Nanyuki Preparatory School in Kenya
Michelle Johnson, our Assistant Headteacher, first visited this underprivileged primary school in 2013. It is in the small village of Nanyuki in Kenya. All the children attending the school are from underprivileged or challenging backgrounds with most living in slums around the small town.
She was shocked by the lack of educational resources the school had. Maths resources consisted solely of used bottle tops and the children wrote on anything they could find including the back of washing machine manuals. The school itself was an old wooden building on stilts in need of some TLC and the school yard was a patch of worn away grass. Despite all of this, the positive attitude and happiness of all the children, coupled with the dedication of the staff, was overwhelming.
Since then Michelle has kept in regular contact with Rose Mwangi, the inspirational headteacher, and organised many educational resources to be sent to the school including pens, paper, books, Maths resources and even a few laptops! All were gratefully received with pictures sent back of the children enjoying their new resources.
A registered charity working exclusively with Nanyuki Prepatory, Club Rafiki (registered charity number: EW10413), has helped develop plans to restore and rebuild the school.
Since joining the team at St George's, Michelle has continued the good work and led the whole school in fundraising activities and in 2016 we met our target of raising £6000 to build a new classroom in the school. Many of our children undertook individual enterprises outside of school to help boost the funds.