Charitable Nottingham University Alumni

Today Dr. Masibo Lumala met with Mr Alexander Mclean, the founder and Director of African Prisons Project (http://www.africanprisons.org/). Alexander is an alumnus of the University of Nottingham just like Masibo is.

Together they talked about Upendo Junior Shool and African Prisons Project. In particular, Mr. Mclean was keen to know the funding challenges Dr. Masibo is currently facing and also to share his experience at APP. After an hour's discussion, it was agreed that Masibo sends him more information. He also indicated that in spite of his busy schedule, he would try and set aside at least two hours a month for Upendo. Dr. Masibo expressed interest to work with APP and to integrate children of prisoners at Upendo Junior School. He also hopes to be taking children to visit prisoner-parents at Kitale Prisons and to help integrate back into community ex-convicts within the Kiminini Community.

The meeting was attended by Coloel Zur Kredo who is accompanying Alexander on his trip to Uganda. Zur was full of ideas on how Upendo can strengthen her fundraising and also how we can work with APP once they get registered in Kenya.


Alexander Mclean with Kenyan prisoners

Upendo-Wadsworth Partnership

A week has already gone since Mrs Sally Bates (Headteache,Wadsworth Fields Primary School, Nottingham, UK) and Mrs Vanessa Tift arrived here at Upendo Junior School. Today was their last day in school where they had shared lunch with the teachers and particpated in games with the children.

During their visit, the two had an opportunity to attend lessons, discussed with our teachers both the teaching and assessment approaches used in UK and also met the pupils International Link team who explained to them the Bean Growng Project which is being undertaken by both of our schools. They also had an opportunity to have a look at the various sources of water here: the springs, the boreholes, and the tw rivers bordering Kiminini town. Clearly very different from the case in UK.

Apart from Upendo, Sally and Vanessa had the opportunity to visit Kiminini Primary School to see for themselves the challenges facing public primary schools in Kenya. They also visited our local hospital at Kiminini and attended church service.

Last but not least, we reviewed the achievements of our partnership and challenges thereof over the past three years. Both schools believe the partnership has been mutually beneficial to the children, staff and the local communities despite the various challenges noted. We further took time to focus about the future. We have jointly applied for further funding from the British Council and if our bid is successful, we shall focus on modes of transport used in Kenya and in UK, our homes, our environment and continue experimenting on other crops. The teachers at Upendo highlighted the various ways in which these themes could fit in our curriculum and how relevant the exchange would be. We are aiming beyond the sky!

We hope that our friends travel safely back home and that we shall maintain the cordial relationship between our two schools.

Visit from Wadsworth Fields Primary School

Upendo Junior School is looking forward to hosting Mrs Sally Bates (Headteacher) and Mrs Vanessa Tift from Wadsworth Fields Primary School as from 8th to 15th June 2011. This a return visit under the Global School Partnership Programme and is sponsored by the DFiD through the British Council.

We look forward to welcoming our friends and working together towards improving the ongoing curriculum exchange activities between our two schools.

Karibu Kenya! Karibu Upendo.

Harambee for Upendo

Started in 2008, Upendo Junior School has quickly grown to become a household name in the community. Having started as a school and home for displaced children following the Post Election Violence here in Kenya, Upendo now offers quality education to over 120 needy children around Kiminini. The school is located on what used to be our home and the half-acre piece of land has been quickly overrun by the current population. While we espouse the value of sports, we have no space for the children to play. We have only four classrooms and even after occupying the old house, we still urgently need to put up a tuition block to accommodate not just more needy children but Standards 6, 7 and 8 required to complete the primary school cycle. We also recently received a book donation from UKAid worth £3000 but we have no library to facilitate the good custody and use of the books by the children and teachers.

The proposed Harambee for Upendo is therefore aimed at enabling the school purchase at least one acre of land in the neighbourhood. The proceeds will also be used to put up a tuition block cum library and to improve the sports facilities at the school as per the following budgetary breakdown:

1 acre land – Ksh. 650,000/= (£5500)

Tuition Block/Library – Ksh. 600,000/= (£5000)

Sports facilities – Ksh. 60,000/= (£500)

TOTAL – Ksh. 1,300,000/=(£11000)

It is against this background that we are appealing to all friends of Upendo, both locally and abroad, to help us by contributing towards this cause. A Harambee has been scheduled at school on 24^th June 2011.The Guest of Honour will be Prof. Josephine Arasa of the United States International University, Nairobi assisted by among others Mr. Robert Masinde (Moi University), Mr. Ayub Savula Angatia(CEO,Africa,Nairobi) and Mr .Felix Sialoh(Mount Kenya University,Eldoret Campus)

It is hoped that all those who have pledged forms and are abroad will be able to send in their contributions by 20^th June 201.

Upendo Junior School - Making the Difference

The Kenyan Spirit of Harambee in Perspective

Harambee is a Kenyan tradition of community self-help events. The word Harambee literally means ‘’all pull together’’ in Swahili, and is also the official motto of Kenya and appears on its coat of arms.

Kenyans believe in doing things as a community. This is the basis of the 'Harambee' spirit. This defines how the people look at each other. One’s problems are not his alone but the community’s. Often people come together to raise funds for someone in need and help those who have lost loved ones cater for medical bills and other needs that may arise on a day-to-day basis. Harambee events may range from informal affairs lasting a few hours, in which invitations are spread by word of mouth and in the local press, to formal, multi-day events advertised in newspapers and national TV channels.

Harambee is not new but a traditional principle which existed in every traditional society in Kenya. Each society had self-help or co-operative work groups by which groups of women on the one hand and men on the other organised common work parties, for example to cultivate or build houses for each other; clear bushes, harvesting etc. The security and prosperity of the group was therefore dependent upon the persons being mindful of each other’s welfare. Different names were given to this term in different communities: Kikuyu-Ngwatio; Luo - Konyir; Luhya - Obwasio; Kamba - Mwethia; Maasai - Ematonyok

Among the Masaai community, the women were the ones who build houses for the family. A single woman could not be able to build a house on her own. She would therefore invite others to help her and when her friends want to build, they can rely on her too. Those who did not participate in community work did not get any help when they needed it.

In the modern Kenya, the Spirit of Harambee was introduced by the First President of the Republic. This was Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. Since the communities were divided on ethnic basis, he wanted something that would bring them all together. Therefore, the spirit of Harambee was used to build schools, hospitals and other facilities needed. It was even used to fund raise for students who were going to study abroad.

At Independence

The philosophy of Harambee was established at independence. In order then to translate the political aspirations of the populace into tangible benefits, the government initiated measures for rapid economic and social development. "The envisaged Social development objectives entailed the promotion and implementation of programmes aimed at enhancing the quality of life of the nation’s families."

Later, on the day of the state opening of parliament on 13th December, 1963, he further reiterated the need for co-operative effort for a successful Kenya:

Forms of Harambee

What normally comes into the minds of many Kenyans when this term harambee is mentioned is the the important aspect of fund raising; but harambee is much more than this. It also entails the contribution of materials and labour to various development projects. Among others, Harambee is based on four major principles:

i) Bottom up development strategy. This means that people at the community and grassroots level participate actively in the planning and implementation of the local development projects.

ii) Participation is guided by the principles of collective good rather than individual gain. What this means is that the end product benefits the public rather than just an individual.

iii) The choice of the project is supposed to be guided by the felt needs of the majority instead of leaving the task to the government and other change agents whose priorities in terms of project selection may not be those of the people, the ultimate beneficiaries.

iv) The project implementation is supposed to maximize the utilization of local resources such as labour, funds and materials which would otherwise have remained unmobilized or expensive (Akong’a 1989).

The harambee projects are mainly locally initiated and implemented. Contributions, (especially money) come from the more affluent sections of the society. Other contributions may come from across all socio-economic groups in the country. These harambee projects are normally in two main categories:

i) Self-help activities geared towards the construction of public utilities which cannot easily be provided for by the government. Some examples are primary schools, secondary schools, health facilities, water projects, cattle dips, churches, gully control and afforestation projects. They are usually assisted by the government and Ngos in the form of materials and manpower.

ii) Women Groups - these are aimed at alleviating situations of poverty and work overload. This comes from the realization that women are over loaded with work and that they are poor. The activities that they are involved in are like contributing money (merry-go-round), marketing of commonly held goods to obtain money for buying and operating flour mills, poultry keeping. domestic water tanks construction, bee-keeping, iron-roofed houses construction, farming and basketry. These groups are registered by the District Social development Office so that they can receive aid from the Ministry of Culture and social Services, Ngos and the Women’s Bureau.

Other forms of harambee aimed at helping individuals have also picked up momentum. Examples are like Pre-wedding fund raisers, hospital bill harambees, harambees to assist youths go for further education locally and abroad etc. These forms of harambee have in one way or another improved the quality of different people and communities in Kenya.

The Contribution of Harambee towards the Improvement of the quality of life of Kenyans.

The harambee concept embodies the ideas of assistance, joint effort, mutual self responsibility and community self-reliance. As such, it has been responsible for substantial developments in the provision of basic needs and social service facilities. It has brought about near miracles especially in the country-side. Aided by the government, Harambee self-help projects have been responsible for the building of over 200 schools, 40 health Centres, 60 dispensaries, 260 nursery centres, 42 bridges, 500 kms of rural access roads etc throughout the country. These social service facilities started on harambee basis, whether taken over by the government for operation and maintenance or not, provide "basic needs" to a large segment of especially rural people.

The Harambee sipirt has by far had the greaestest impact in the education sector where it has been responsible for the growth of ‘harambee’ schools. These have played a very major role in the provision of both primary and secondary education to pupils who could not be admitted to government schools. To date there are about 600 harambee schools. In fact, many of the government aided schools were started on harambee basis.

As a result of such initiatives, literacy rates continue to go up due to accessibility of the institutions in terms of their availability and distance. Some of these learning institutions are nursery centres, primary schools, harambee Secondary schools, Institutes of Science and technology, village polytechnics etc.

Harambee efforts therefore have been providing productive infrastructure with potential significance for employment creation and improved livelihoods.

The size of harambee has increased steadily in aggregate terms. Many projects have been under-taken and completed through the spirit of harambee. Some involve colossal sums of money which the government could not have managed to disburse to the various communities concerned. As an example, during the period 1967 - 1987, contributions for self-help projects in the country amounted to K£ 294,381,870 according to government sources.

The success of harambee in Kenya is attributed to the sharp awareness by Kenyans of the benefits to be reaped. This has encouraged them to participate and contribute generously towards Harambee projects.

UKAid donates books to Upendo

It is with great pleasure that we announce the recent donation of over six hundred textbooks all valued at over KSh. 400, 000 to Upendo Junior School. The donation was funded by DFiD and delivered to us by School Depot Ltd, Eldoret.

The books have come in very handy. Each child now has access to all the relevant subject textbooks recommended by the Ministry of Education. The books will certainly enhance the teaching and learning and lead to better perormance as we prepare the children for national examinations in the near future.

Visit to UK by Upendo Teachers

Two teachers from Upendo Junior School, Miss Catherine Makonge and Ms Stella Muteshi, will be visiting Wadsworth Fields Primary School, Nottingham, UK. The visit is fully sponsored by the British Council to facilitate curiculum development exchange between our two schools.

During the visit, the two teachers will be hosted by Mrs Sally Bates, the School head teacher. They will familiarize themselves with the UK education system by attending lessons at Wadsworth and discussing curriculum issues with their counterparts there. They will also be in a position to address the key issues underlying our proposed curriculum exchange.

Besides visiting Wadsworth Fields Primary School, the two teachers will have a date with Ms Mari Hughes and Rebecca Peck in the School of English Studies, the University of Nottingham. It is hoped that while at the University, they will have the opportunity to meet with some Kenyan students there led by Mr Eric B. Masika, a Ph.D student at the University.

They arrive in London on 1st March and return back to Kenya ten days later.

A number of our friends in Nottingham have assured me that the two teachers will be looked after well. Thanks to Terry, Jane, Stephen, Caroline and Fiona for the continued support and for your willingness to see to it that Catherine and Stella are cmfortable, this being their vey first trip out of Kenya!

We wish the the two the very best and hope that they will come back full of ideas to better our partnerhsp with Wadsowrth Fields Primary School.

Visit by Students from the University of Nottingham

Upendo Junior School recently hosted two students and a member of staff from the School of English, the University of Nottingham. The trip by the three was fully funded by the University following an application by Ms Mari Hughes.

Durin their stay here, the two students, Caroline and Fiona not only taught English but also helped give a facelift to the school by painting all the classrooms. They also planted trees at the school and converted one room in the Nursery into a Play and Learn room, fully equipped. They also played with the children and visited the local market and primary school.

While the girls did what they knew best, Stephen McKibbin was busy cleaning up the computers and ensuring that they are ready for use by the children. He also had one-on-one sessions with all theteachers, showing them how the programmes on the computers can be used for teaching purposes.

The visitors brought with them two state-of-the-art laptops. Thanks to the Bike Ride early April this year organized by Mr. Terry Maxwell, he of small steps=BIG DIFFERENCE! Together with his friends Mick and Hazel, they were able to complete 207 miles and raised the money that went towards purchasing the two laptops and accompanying accessories. The computers will be handy once the computer suite is completed. It's hoped that the computer suite will be officially launched on the 4th October 2010.

The School Football Team!

During my recent visit to the University of Nottingham, where I received the Alumni Laureate Award for the contribution Rose and I have made in my community by way of starting up Upendo Junior School, we had the honour of visiting Wadsworth Fields Primary School. As before the children were very pleased to meet us and we planted shrubs to mark the occasion. The school gave us games kits for our children. The boys football team was very pleased with their gifts!

Tribal Group Foundation Proposed Sponsorship

While visiting Nottingham recently, I was privileged to have met Emily Ray, a Team Leader at Tribal Group UK Ltd . She updated me on the latest developments regarding our being nominated for funding and we had time to discuss the possibility of Tribal Foundation supporting a key project in the school other than electricity and/or water and sanitation.

It is our hope that we can be supported to put up a tuition block of 8 classrooms, an office, an ICT Room and toilets (at the moment we have inadequate sanitary facilities) and the number of children continues to grow at the school. The Foundation will reach a key decision regarding our being funded on 25th February 2009. Should we be successful, this will be a huge step in our endeavour to be a model school in the area and will enable us continue to take on more needy children each year as we will not be hampered by space.

I indicated to Emily that we could name our completed Tuition Block after Tribal Group Foundation and will do what we can to enhance our children's global awareness through enhanced ICT use.

We remain very grateful to Emily for her continued support and for sparing time to come down to Nottingham to meet me.

Update from Wadsworth Fields Primary School, UK

I have just completed my visit to Wadsworth Fields Primary School, UK under the DFiD Global Partnerships Programme, who funded my travel. I learned so much during the visit. Children are given the opportunity to participate in the learning process. The interactive methods of teaching and the use of the many resources in the school makes the teachers' work all the easier. Of particular interest for me was their use of the ICT in the teaching process. Most of the teaching resources could easily be accessed on various government websites.

Following my visit, we have now formally agreed to exchange information in three key areas: Citizenship and Social Cohesion, Environmental Awareness, and lastly ICT. The School has two international links committee, one for the pupils and the other for the teachers. It was further agreed that Mr Terry Maxwell and Mrs Jane Sheppard will be visiting Upendo early July as part of the Reciprocal Visit under the DFiD grant. It will be nice to have the two as Terry will introduce the staff at UJS on Teaching Reading and Writing Links (TRAWL) while Jane will show how teachers can assist the last able children improve their literacy and numeracy skills. We look forward to the visit.

I feel most honoured that I was able to come and hope that the partnership grows.

Computers in Use!

The Computer Centre set up by Emily and Ray is now fully functional. UJS children have a computer lesson every day while children from the neighbourhood have a chance to enjoy the facility over the weekend. The various educational software that came with the computers from Wadsworth Fields Primary school and those installed by Emily have proved very popular indeed.

During their recent visit, Catherine and Orla had the opportunity to train the teachers and to watch them deliver lessons to children using the computers. The two have now left for Mombasa from where they will proceed to London and then Belfast. We wish them safe travels.

I wish to thank everyone whose support and contribution has made this possible. I also wish in a special way to thank Emily for her continued support through her networking activities. We will do everything possible to ensure that her efforts bring about positive improvement at the school. This is the direction we would like to see the school go, and given the many hurdles we face, we would not have come this far without everyone,s generous support and contribution through Emily and our friends elsewhere.

The visit by Emily and Ray opened us up to many new ideas which we hope to implement in due course as a way of improving the day today running of the facility. And Cat and Orla helped make many teaching aids and introduced new childhood games to the children.

Thank you all!

Cat and Orla Visit

Next week the school will host Cat and Orla from Ireland. Cat has just finished her PhD at Manchester University. I met her during one of the UKGRAD Schools held at Exeter University in 2006. Together with her sister, they will be at the school for about 8 days during the time which they will train the teachers on how to use the various computer programmes in their daily lessons. The duo have also kindly accepted to undertake some DIY at the school. For this they will be bringing with them a number of paint brushes and rollers and aprons! I have warned them about the high cost of living here and the lack of electricity at the school. They have no problem fueling my old car to get them to places and will be part of the cooking in the kitchen they say! On behalf of the teachers, children and the community, we say karibu sana and safe flight to Kenya. We look forward to seeing you here soon.

Thank you all

On behalf of the teachers, children and on my own behalf, I would like to thank everyone who contributed in one way or another towards Upendo Junior School through Emily and Ray. The software, the digital camera, the pens and pencils will all go along way in making the learning and teaching very interesting for all of us at the school. In a special way, I wish to thank Emily and her husband for taking all the trouble to fly out to Kenya to make this happen. Everyone was so happy to have them around and their contribution in setting up the computer room will have a huge impact on the children for many years to come.

With the computer room up and running, we have no doubt that we will be able to achieve our vision in being a model school in our area. I can only hope and pray that our partnership and friendship with Tribalgroup UK Ltd will continue to grow and that we will be able to see the school grow from strength to strength. Our next task is to have electricity in the school and get connected to the internet in the near future.

Once again thank you all and hope that both Emily and Ray will return to you safely and with stories to share...especially one about climbing the Endebes Bluff on top of Mt Elgon!!

Ray & Emily visit the school

Well we made it to Kenya with a suitcase full of software to help kick off the I.T. computer room for Upendo Junior School. Took a couple of days to get all the computers up and running, but we managed with bits of a crocodile clip acting as the only screwdriver.

The teachers and children all excited and have had a play on the computers already. My only regret is not enough time to train the teachers in the use of the computers and the software.

Emily Tredoux