Beginnings

An Introduction

Since 1998 the people of Keyworth and many of our friends have been involved in providing support for the school at Kadzinuni, support which we hope will continue and endure for years to come. On behalf of all the children and parents of Kadzinuni, thanks go to all who have helped in the past, and to others, your help will be valued.

On our visit in February 2001 one of the parents said, "With your help we can make this school shine, to give our children a good education". With God's help I'm sure this will happen.

I hope you enjoy this outline of the Kadzinuni Story... SO FAR that is!

How it all started

April 1998 saw our first visit to Kenya, mainly for a Safari holiday, which included a week of rest and recuperation on the Kenya Coast near Mombasa. Whilst at our hotel, The Travellers Beach at Bamaburi we became friendly with our waiter, a young Kenyan called Alex Mwarome Munga. Alex's home village is Kadzinuni.

The whole holiday had been an amazing experience for us all, and when we had been home for a few days we decided that we had to try to put something back into Kenya in return for the pleasure we had enjoyed. Through Alex we made contact with the Head Teacher of Kadzinuni, Mr Jonathon Kombe.

Kadzinuni Primary School has about 450 pupils and about 8 teachers plus a large nursery class. Children commence nursery at aged 5 or 6, then move into the school at age 7. They will remain at Primary School until they pass Grade 8 Examinations. This means that some children do not move on until they are sometimes 18 or 19 years old. The Kenyan Government provides the teachers, but little else. A teacher is provided for each classroom the school has irrespective of the number of pupils. The building, all teaching materials and examination fees have to be provided by the parents. So in an area as poor as Vipingo many children may miss out on schooling because of lack of money to pay their fees. In the early years examinations are quite inexpensive, so school fees for a child for a year are only 400 to 500Ksh (Kenyan Shillings) or about £5 sterling. Examination fees become higher as the children progress. To put this into context a steady full time job in Mombasa may pay only 100Ksh per day (£1) and very people in Kadzinuni have regular work. Annual leave is usually unpaid, and those who do work actually live in or near to Mombasa as transport to work is very difficult, so after rent and food there is little left for school fees.

The great thing however is the enthusiasm from children and parents for learning. It is a major priority in their lives and this shows through whenever you meet them.