. In the same room live her aunt and her aunt’s two children as well has her grandparents. In total the family are nine and the room is roughly 2 by 3 metres.

At Rescue Foundation, we met children who are walking around 3km each way to school every day, without any shoes and at Victory we met many children who are orphans or from single parent families.

This is just a sample of the visits we have undertaken over the last few days, there are many more just like them.

After all the visits are complete, we will have the task of selecting families to receive the food parcels and mosquito nets which you have donated over the Christmas period. These will make a huge difference, so thank-you for your support.

On Monday we will be visiting children from New Life School in Mtomondoni, many of whom have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Keep checking the site for updates on everything we are up to.

Thanks

Amy

One of the biggest achievements of the trip so far was the books distribution. Some of the books collected from each participating school in England were carried to Kenya and handed out to schools with very limited resources in Kenya. Each school received between 90 and 100 books, which were age appropriate for the children there.

The kids were so excited even to be holding the books for the photographs, and just kept staring at them! One of the teachers at a kindergarten school was telling me that since receiving the books they have begun a daily reading session and at the end of the hour they have to practically wrench the books out of the children's hands. It is so lovely to see them using the books and enjoying them so much.

As time goes by I am hopeful that reading will become an important part of the school day for children at these schools, we will be doing lots of follow up work to keep you up to date with what is going on.

Enjoy the pictures!

Hello! I wanted to give you an update on the new 'Bring a Book' scheme we are launching. Read on to find out more about how your school could get involved.

The new ‘Bring a Book’ scheme will encourage children in schools here in the UK to bring in an old or unwanted book that they no longer need, which will then be taken out to a school in Kenya where the children just don’t have access to a wide range or literature in the same way we do. We all know the huge social, emotional and education benefits books bring, and I am really excited to launch a new project helping children in Kenya to use and develop their knowledge and experience of reading!

To launch the project I would love the opportunity to visit UK schools and work with the children. We have a ‘Introduction to Kenya’ pack for schools which includes loads of exciting, fun and hands-on activities such as learning some basic Swahili and some Swahili songs, trying out Kenyan musical instruments, investigating the culture and traditional clothing of some of the tribes in Kenya and perhaps even having a go at some Kenyan cookery! I find that this is a great way for the children to get interested in and learn about Kenya, the culture, language and way of life as well as some of the challenges people face in their daily lives in a fun, engaging and accessible way. Working with Milele can also be extremely beneficial for the school, helping them to increase their cross-cultural diversity. One of the groups we have worked with before said:

"The things we have done with Milele are really lovely, the children enjoy them and at the last Ofstead inspection they pretty much single-handedly got us an 'outstanding' rating in the area of cultural diversity!"

I am happy to work with small groups over a longer period of time, or to do a combination of assembly and small group work, whatever works best for the school. The activities can also be easily adapted to suit different ages, from nursery school to college. I do not charge anything to come in and work with the children – I would just like the opportunity to engage with the school and see if any of the children or staff would like to get involved with the ‘Bring a Book’ scheme or any of our many other projects in Kenya. The fact that we are such a small, grassroots charity really gives the chance for the children and staff to get to know the children we work with and to be as hands on as they would like!

If you are reading this blog and you are a teacher or member of staff at a children’s setting please do not hesitate to get in touch with me on 07950329398 or by email at amy@milele.org.uk. I would absolutely love to hear from you! You can also find out more about Milele on our website www.milele.org.uk

Amy