(We’ve received this report from the Madaraka School in Kenya – £3000 which is money well spent by the sounds of it!- Well done to Hannah Headden and all those involved)
Madaraka Primary School was originally set up and run by Kenyan youth in order to offer free primary education to children from low-income families and more particularly orphans and vulnerable children within the area of Likoni, Mombasa.
After a local government primary school refused education to 20 orphaned children, several local youth aged from 23 to 27 took it upon themselves to open a local primary school to meet the educational needs of these children. Originally starting with these 20 children the school is now 150 strong.
The school runs a Child-Help-Child scheme where families who can pay fees are encouraged to do so whilst those who cannot go free. Whilst many children benefit from the schooling on offer, space is limited and there are very little resources.
Thanks to the help of Hazels Footprints Trust, a new classroom has been built. This has offered space to a growing community school as well as allowing children from different year groups to be separated appropriately. Perhaps an even more welcome addition for the pupils is the new child friend flooring which allows children to run around without the danger of twisting an ankle in the uneven dirt flooring which often turns to mud in the rainy seasons!
Hazels Footprints has also allowed the school to purchase some play and sports equipment for the first time. This means that they can now teach physical exercise and allows the children a lot of fun at break times! Fundamental to any schools success is being able to access books and stationary. Not only has there been a welcome addition to the school library the teachers have been delighted with the purchase of new syllabus tools and basic stationary needs.
Without Hazels Footprints Trust, Madaraka would have truly struggled this year with little space and hardly any materials. The school continues to grow and the new classroom and abundance of materials has been such a welcome for staff and pupils alike. THANK YOU HAZELS FOOTPRINTS!
