Originally established as a makeshift school in the Eldoret showground IDP camp in 2008, St. Elizabeth has continued as a permanent facility. The remaining transition camp continues to be ‘home’ to the majority of students at the school following the post-election troubles.

The installation and wiring of electricity by The Kenya Power & Lighting Company Limited (KPLC) will improve the learning environment for existing students, as well as opening up a number of possibilities for the future, such as computer learning.

Photo credit: Yorkshire Post Newspapers

Up to 400 tonnes of redundant office furniture had been destined for a landfill site before L&TA were called into the Department of Education offices in Sheffield. About a third of this has been donated to Kenya Aid Foundation, while the rest will go to help small local businesses and start-ups.

The story has been covered by the Yorkshire Post and the Sheffield Telegraph. Terry Askew, Managing Director of L&TA, notes, “When I heard how much [furniture] there was I got in contact with the Kenya Aid Foundation, which will send a lot of it to Africa.” 

This furniture will make a big difference to the educational and community projects that Kenya Aid Foundation works with throughout Nairobi and the Rift Valley Province. Following our shipment of furniture in May 2010, we look forward to distributing this latest donation to projects where even the most basic of supplies are lacking.

The surplus uniforms from Kidzone, Melton Mowbray were delivered by a team from Kenya Aid Foundation to our link project in Nairobi, Fort Smith Educational Centre.

“My husband Robert was born in East Africa and we’ve seen for ourselves how poor the children are but also how keen they are to go to school and learn.” – Debbie Dziura, Kidzone, Meltwon Mowbray.

Kenya Aid Foundation is delighted to have teamed up with one of the UK’s leading removal specialists, Commercial Transfer, who work continuously with cross – sector business including banks, hospitals, libraries, laboratories and universities.

Since an initial partnership with the charity in 2009, Commercial Transfer has generously donated redundant office and school equipment for the benefit of our link projects in Kenya. These resources include furniture and IT supplies which are invaluable to educational facilities and community projects in Kenya where even the most basic of equipment is deficient.

Most recently we thank Capsticks Law Firm in London and Swindon Borough Council for the office furniture that was donated to Kenya Aid Foundation via Commerical Transfer.

Glastonbury is the largest greenfield music festival in the world, located in the Vale of Avalon. Since 1970, the festival has grown to become a forum for music, dance, art and design. Glastonbury 2009 boasted over 135,000 visitors.

Kenya Aid Foundation became linked with Kibugat Community Projects following an initial visit in October 2009. Our subsequent shipment of classroom furniture and sports wear to these projects was carried out with assistance from Kibugat ICT Centre and the Hon. F.K. Bett, M.P, Minister for Roads.

Within the community at Kibugat, our donation will also go to assist Kibugat Secondary School, Kibugat Primary School, Kibaraa Primary School and Kibaraa AIC Church.

A container of goods arrived in Nairobi in early June, containing school uniforms, classroom furniture, stationery and IT supplies donated by schools and offices in the UK.

“Please accept our gratitude for the kind donation that you sent to us. We the Fort Smith Education Center community has greatly benefited from the donation you sent. We write this note to thank you dearly for the generous contribution you gave us.Surely you have turned the small slum school into a center of excellence.” – Principal, Fort Smith School.  

Several barriers are encountered in shipping aid into Kenya, particularly with a customs bureaucracy that discourages the generosity of aid agencies. After several weeks of tough negotiations over arbitrary demands for payment at the port of Mombasa, our shipment of furniture and school supplies was finally on the road to our link projects in Nairobi and Kibugat at the beginning of June. For this eventual movement we thank Kenkal Ship & General Contractors Ltd.

Kenya Aid Foundation returned to Fort Smith Education Centre in Nairobi to distribute school uniforms and stationery donated from the UK. For this we thank Kidzone in Melton Mowbray and Abbott Laboratories in Oxfordshire. We were also able to return to Barnardos in Nairobi and were shown around a new textile project being developed at the orphanage.

TemperTemper approached the charity in early 2010 with a view to being able to fundraise directly toward our link projects in Kenya. As seen on BBC 1’s ‘The Apprentice,’ the company runs parties, for both adults and children, under the expert tuition of experienced chocolatiers. The common interest in Kenya stems from TemperTemper’s link with a farming cooperative in Kenya that suffered badly as a result of the post-election violence in 2008 and is no longer able to manufacture or export fair trade sugar.

Hosted by The Hop Farm in Paddock Wood, the Kent County Fair attracts in excess of 15,000 visitors over the 3 days, offering local craft and shopping opportunities, and a host of country pursuits.

We were moved by the situation of a local father who produces crops for the school in return for his sons’ education. We learnt that water storage to guarantee the supply of his crops had become an increasing problem. Working with the school, we have since been able to support the completion of an irrigation scheme to benefit both the family and the school.

As of April 2010, virtually the whole of the plot has been planted at intervals to produce a continuous supply.