SeedINNEWSLETTER 13

Education - the key to a better future!

Seed ry    Sustainable Education and Equality in

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The Best School – the Best Pupil!

Furaha Seed Academy has grown and developed remarkably during past year. With the project aid from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the school management has been trained to manage an eight-year school in the future. The fourth trai-ning seminar was held in January in Rondo, the Kenyan rain forest region, close to Kakamega town. As before, the trainers were Zedekia and Joy Otolo, Leena Keskinen and Marjo Kyllönen.

The cumulation of know-how can be seen in the daily functioning. Tasks can be prioritized in an efficient way, and the construction works is advan-cing.One important step forward is the school meals. The parents have understood the importance of the school lunch and a majority of them are willing to pay for the meals of their children. The teachers also get a daily lunch.A parents’ association has been estab-

The new shape of the school building can be seen already. Classrooms 1-6 are ready and the enlargement of the office is ongoing. Additional space is constructed for next classrooms, a library and health services.

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FSA

lished to support the school work. This creates a foundation for financial self-support in the future. The community feels ownership of the school and there is genuine interest to develop it. The support of the parents is very impor-tant also for the teachers.There are eight teachers now. The aid sent from Finland covers the salaries of three teachers and the head-teacher. Other salaries are paid form the in-come earned from the school activity.The construction works have advanced rapidly. One part of the construction

Retirement after a long, meritious working career

cost has been donated by the British organisation Rianna’s Fund, which supports the orphanage of the centre. During 2011, four classrooms, four compost toilets and a separate toilet building were completed. The enlarge-ment of the offices is under construc-tion and will be finalised during this Spring.As usual in Kenya, also the Furaha Seed Academy has participated in the comparative evaluation of the schools and the pupils. The great success of the school in the national tests will

The first head teacher of FSA, Jael Omolo, retired at the end of 2011. We met her in January when visiting Yala. In a warm farewell party we expressed our gratitude for her remarkable input in launching the school and develo-ping it.Jael Omolo played a significant role together with Eunice Aweyo in the establishment of the new school and in getting it started. With her strong pro-fessionalism, experience and authority she developed the school and guided younger teachers in their work.She was also one of the founders of the pre-school that now works together with FSA. Tens of children come every year from this well-functioning pre-school to the first level of the school.The local population has learned to know the pre-school for its high-quali-ty teaching.The years in retirement are well earned after a long, wide-ranging wor-king career.We thank Jael Omolo for her valuable cooperation and wish her many happy years in retirement. Knowing her ener-gy, we expect to see her many more times at the school that is so dear to her.

Above: Pre-school pupils in their classroom. This pre-school connected to the primary school , is well-known for the high quality of the education offered.

Left:First grade pupils during a break. The visitors are always interesting!

Right: The school board decided with the parents to start school lunches. A nourishing meal helps to keep the pupils active for the long day. The teachers also get the lunch at school.

strengthen the reputation of the school and add the number of applicants. We were very happy to hear that the school had excelled in these evalua-tions. The points received were the best in the region. The best pupil of the region was also a pupil of Furaha Seed Academy, the orphan Maxwell who has been supported by Seed.This good reputation is disseminated quickly. Parents from Kisumu, Nakuru and even Nairobi have asked for pos-sibilities to send their children to the Yala school.

An Arts Day in Rianna’s Furaha OrphanageRianna’s Furaha Orphanage on 14 January 2012

While waiting for the begin-ning of the Furaha Seed Aca-demy seminar, we discussed how we would like to spend more time in the orphanage and get to know better both the pupils of the school and the children of the orphanage. Inspired by this discussion, we decided to go back to Yala and have an Arts Day with the kids in the orphanage.Before our trip to Yala, we went to buy supplies for the Arts Day: dra-wing paper, crepe paper, colouring pencils, glue, scissors, storage boxes for the supplies and a bucket full of biscuits. In addition, we bought balls and hula-hula-loopsHaving found the materials, we started planning tasks that we could accomplish with the children. The day before we had learnt that the Arts Day would be attended by some 50-60 children that would be 5-14 years of age. So preparations were needed to have a successful day.

On Saturday morning, we left for Yala. At our arrival the children were still in their morning cores, doing the laundry. This gave us some additional time for prepara-tions. When the laundry was done and the children had changed their clothes, they came to the hall of the orphanage and we could start our Arts Day. First of all, we introdu-ced ourselves and our plans for the day. We also showed all the mate-rial we brought and how to use the storage boxes.The first task was to produce hand paintings to decorate the walls of the dormitories. We distributed paper and asked the kids to draw their hands on the paper. When everyone had their hands on the paper, they were asked to colour them in the way they wanted. Then the coloured hands were cut, com-bined and fixed on the wall. Some children had never used scissors before, so we had to keep an eye on them. With the help of the older children and the staff, also the

smallest managed the cutting exer-cixe withour wounds. The dormi-tories of both girls and boys were decorated with these hands.Then, the children drew a picture either of different animals or their own yard. We were surprised by the creative results.The last task of the day included

both drawing and using the glue. First the children drew what they wanted. Then they fixed balls of crepe paper on this drawing with the glue. This made the art work multi-dimensional. Some teachers of the Furaha Seed Academy and workers of the orphanage also par-ticipated in this task. Then we had a tasty lunch with the children.

After the meal we put all the art work on the walls of the hall and celebrated the opening of the gallery. The children admired their work, with the biscuits in their hands. They were very interested also in the work done by others and commented it aloud. It was clear that nothing like this had been seen before.After the gallery opening, the children gave a dance performance. We closed the day with speeches held by us, the children of the orphanage, the assistant project manager of FSA, Tom Onyango, and our driver Isaac Musembi.The children were very enthusias-tic with all the tasks and despite of the heat were able to concentrate for the whole day. Many of them wanted to have more paper and produced the greatest pieces of art. We had also planned to play some outdoor games with the new toys we brought, but no time was left for this, as the children were so

keen with the art work.The remaining materials were left with the orphanage. The best feedback were the smile of the children, great work produced and the enthusiasm for arts. We hope they will have opportunities to this more often in the future.Best regards, Ada, Antti and Katri

KASARANIThe Kasarani School and the number of classes have grown. The last, third floor is being built in the school.All possibilities for the enlarge-ment of the building are being used. In addition to the classroom, the third floor may contain a break room for the teachers.The school lunch project supported

by Seed ry is working well. The lunch is distributed to all children. Some parents are able to pay for the lunch, for some children the lunch became available through our aid.The costs are under control thanks to the skills and efforts of Isaac Musembi. All possible means are used to cut the cost. The prices

of foodstuffs have risen a lot. The drought has complicated the far-ming and there is shortage of food in some parts of the country.The scout activity we reported about last year has advanced well. At our arrival in Kasarani, a row of scouts was welcoming us. The Finnish guests Antti Keskinen ja Jaakko Kyllönen had the honour of inspecting the troops.The school would need additio-nal space. The plot is covered by buildings. When children are outdoors during the breaks, they play in the street. Even if the traffic is not very busy yet, the risk of accidents will grow in the future. The neighbouring plot, used by some sales stands at the moment, is for sale. In the capital the land is very expensive, and the price, about 10 000 euro, is very high for the locals.

The lunch is ready. The cook is distri-buting food on the plates, with Elva Mu-sembi, the eldest daughter of Isaac.

The tasty and nourishing lunches wait for the children.

The pupils in Kasarani welcome visitors with happy faces. The scouts wear their uniforms for the special day.

The school lunch project supported by

Seed ry is working well.

Towards the end of 2011, Jane Kamau finally succeeded in her long-lasting efforts to re-gister the Muranga orphana-ge. Now she also gets help from a few local ladies who share the responsibility for the orphanage.

There are 17 children in the or-phanage for the moment. More space is needed acutely. The education and basic welfare of the children is anyhow secured. We are looking for new godparents for the enlarged activity of the orphanage. With their support we can develop the orphanage as a whole.Jane has put a lot of effort in promoting the orphanage and the wellbeing of the children. The hen-house has been totally renewed, and now there are enough hens to produce both eggs and meat. Next to the henhouse, there are also stalls for three piglets.The mango crop is soon ready to be picked and sold. The local purcha-ser of the Coca Cola Company had asked for the crop to be bought by the Company.During our visit, a will arose to help the orphanage one more step forward. We collected money for a solar panel, a battery, lamps and other supplies. After our visit, Isaac Musembi has with his son Evans acquired all this equipment

and installed it. Now Jane and the children can be active also during the dark hours.

KenafinKambitiProject

The new henhouse and the pig stalls are the latest results of Jane’s efforts.

A new project – Seed ry supports a pre-school in Kisumu

On Tuesday 21 February we recei-ved sad news from Kenia. Eunice Aweyo, the founder of the Furaha Seed Academy, had died.We met Eunice for the last time in January. She had been ill for a few months and the illness had already consumed much of her energy. At that point of time, it still seemed that she was getting better.In the beginning of February, the illness worsened again. She recei-ved competent care, but it did not help anymore.Eunice Aweyo is missed by her children and grandchildren and a large number of friends and young people, whom she had educated by her own funds, thus facilitating their entry to professions and to working life.We express our condolences to Eunice’s family and all those who miss her.Erkki KyllönenSeed ry

IN MEMORIAM

VDuring our mission, we visited a small preschool in Kisumu. The school is located in a suburb, which is a developing area with many families with children.The target of our aid is to encou-rage self-sufficiency. There is one class of 10-15 pupils, with one teacher hired by local population. The aim is to rise the number of

pupils so that the school fees could also cover the reparations in the school building, the development of the education methods and a decent salary for the teacher.If you want to support our new project, you can address your payment to our donation account with reference number 1313. Thanks to all our supporters!

Seed ryRapolantie 9, 00940 Helsinki, Finland, +358 50 525 1526info@seed.fi, www.seed.fiwww.august.kuvat.fiwww.facebook.com/SEEDry

Bank account: Osuuspankki, Ruoholahti:Member fees: 578906-214338, referens number 1122 (20€/year)

For supporting us: 578906-220368 Donation reference 1177Building reference 2008Repeated support fee 2244

Police administration 2020/2010/4423 from 4.5.2011 to 31.12.2012 .To support edu-cation, help needy children and promote entrepreneurship in Kenya