In EveryWhere Schools (EWS), an education in emergencies NGO, we want all children to learn, discover, have fun and grow in the best conditions, especially in those places where education is difficult to access, as it happens in Molo, Kenya.
Therefore, the EveryWhere Schools (EWS) team wishes to implement an educational project in the Shakinah Primary School community school which is in a precarious situation. This center, which opened its doors in 2012 in the village of Kibunja, is located five kilometers from Molo and about 50 kilometers from Nakuru, the fourth largest city in Kenya.
The school, founded in 2012 by the wife of a pastor of Molo, has 220 students, between 3 and 14 years old, from families with high economic needs in the town and 20 orphans received by neighbors. During the first years, the school operated thanks to the personal resources of its founders, but as of 2016, these could no longer face the costs of its operation, until it was about to be seized. In 2017, the organization Agua NGO managed to settle the debt.
Despite the financial contribution of some families, the school is maintained mostly thanks to the contributions of Agua NGO, even a large number of students have been sponsored by their partners. The same organization managed to raise funds, and with the help of volunteers, it was able to rehabilitate some spaces, such as a chicken coop with 250 chickens, and build new latrines (in process), because the old ones did not meet hygiene minimum standards.
Even so, the expenses of the school are very high, and therefore, the 11 teachers do not reach to collect the minimum salary, lack of educational material and it is necessary to remodel part of the infrastructure to comply with the security minimum standards established by the local government.
To offer a quality and sustainable education, Agua NGO and EveryWhere Schools (EWS) are committed to design and implement a project which will allow the Shakinah school to be sustainable thanks to a financing model that covers all the costs of the school without depending on external aid. Only then, can we ensure its continuity in the future and that the schooling of hundreds of girls and boys is not jeopardized.
After an initial evaluation during the month of July in Molo and its surroundings to understand the needs and reality of the school, EveryWhere Schools (EWS) discovered several examples of schools with agricultural projects that would allow the school to cover its expenses. One of the proposals of EveryWhere Schools (EWS) and Agua NGO, is to turn Shakinah into an eco-agricultural school. But we want the school to be more than this, we want to continue investigating another type of project that will allow them to be more competitive and gain more benefits.
We want to share our enthusiasm and desire with you. At EveryWhere Schools (EWS) we are committed to reduce school absenteeism and improve the quality of education offered. That is why we need your support, so that in the next few years, thousands of children have the educational opportunities that most of us have had in our countries.
Main features and goals of the crowdfunding campaign
To ensure that the Shakinah school can self-finance and self-manage, EveryWhere Schools (EWS) will be responsible for analyzing the market and verifying the best business model to be implemented during the first months of 2019. What we are looking for is:
1.Achieve self-management and self-sufficiency to achieve resilience:
Introduce a business that provides the necessary income so that the school does not depend on external help and can be resilient, that is, that can face any problem, and empower the community.
2.Strengthen the school food program:
The current school menu consists of a plate of porridge as breakfast and, sometimes as lunch, a single plate of rice with a side. For many children, it is the only food they receive during the week. The construction of the chicken coop this summer by Agua NGO will reinforce the nutrition of the students and a small project will be implemented, such as a mini garden.
3.Create a sustainable future:
The project wants to promote a link with the community and reinforce the importance of education in the society of Molo and surroundings. The creation of the chicken coop by Agua NGO or the garden, offers an opportunity for the students to learn about the conservation of the environment through sustainable ecological practices, and teaches them ethical values, as well as to be responsible.
With this campaign, we hope to obtain the necessary funds to achieve the sustainability of the Shakinah school in Molo.
For this first phase of the project we foresee an investment of 10,000 euros, even so a greater amount would allow us to develop this work with more margin of time and security. For this, an analysis that allows us to detect the main opportunities to achieve a self-sustainable model that allows us to obtain a suitable source of income and then implement hand-by-hand with the local community will be necessary.
Once the school incorporates a model that allows it to be independent and sustainable, we will initiate the second phase of the project (not included in this crowdfunding) that will consist of the implementation of a higher quality educational and pedagogical system for the students.
Why this is important
We bet on this project because it can change the lives of many people and offer new opportunities in the short and long term.
1.To the children of Molo. If we manage to minimize school absenteeism and reinforce the pedagogical focus of the school, both, boys and girls, will learn and have fun. Not only will they have an alternative to staying at home or going to work, but they will have access to a future with more opportunities and hope.
2.To the families. While their children are in school, families can dedicate themselves to work or learning. The fact that they are schooled can assure them a good diet and care, besides, it increases the possibilities for families to have a better future.
3.To the teachers. The project provides teachers with good working conditions. In this way, we will achieve a greater commitment towards the school and its students, as well as growing professionally and increasing their personal satisfaction.
4.To the community. The process of schooling has an undoubted human benefit. To educate is to equalize, integrate and include. The city of Molo will have trained and qualified citizens who bet for a just and more equitable society.
Team and experience
The team of EveryWhere Schools (EWS) is the union of different perspectives, trajectories and experiences in the social, humanitarian and educational sphere. The six members of the organization are firmly convinced that a better future is possible and we believe that it is precisely education that can make many children have the possibility of building a future in which dignity is the basis.
The members of the organization are: Diego Villalón (social worker with 14 years of experience in NGOs in the field of health), Salima Pérez (polyglot, specialist in Politics and Culture of East Asia by the University of Yonsei, South Korea, and in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid by the Open University of Catalonia and the Red Cross), Daniel Martínez (pediatrician, pediatric coordinator in Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland and member of the International Pediatric Working Group of the organization), Patricia Viñamata (teacher in Early Childhood Education by the University of La Rioja, with 10 years of experience), Jessica Bendek (trilingual teacher, with 10 years of experience in international schools worldwide as teacher and Academic Coordinator, and technician in Humanitarian Action) and María González (Computer Engineer from the University of Valladolid, with more than eight years of experience in software and web development).
We are one of the first independent international projects that specializes exclusively in offering high quality educational services for girls and boys in humanitarian contexts such as: emergencies, epidemics and disasters; conflicts and wars; extreme poverty or geographical or social marginalization.
In crisis contexts, it is common to think that education is not a priority. However, experience shows that girls and boys suffer less negative consequences on their health as they resume their educational activities faster. Even in the most difficult, unstable and insecure contexts, it is possible to restore these learning spaces.
Although there are hundreds of organizations dedicated to education, and the apparent interest of the international community, millions of children affected by humanitarian crises still do not have access to schools in places as diverse as Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, South Sudan or Lake Chad area. Also those children who migrate to North America or Europe are deprived of going to school. Furthermore, during the great Ebola epidemic in West Africa, some children were left without going to school for almost two years.
Our work is carried out by local communities, to identify with them what their needs and priorities are, to develop educational programs adapted to their contexts, and to always carry them out with local teachers and professors.
The experience we have in humanitarian action allows us to understand how complex it is to act in areas of difficult access or where security is very weak. And the experience in education gives us the tools to be able to offer quality activities to our beneficiaries.