New Dawn in Kenya

Last week we attended the annual CMS (Church Mission Society) conference in Kenya. There were about 100 delegates from across East Africa – about half from CMS (UK) and half from CMS (Africa).

 

  During the week Malcolm visited a church project near Runda. Runda is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Nairobi with large houses and embassies built on former coffee plantations. Beside the luxury is a crowded slum village, Huruma, where many of the gardeners and other staff that work on the estates live. This is a squalid slum with no sanitation or health facilities. Although the Government provide free Primary Schooling, fees are charged for Secondary Education which means most poor families are unable to send their children to secondary school.

In 2004 local Christians opened New Dawn Educational Centre – a secondary school for 160 pupils. Here nominal fees are about £150 per year which is about a quarter of the running costs. However many students cannot even afford to pay this. Many of these are orphans of parents who died of AIDS.

Because the Government does not allow permanent structures to be built in slum areas the 3 storey school  is constructed from old cargo containers.

Although the shool is crammed on a site of less than 2 acres it includes an agricultural project, and cares for 2 cows which provide milk for the pupils.

Malcolm was told about a 35 year old man who applied to the school to start his secondary education, as he had never done more than primary education. At first his application was treated as a joke. However when he persisted and the teachers realised how serious he was, having sorted out the practical difficulties (e.g.ensuring he had a uniform that fitted), he was accepted.

Since completing his studies he is now at higher education, having joined a local Theology College to train as a pastor.

For more details about the work of the Educational Centre: http://www.africanleadershipinc.org/new-dawn-educational-centre-clinic/

In addition to a range of workshops the Conference ended with some home grown emtertainment, which included Irene and Corrie.

This week’s Proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Nigeria: “When the mouse laughs at the cat, there is a hole nearby”