Jenny Hawthorne, one of the directors of Friends of Rang’I has been organizing for groups who have been coming for a visit to Kenya to see the existing projects that Friends of Rang’I are involved with.
This year, Jenny managed to coordinate and bring along with her a group of ten ladies who were very instrumental to the projects we are involved with here in Kenya. The group consisted of mainly teachers from high schools and primary schools in Australia, not leaving behind a veterinary nurse and a caterer who were also part of the group.
The group landed in Kenya on 1st July and went for a game drive at Maasai Mara which is also an income to our country Kenya. They did not take many days at the Mara as that was not their final destination, they had a wide range of mission still to accomplish.
On 4th July, the group traveled to Kisumu where they visited one of the slums called Obunga on 5th. Obunga is one of the biggest slums in Kisumu City. This is a slum developing that has emerged due to shortage of affordable housing in the city. Most building are made of iron sheet and wood / mud all round and their condition is very wanting, with leaking roofs, very hot during the day and very cold in the night. This is a likely destination of any family that comes in the city from the rural areas. The visitors carried with them some household items and blessed some families who were in real need. In the afternoon, the group visited the local markets where they bought fresh foods that they were going to use while at RCC. They also visited the craft market and bought some jewelry. Bad luck for dear Penny who was too excited to meet Reagan and missed her steps as she was coming down the stairs hence had a dislocation in her right leg.
On 6th, the group travelled to Rang’I Care Centre in Asumbi where they were highly welcomed by the happy students of St. Jennifer Hawthorne Samber Quality School, teachers of the same school and the entire staff of Rang’I Care Centre. The welcome made the visitors feel accepted and they fitted well into the new society. An introduction of the staff, students and visitors was done and the students had presentations which included poems, songs and skits. All were very entertaining and the visitors loved the students. There was then a luncheon together of the visitors and the teachers.
After the introduction, the visitors were taken round the centre to see the environment starting from the Kitchen, Posho mill, Bore hole and water tanks, Dormitories, Classrooms, Dairy unit, Farm, Proposed sites for the classrooms and Administration block, Library, Office and the rest of the compound. After the tour of the compound, the visitors had a break freshening up and unpacking and arranging their things in the visitors room and their kitchen that they were going to use while at the centre. They also took the time to unpack all the donations they had brought along to donate to the schools within Rang’I and the care centre.
The following day 7th, the group embarked on serious work in the community as planned starting by clearing the land and digging the foundation of the hut for one of the students at the care centre, George Ouma. The care centre is working on exit strategies for the students at the centre and one of the exit strategies is to reintegrate the existing students back to their existing families. This is done through building for the students structures in their existing family land where they can find refuge once they are out of the centre. George Ouma’s story was highlighted previously in our blog and one of the greatest challenges he was facing was a place to sleep when he went for family visit, not just him as the elder boy, but also his younger siblings like Joshua and Atieno who are also staying at the care centre.
The group of ladies started the foundation of the hut on 7th and it was quite a tedious job as they had to dig two feet down the ground for the foundation under the help of the fundi who was giving instructions. The community was surprised as they had never seen ladies dig holes by themselves and the ladies team from Australia did it and finished by midday. The fundi then remained with the task of fitting the poles and fixing the roofing which he did in the afternoon as the group embarked on another mission.
In the afternoon of the same day, the group set out to the schools that Friends of Rang’I works with to distribute their donations in kind. The first schools visited were Anding’o Primary and Secondary Schools where the group was welcomed by the students, teachers, parents and the community, not forgetting the government representatives who were the Chief and the Area Education Officer who were also part of the gathering. After the speeches and presentations, the group donated various items which included but not limited to bags of cement for renovations ( 15 bags per school), Medicines and medical equipments, Stationery, class readers, Text books, Laboratory Equipments ( for secondary school), Sports equipments including soccer Jerseys, soccer balls, ball pumps, netball bibs and other special gifts that the teachers could use for motivation of students. The entire school community including students, teachers, Parents and the Government representatives were very much happy for the donation that was issued by the group and they expressed their sincere gratitude to the group and for Friend’s of Rang’I for their continuous support every year to the schools. They sited improvement in the health of the students as the medicine which the groups have been providing have played a major role in this. Initially, the students used to go long distances in search of medication and First Aid was not available at all. Also some students could not afford some medicine as they were orphans and living in poor conditions, but now are able to access the medicines in schools. The schools also noted a great improvement in the general welfare of the students as they have sporting equipments that help them do their CO-curriculum activities, as “work without play makes Jack a dull boy”. The students languages have also been improved as they have a variety of class readers and text books which is helping them improve in their academics. Anding’O Secondary School have not been doing their science practicals as they lacked Laboratory facilities, they were very happy to receive assorted Laboratory equipments from the group.
Later, the group divided themselves in two groups and left to visit Otweyo and Nyawawa Primary schools where they gave same donations as above. The group that visited Otweyo were moved by the fact that pre-school pupils were learning under very poor structure and the students were sitting on the ground in dirt which was not healthy. Furthermore the room was congested, had dangerous door and dusty. After leaving the school, that night the group did not settle as they felt they needed to do something for those young kids at the school who were eager to learn, but were in a terrible atmosphere. They decided to sacrifice and raise funds to go towards roofing of the new classroom that apparently had been started by the community, but could not be finished due to lack of funds for the roofs. By the following morning, the group managed to raise enough money to buy the roofs and other materials needed for the work including labour charge. The group felt much relief when they handed over the cash to the fundi and the work started at the school, the students and teachers of the school were very much happy and said they will always remember this group for putting up a roof on top of the young innocent lives.
The following day the group embarked on the work they stared in construction of the hut, and this day thy tied all the fittos, which was a great achievement too. In the afternoon, they visited Rang’I Primary School where they were welcome by the students, teachers and the parents. The group presented the gifts like in other schools and later had a social time with the students at the field playing various games.
On Saturday was a major task of mudding the hut, the morning started well as we had some few volunteers who were helping in mixing the mud and the group fixing the walls with the mud. The process was long, but finally, the group was able to finish the mudding, and where there was nothing, existed a house. The fundi then fixed the doors and windows and the house was complete. It was such a great achievement for the group and for the community. At least now, when George comes home for vacation, he doesn’t have to worry where him and his other siblings are going to sleep. Many appreciation to all who made this possible.
Sunday was a free day when any person could relax, go to church or have a good time with the kids. It was also a blessed day for the community who came to receive donation of clothes, especially the needy in the society consisting of orphans and widows. There was joy in the face of many who received the clothes donated by the group from Australia.
Not forgetting the existing school at the centre which is St. Jennifer Hawthorne Samber Quality School, the visitors made their kind donations on a Monday 11th and the gifts were the same as for the schools above, apart from the fact that they had little extra for the fact that the school does not get any funding or donation from the government as the other schools and only depends on donations from Friends of Rang’I because it is a private school. The group donated text books for class six which is going to be a great asset next year when the students move to that class. The group also donated 20 bags of cement which will go towards the new classroom construction. Other gifts were as for the rest of the schools, only that all the students of this school received new tooth brushes which made their day proud. The teachers of the school and other subordinate staff of the centre also received T-shirts and other gifts and they were extremely motivated.
The group of visitors had a wonderful time interacting with the students and teachers of St. Jennifer Hawthorne Samber Quality School. Most of the group had time to be in the classrooms and taught, others like Geraldine enjoyed the opportunity of teaching a new game to the students “Touch”. All had wonderful time together.
The visitors were also engaged in some lessons while at the centre. Mary and Connie who are the teachers at St. Jennifer taught the group basics in Swahili lessons and by the end of their time at the centre, they were able to say basic greetings and other common Swahili words. Other than the language lessons, the group also learnt how to prepare “ Chapati” which they all enjoyed the flavor. Florence, the head Chef at RCC taught the visitors how to prepare the Chapati and beans stew.
Another project that the visitors loved working with was the Rang’I Women Group which meets at the centre on regular basis to make their craft items and have their teaching forums. The group had a wonderful time with the women where they interacted and the women briefed them on how they make their products like the paper necklaces, weaved baskets and others. The visitors were happy with the progress of the group and the input that Friends of Rang’I has put to empower the women by giving them start up costs and ideas that have been able to keep them busy and in generating small income for their families. The visitors were able to promote the group by buying weaved baskets and some jewelry from the women. One of the members of the group Geraldine together with her husband Ian Chapman has so far donated some money that will go towards doors and nails to be used in the construction of a working area for the women’s group. Michael Hawthorne also donated Iron Sheets which will also go towards the construction of a temporary shed where the women can work to prevent them from the harsh weather like rain and sunshine and even store their items for safety.
At the Care Centre, all students who were present expressed joy as they had the blessing of being with the visitors throughout after their school. The group donated Inner pants, clothes, Slippers, Shoes and other important items like sport lights which all the kids appreciated. Each student living at the centre received pants, slippers and clothes which included shirts and shorts and they were very much grateful. While the group was there, it so happened that one student who has been learning at St. Jennifer lost his mother and just remained a total orphan with no where to go. Seck was also able to receive the blessings just as the rest of the students who were at the centre did. Seck has since been sheltered at RCC awaiting communication from the Children’s Department.
Friends of Rang’I cannot fail to sincerely appreciate the entire team starting from the team leader Jenny Hawthorne, Geraldine Chapman, Penny Crowley, Lisa Rowe, Gail Burke, Robyn Paull, Sue Miller, Kimberly Dawson, Karen Sheridan, Miranda Langford and Jan Canu. The eleven lovely ladies sacrificed their holiday time to be in Kenya, not to relax, but to help the needy community in Increasing access to quality Education and Improving lives of Vulnerable Children. Indeed they achieved their mission. The group left Kenya on 15th night to arrive in Sydney on 17th and the following day 18th, most of them were to report back on duty.... Happy Birthday to sweet Karen who just turned 21 on their return to Sydney. We love and appreciate you all......
Geraldine Chapman stayed behind in Kisumu and has scheduled again to go back to RCC to offer First Aid Basic Skills to the staff and the Friends of Rang’I staff in Kisumu. Geraldine will also be helping us in developing Policies and Procedures that can be used for the staff. Not to forget the filing system of joining two scholarship programs and any input needed especially in the work we are doing in Kenya.
Much appreciation too to Friends of Rang’I for all the coordination starting from our Board of Directors in Australia, and the board in Kenya. We are still hoping and believing we shall get another team next year to improve the lives of these vulnerable children in Kenya and the schools that we work with.
Annemarie a consultant of Happy Village Organization shared her inspirational story on how they were left as orphan and she managed to take care of the family even though she was the second born and there first born being boy but was an alcoholic. She managed to pay for there sibling school fee from her small income until their last born is in university now. She took the elder brother to rehabilitation centre in Asumbi. The brother is getting better and can now take care of there home since he is the only brother. This has made there home not to be taken by his uncles. 
Annemarie concluded her speech that success is not measured by the number of time you excel but by the number of times you fail and bounce back.
