What are we doing at this difficult time?

Our school started during the civil war in 2015 and has managed to grow and develop throughout five years of war with your generous support.  Even at one point in 2016 when all other primary schools closed completely, we kept going.  I am very proud of that record.  The war is now officially over, but are we going to be beaten by Coronavirus?  I sincerely hope not.  We are determined to keep going, even though at the moment we have no way of teaching. 

Tailor cutting our school shirts.

Our teacher-in-training Mohammed has come back to Nimule with course-work and a project to carry out, under the supervision of his course tutors, who are in touch with him through Facebook.  As part of this, he has just started an agriculture project for a handful of our school children in our school compound.  Ten is the maximum number for any gathering according to the government so we are being very careful not go over this number.

In the first two weeks that our school has been on hold, I have typed up all our exam papers ready for the end of term.  It now seems likely that we will have to adjust so that the exams are held whenever we are finally allowed to go back to normal.

Our new kitchen

Uniforms have been made for those children without uniforms, but we cannot distribute them yet.  The new kitchen is ready, but nobody will be cooking in it for a while.

I have done a major clear-out of our school storeroom and it is now far more organized than previously.

Rather than sitting twiddling my thumbs and going slowly off my rocker, I am starting to do some ad-hoc teaching of the young children who live in my home compound.  I have some resources which are not used at school as they are not suitable for large numbers.  The first morning, for instance, I taught the children to play dominoes.  Their number recognition is very poor, so this was a big challenge for them, especially as I was teaching them in English, not their mother tongue.  The lessons can continue indefinitely as they have a lot to learn! 

The children do some colouring and practise
writing the letter S at the same time.

We continue to plan for our building work, but at the moment cannot access the funds.  It would be very helpful if people can help us to fundraise even so, so that once things return to normal we will be able to get cracking. 

I have heard a very sad story of staff laid off in Kenya by major employers such as Kenya Airways, in complete breach of their rights as employees.  We have no intention of treating our staff like that, so it is important that we continue to pay them throughout this crisis.  Comfortingly, most (but not all) of them are able to grow food themselves and the weather is rainy, however it will be some time before there is anything to harvest.  Making sure our staff, teachers, cooks and guards are not forgotten is also a good way to ensure their loyalty to the school.

I am happy to send gift aid forms to anyone who is able to help with the construction costs of the new classroom block, or with regular donations so that we can pay staff salaries regularly.  My email address is rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk. 

It is also possible to make donations online through Virgin Money Giving.  Please be aware that it is necessary to put ‘Cece Primary School’ in the comments box, as Opportunity through Education also collects funds for other causes.  Virgin Giving charges a hefty admin fee on large donations, so please send direct to Opportunity through Education if you are considering sending £1,000 or over.