Board members from the Friends of St. Anne’s Girls’ School Fund (FOSA)—a nonprofit partner for the Envision Kenya initiative—recently returned from a productive site visit to Kapkemich, Kenya. The visiting team included Ruth Schukman-Dakotas, Dan Dakotas, Ginger Riddle, and Blaise Heckman.
During their trip, the board met with key Kenyan partners advancing FOSA’s mission, including Emmaculate Jeruto, Associate Director of the FOSA Office in Kenya; the FOSA Kenya Board of Advisors; Lydia, Executive Director of Envision Kenya and Administrator of the Virginia Wright Health Clinic; and Sarah Mwaura, Principal of St. Anne’s, along with the school’s staff and faculty. The visit included a review and update of FOSA’s organizational structure and communication pathways. The board also refined the scholarship criteria—maintaining the core values of need and merit while adding consideration of behavioral health factors, in collaboration with the clinic, for scholars experiencing academic challenges.
Of course, the trip wasn’t all meetings and business. Each board member spent time in the classroom, engaging directly with students and sharing their talents:
Ruth taught in the home science class, where she showed students how to prepare and serve a meal. She also taught them to make oil-based snickerdoodles (butter is very expensive and not readily available) and peanut butter cookies. Later the students baked 600 cookies for the FOSA-sponsored all-school celebration.
- Dan led an art class, encouraging students to design creative works using just four Prisma colored pencils (including white) on Letramax blackboard.
- Ginger, a retired high school math teacher, taught math to each of the classes and did revision problems with the form four (senior) girls.
- Blaise, a financial advisor, offered insights in business classes and also helped coach soccer.
Daisy gets an award for being top student in a subject.
On our last day, we met with all the FOSA scholars and recognized the top performers in each subject and top three per class for overall performance. We also spoke to the entire school and enjoyed music, dance, and oratorical performances that the girls were preparing for their upcoming regional competition.
Recognizing top FOSA Scholars in each subject with golden Envision Kenya t-shirts
Emmaculate Jeruto at the border between Maasai Mara, Kenya and the Serengeti, Tanzania
To end the visit, the team enjoyed a few days on safari. As is tradition, they invited a local Kenyan who had never had the opportunity to experience a safari—this year, Emmaculate Jeruto joined the adventure.
by Ruth Schukman-Dakotas
Donations to Friends of St. Anne’s go to education for girls (Click to Donate). Board members pay for their own travel.
