The Decision to Help

Whenever Write Around the World decides to take on a new project, the board members and I scrutinize the prospect as thoroughly as possible. Acceptance of a project means we are committing to that project for as long as we are an entity (or as long as the host project can maintain accountability and trustworthiness).

After my experience in Kenya, I knew I wanted to help. I felt it was a near-perfect fit for WATW with critical criteria already in place:

• It was a quality educational project in an area of extreme poverty
• It had a trustworthy and caring local director who was fully committed to the project
• There was a cost-effective and reliable means of getting money and goods to the project

However, there was one obstacle. During the formation of the WATW organization we had written into our original bylaws that we would not become involved with a project that was operated by a government or church entity. We simply did not want to become affiliated with anyone’s doctrine or dogma. Life Spring Academy is connected to Alex’s church and his church is part of a larger African organization called Life Spring Ministries.

Discussions with the board of directors ensued and I tried to communicate through photos and video what I had seen in Webuye. We all realized how crucial the work of Alex and Florence was to the area and we simply could not look away, but it was also important that we stay true to our roots. This school project was changing the lives of many young Kenyans, but its survival was hanging by a thread.

Discussions continued and a meeting with the Life Spring Ministry representatives in Seattle was scheduled.  In the end, our decision was to establish a sponsorship for Life Spring Academy – this one, specific, educational component of Life Spring Ministries.  The limit of our support will be to the school and the betterment of its students.

The children write their assignments on the floor in February, during my visit.

The April rains soak the floor of the school. Over twenty children become infected with malaria, many requiring hospitalization.

Our immediate goal is to raise funds for a safer and healthier school building. At the time of this writing, it is the rainy season in Kenya and the rains are soaking the dirt floor in the schoolhouse. Not only can the children no longer write on the floor, but 22 of the children have been infected with malaria, and many have needed hospitalization.

We feel this project is providing a critical service to its community and is highly worthy of our support. If you would like to help or learn more about Project Kenya, please contact us.

(Video introduction of Life Spring Academy)

Life Spring Academy

While in Zambia I received an email from Seattle. The sender was Mary, a friend of a friend, who was aware of my travels. Her email suggested that if I was going to be in Kenya, I should look up some new friends of hers.

A couple of months later, I found myself in Kenya needing to send my passport back home in order to get a visa for Ethiopia. I would have an extra two-weeks to spend in Kenya while I waited for the return of the passport. I had since contacted her friends and was indeed invited to visit their home.

The route west from Nairobi was beautiful, driving along the Great Rift Valley passing Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru, and later the equator. I had since learned that Alex was a bishop in the region and oversaw several churches and his wife Florence was a pastor. The prior year they had received a grant to travel to Seattle, in order to visit some churches and supporters there. This is when Mary, had first met them.

I was graciously welcomed by Bishop Alex and Pastor Florence and invited into their home. Because their house is so small, I checked into a local guesthouse.

The next day we toured the small town of Webuye.  It was beautiful country, but obviously an extremely poor area. The local paper mill that once employed hundreds had shut down years ago, and not much support was coming in from the Kenyan government.

We later took the red dirt roads outside of town in 100-degree heat to the village of Nangili. We passed many people walking or riding bicycles along the edge of the road doing their best to cope with the dust. The village is comprised of a scattering of small mud houses and tiny shops, without running water or electricity. We stopped at Alex and Florence’s church, which was situated on a grassy corner lot. The church was a simple, but proud cement structure that could house several hundred people during Sunday service and other functions during the week. Most of the funding for the church’s construction came from supporters in Seattle. Adjacent to the cement building was a tin roofed structure, framed in wood and covered in plastic sheeting. There was a lot of noise coming from inside, so I asked what was going on in there…

Bishop Alex explained to me that the temporary structure was originally used for Sunday services, while the new church was being built. Recently, they had begun using the structure as a school for the local children, who could not afford to attend the public schools. He went on to tell me how he had never intended on opening a school, but the demand in the area was so high that it could not be helped. Due to the high annual school fees of the overcrowded government schools, many of the local parents cannot send their children to school. If the children do not arrive to the government schools in the right uniforms, with their books and supplies paid for, they are sent out to the streets in order to make way for children who can pay. It is simply an unjust and uncaring system.

Without any kind of budget for the school, the project took off organically. The kids started coming, a teacher soon volunteered and parents donated some food at harvest time to help feed the children. More and more children arrived, and soon there were over 60-children coming every day to the plastic-skinned schoolhouse to learn. (22 of the 62-children attending are orphans in the care of relatives.)

The one-room school is split up into three sections; “baby class” (preschool), first grade and second grade. The dirt-floored room is sparsely furnished with some wooden benches and one small blackboard. The curriculum follows the Kenyan public school standards and is focused on preparing children for the third grade and beyond. Religious instruction is restricted to classes only mandated by the government.

Bishop Alex and Pastor Florence

I spent much of the week at the school, learning more about the work of Bishop Alex and Pastor Florence. I witnessed, first hand, all the good they are doing for their community and how much of their own lives they sacrifice in order to help their less fortunate neighbors. I also learned of the incredible burden they are up against.

After a week with Alex and Florence, I took a trip up to Lake Turkana for a week. When I returned, I was shocked to hear that three children of the area had died while I was gone. Hearing the news sickened me and made me feel incredibly naïve.  The children did not attend any school and had been left home alone to fend for themselves.  They had simply succumbed to the forces that overwhelmed them. Suddenly, all the schools in the area took on a new importance for me – it was a way to account for the children and to care for them.

Needless to say, it was emotional trip for me and an experience that brought me a bit closer to the extreme poverty that exists in Africa. Riding back to Nairobi to collect my passport and continue my travels north, I could not stop thinking about all the little children I had come to love and care for.  And I wondered what to do next.

(Video of my visit to Life Spring Academy)

Secret Garden is at it Again!

 There was an amazing turnout April 30th for the Secret Garden preschool “dessert dash”. The annual fundraiser raised over $700 for our WATW’s sponsored preschool in Pacamache Guatemala!  This brings Secret Garden’s school year fundraising total to over $1500!

“It was energizing to see such strong support from the parents!”, reported WATW board member, Catherine Koenig.

Way to go Secret Garden!

School Visits in Botswana

While in Botswana I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of different schools:

In Maun I was invited to speak at Harry and Julie’s primary school to talk about my trip and about the work Write Around the World is doing. In the open-air auditorium we talked about how where we are born is a matter of fate and how the more fortunate should help the less fortunate.

There were many inquisitive questions about how children live in North and South America and of course about the motorcycle. However, when a three-foot long monitor lizard was spotted on a beam high over my head I was no longer the main attraction. Later, after calm was restored, a snake was spotted on the near-by soccer field, and again I could not compete. (Of course, I was quite interested myself.)

Secondly, while near the border with Zambia I was invited to attend the graduation ceremony of the Kazungula Children’s Ark. The childcare center is for orphans of AIDS, and other children living in extreme poverty. The owner of the nearby Kubu Safari Lodge founded the center several years ago. The project is a great success story and many parents want to enroll their children into the kindergarten-prep program, but all enrollees must first be evaluated for need by a local social worker.

On this day, the children were treated to a show by local dancers and musicians. Finally, the young graduates paraded out in cap and gown donning shiny new shoes and face glitter to receive their laminated diplomas from the village chief and head of police.

I enjoyed myself very much at both events and feel fortunate to have meant some great kids from a different part of the world.

Mike

Meet WATW’s Newest Member

Meet Caroline, Write Around the World’s newest member! Caroline is a sophomore at Mercer Island High School in Seattle. She has been interested in philanthropy and helping others for as long as she can remember. Last summer she was fortunate enough to travel to Costa Rica with her class to help with a school on the Maleku reservation. While there she and her classmates cleaned the exterior of the school, built a garden and taught the children English.

Caroline has taken several years of Spanish classes and it paid off during her trip, enabling her to really connect with the local culture.  She recently commented, “It was one of the most fun and memorable experiences I have ever had. There, I learned how much I loved the Central American culture.” She came back inspired and wanting to do more.

Another interest of Caroline’s is architecture. She is intrigued by eco-friendly construction and how it might be used to better house people in developing countries. So, when she heard about a new opportunity from our Guatemalan partner, she wanted to get involved.

Let’s Be Ready has been gifted land in a rural village in Guatemala for the specific use of building a pre-school and community center. Write Around the World, under the direction of Caroline, will be raising funds for the construction of this new school. This summer she plans on traveling to the area, transporting needed school supplies, and volunteering at one of the preschools. With any luck, she will also be on hand for the groundbreaking of the new school. She is excited to be as active with this project from start to finish!

More ambitious than I ever was at that age, I do not think there will be any stopping her. If you would like to help or hear more, please contact us at writearoundtheworld.com

Report Card for Guatemala

Our sponsor project Let’s Be Ready in Guatemala has turned their first quantifiable progress report. With the primary goal of preparing its young preschoolers for the first grade, the project has done incredibly well with 95% of students succeeding!

From the Let’s Be Ready report:

Let’s Be Ready (known as Pequenos Pero Listos or PPL in Guatemala) is focused on development of preschool/ kindergarten education with a focus on 4-6 year old children.   It is generally recognized that early education has a positive impact on future education success.  There is ongoing research targeting brain development before the age of 5 and specific academic and social skills that are critical to that age period.  Let’s Be Ready works in areas where there is no access to preschool education or where services are inadequate for the population of the community.  While access to education is a critical first step, LBR also spends time developing teachers’ classroom skills with the goal of providing strong and age appropriate instruction.

To view the full report, please click on Report Card.

Guatemalan Preschool Update

We recently received a report from our sponsored preschool in Pacamachè, Guatemala. The village had been on a waiting list for a new community preschool for quite some time. Thanks to the generosity of WATW supporters, we were able to step up and get the school opened in time for the new academic school year starting this past February. The village supplied the facility and instructors and WATW funded the teachers’ annual wages and supplies necessary to operate a functioning classroom.

Guatemala has the highest illiteracy rate in Central America, with approximately 30% of its children failing the first grade, thus ending their formal education.  We are hoping to change this trend by supporting the preschool program Let’s Be Ready. The project, with participation from the host village, establishes preschools with a curriculum that will better ensure a successful start to the youngsters’ education. Learning to read not only offers hope for a fuller life out of the working fields, but also creates a better-informed citizen for the future.

So far, our project school has been a great success and the locals have really gotten behind it. Recently, some parents constructed a chicken coop so that the children have fresh eggs and planted a container garden for vegetables. Not only will this supply the children with better nutrition, but also introduce them to good farming practices. (Half of all children in Guatemala under five years old are malnourished.)

 

 

In celebration of the recent Day of the Child holiday, the teachers raffled off a bushel of corn in their village so that they could fund some special activities for the children. The teachers and village leaders have demonstrated self-reliance and responsibility for this project and we could not be more proud or happier with the outcomes.

(Although the school is functioning and progressing well, all is not perfect. As you can see in the photos, one “wall” of the classroom is made up of a hanging sheet of black plastic and the other wall has large gaps between the wall boards. The floor is dirt. Let’s Be Ready is working with other NGOs to help improve the structure, as it does get cold in Guatemala, and it definitely rains. If you would like to chip in for the cost of building materials, we promise that 100% of your donation will go towards the completion of the project.)

Sponsorship of a preschool is $3,000 for a full-day program and $1,500 for a half-day program per year. There is currently a waiting list of villages hoping for a new preschool.