Blessed Hope Primary School

To start with I want to say thank you for taking the time to check out our fundraising project for Blessed Hope Primary School. I hope the following information inspires you to support our cause...

Blessed Hope is a self-funded school that is owned and operated by two of the school's staff - Elsa Atieno (School director) and Garret Achieng (Head teacher). The school is based in Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Kibera is the biggest urban slum in Africa, and some estimates put the population in excess of 1 million people. The majority of Kibera slum residents live in extreme poverty, earning less than $1.00 per day, and as a result, these people cannot afford an education for their children.

Blessed Hope opened in 2012 with its first student, and the school roll has grown to 155 students today. The students are currently aged 2-9 years old and divided into the following six class groups: 'Babies', 'Nursery', 'Pre-unit', 'Class 1', 'Class 2' and 'Class 3'. The school curriculum consists of Mathematics, English, Social Studies, Science and Swahili. The children often do not have the basic necessities for class, such as pencils and workbooks, yet in spite of this, the children are unbelievably positive, eager to learn, and rarely without a smile on their faces. In the short time that I have been involved with Blessed Hope, I can honestly say that they have changed my perspective on life.

Blessed Hope charges a fee of only $7 NZD (500 KES) per month to its students, and it is the cheapest primary school to attend in the Kibera slums with a meal program (per Networks for Voluntary Services - Kenya). Yet, the parents still struggle to pay. It is only due to the selflessness and generosity of Director Elsa and Teacher Garret that the school is still open today. The school has an amazing and dedicated staff, and I am determined to raise as much money as possible to enable Blessed Hope to provide a learning environment in which the students have a chance to succeed in the classroom, and in turn, possibly have a chance to escape the slums of Kibera.

Below is a list of projects that we have undertaken in the past few months using funds from generous donations:

1. The construction of moveable walls to provide privacy between the various class groups in the church hall.

2. Concreting of the dirt floor in the Standard 2 and 3 classroom to provide a healthier, cleaner class environment.

3. 10 x 4-seater desks for various classes.

4. Over 900 workbooks, pens, pencils, erasers etc.

5. Mats and mattresses for the younger children to sleep on in the early afternoon.

6. 2 x 80L Sufurias and 1 x large Jiko to ensure the cooking facilities can cope with the increasing number of children enrolled.

7. Providing financial assistance for the food program which costs Blessed Hope approx $540 NZD per month.

8. Installation of a water tank on-site to allow the children access to clean drinking water.

Our primary focus is now on building a permanent school for Blessed Hope with enough space to provide an environment for the children that is conducive for learning. Blessed Hope is currently running the majority of its classes out of a leased church hall – with over 120 children in a room without fixed walls, I’m sure you can imagine how noisy it is! The classroom dividers we have built are providing some temporary relief, but with the church hall now at capacity, it is time for us to act.

Admission into Blessed Hope is currently in high demand with local residents, and leading into next year there will not be enough space for all of the children enrolled. Director Elsa will either have to release all of the children in Class 2 and 3 to try and find another school, or stop accepting new children into the 'Baby', 'Nursery', and 'Pre-unit' classes - both of these scenarios are unacceptable, and we can stop them from occurring!

We have found a plot of land for sale in Kibera, and now we need to raise $100,000. This money will enable us to purchase that plot of land and to build the children of Blessed Hope a school that they can call their own. Each class will finally have its own classroom, and an additional class will be added to the school every year until the current Class 3 students are in Class 8. At that point, Blessed Hope will be a full-service primary school with over 300 students.

The $7 (500 KES) monthly tuition fee charged by Blessed Hope is far more affordable for parents than other schools in the slums, and your donations will ensure that Blessed Hope remains accessible to the children of Kibera. Through the education offered at Blessed Hope, we can start changing the face of the slums. The residents of the local community will continually become more educated, and gaining an education will become the norm, rather than the exception.

I'll wrap this up by telling a story from my Class 3 Maths class. As I was setting homework, one of my students asked me if I could give a prize to the student who scores the highest. I said to him that I'd collate the weekly homework results and then give a prize to whoever had the best overall performance. I asked him what he wanted the prize to be - Lollies? Snacks? Things a typical 9 year old child might want. He replied, "a pencil".

These children want to learn, and they want to have a chance to succeed in life. It is my hope that you will join us in our efforts to make that possible.

No donation amount is too small.

Sincerely,

Michael Hobbs

IMPORTANT: I have set up an additional fundraising page with my good friend, Banks Brandon, for American based donors who have issues on this site trying to donate using American Express and debit cards. Please visit:

https://www.crowdrise.com/fundraiser-to-improve-and-sustain-blessed-hope-primary-school

Check out the Facebook page for photos and videos of your donation money making a difference:

www.facebook.com/blessedhopeschool