Friday's Featured Child - Nelly!

Meet Nelly - GPS645

Nelly is eight years old and in standard 3.  She lives with her unemployed parents and two older siblings, and helps at home by washing utensils.  Nelly's best school subject is English.  This well-rounded girl enjoys both reading and playing football.  She dreams of being a pilot when she grows up.  Can you reach out to be Nelly's sponsor?   Just email info@plantabook.org for more information.

Friday's Featured Child - Suleiman!

Meet Suleiman - WH451

Suleiman is a great student, scoring 311 on the KCPE.  He joined WHS in form 1 this year.  Someday he would like to be a chief justice!  Suleiman lives in the slums with his parents and has a rough home life.  He helps by fetching water and enjoys riding a bicycle.  Please consider reaching out to help Suleiman with his education.  For more information, email info@plantabook.org.

Friday's Featured Child - Ann!

Meet Ann O - GPS625

Sweet Ann is an orphan, both of her parents are deceased, and she lives with her aunt in the slums.  At home she helps with washing utensils.  Ann enjoys reading story books.  Her best school subject is math.  Can you help Ann by being her sponsor and friend?  Sponsorship fees are $12.50/month.  Email info@plantabook.org for more information. 

Friday's Featured Child - A great student: Zedrick!

Meet Zedrick - WH437

Hard-working Zedrick is 15 years old and in form 1.  His birthday is June 23.  Zedrick has a rough home life.  He lives with both parents, but his father has problems and is unemployed so the mother does what she can with menial jobs to earn a living.  Zedrick helps at home by washing clothes.  He scored 374 on the KCPE exam, which is very good.  He enjoys playing handball and wants to be a lawyer.  Can you be Zedrick's sponsor?  Sponsorship fees are $12.50/month for the basic program or $20/month for the lunch-included program.  Please email info@plantabook.org for more information.

Update:  Zedrick has been sponsored!  Please visit our website at www.plantabook.org for more deserving students in need of a sponsor.

First Term is in Full Swing!

My, oh, my!  Time is flying and I just realized it has been much too long since we posted on our blog here, so let's get back to business. The school year seemed to get off to a bit of a slower start than usual this year.  Standard 8 students had to wait until the end of January for the KCPE results from the government, so they were very "up in the air" -- not sure if they should enroll in standard 8 again or be permitted to enroll in form 1.  This also meant that form 1 couldn't start until the end of January.  Once results came out, students made their decisions and Waddington High School began accepting the new form 1 students.  Then, with the Kenyan elections in early March, some families took their children "up country" to relatives and schools around Nairobi were closed in fear there would be outbreaks of violence.  That is what happened in the last presidential election, so there was cause for concern.  School resumed about a week later and children began trickling back in.  The students have now settled back into the routine of school days.  Annual photos of each and every precious child have been sent to their sponsors and things are humming along again.

One of the most exciting events has been the opening of a computer lab at WHS!  KKIN UK donors provided refurbished computers and monitors, for which the school was so grateful!  Then, thanks to the donations of PAB supporters in Australia and other donations, we were able to provide the software and computer studies textbooks to complete the lab. Computer studies will begin with Form 1 this year.  Next year Form 2 will be added as well.  This is such a milestone for this school! I remember when we were raising funds for electricity at the school (and clean water!). Thank you to all who made this possible!

I also wanted to update you on the KCSE and KCPE fund drive.  Because of your generous donations, this year we were able to raise $2736.50 for KCSE exams and $607.50 for the KCPE exams, for a total of $3344.00!  This will go a long way in helping many of our students take these required exams.

Please check out the Plant-a-Book International website at www.plantabook.org.

There are so many kids that need sponsors, fees are reasonable and rewards are great.  I'll be in touch again soon!

Brenda 

Donate Now - Last Push for KCSE/KCPE Fees

This is the last week of our fundraising for the 2013 KCSE and KCPE exam fees.  January 31st is the deadline for donations.  What are the KCSE and KCPE exams?

The KCSE is the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam -- the Kenyan high school exit exam.  All of our students who are now in Form 4 (their last year of high school) will need to take this exam at the end of this school year (November).  However, the fees for the exam are due NOW.  At $85/student it is daunting for our students living in poverty to come up with that kind of money.  So any donation that you can make toward these fees will help more of our Form 4 students sit for the exam.

The KCPE is the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam.  This exam is taken by students in standard 8 (like 8th grade in the USA) and they must receive a passing score in order to advance to high school.  These fees are more reasonable at $6.50, but can still be difficult for our standard 8 students to pay.

Form 4 Waddington High School students hold up a sign thanking sponsors for helping with their KCSE fees so far!

Fortunately we have raised some money toward these fees but still have a long way to go to cover more students!  Please visit www.plantabook.org today and make a donation.  Even $5 or $10 will help tremendously!

Standard 8 Galilee Primary School students hold a sign thanking sponsors for helping with their KCPE fees!

 Thank you for helping the needy students at Waddington High School and Galilee Primary School!

Friday's Featured Child ~ Ann

Meet Ann K - HH367

Ann is 13 years old and in standard 8.  Her birthday is August 11.  Ann's father tries to find work as a casual laborer and her mother is unemployed.  Due to the extreme poverty of this family, they could not properly care for Ann and therefore she came to live at Holly House where she could have food, shelter and an education.  Ann enjoys reading story books.  Her best subjects are math and science and she dreams of being a doctor someday. HH sponsorship is $30/mo for full sponsorship or $15 for co-sponsorship.  Can you be Ann's sponsor and friend?

Email info@plantabook.org for more information.