Africa 2024 – Envision Kenya
This is my 3rd year since joining the FOSA team traveling to Kenya and the small village of Kapkemich. So much has changed, and so much that still needs to be done.
Over the past 3 years I have witnessed the growth and impact that FOSA has made. We are empowering the girls attending St. Anne’s to dream of a future that is different than the generations before them.
Education
FOSA was seeded 14 years ago to provide an opportunity for young girls to go to school and to encourage parents that their girls deserve to be educated and build a better life. Today FOSA provides scholarships for 183 of the 350 students attending St Anne’s
Health and Wellness
In 2017, a need to provide health and wellness access was identified and through the generosity of Virginia Wright, the VWHC was built. This health clinic is now participating in the National Health Insurance Fund and is certified for outpatient care.
In 2023, a Behavioral Health Program was launched to do outreach to the entire community. Through this program we can further identify and assess ongoing and persistent generational/cultural challenges including: drug and alcohol addiction, sexual abuse and trauma, domestic violence, poverty, abandonment, gender inequality, lack of Hope.
All these factors play a significant role in the current performance at school and future success of our girls.
Empowerment through Entrepreneurship
As we look to the future, Envision Kenya is adding startups to create new employment opportunities and meet the local needs of the community today and into the future. These include:
The Water Room – a purification water processing facility bottling 5-gallon containers of fresh drinking water (Opened in 2023). We donate 50% of our clean drinking water production to the local schools, clinic, churches and those in need. Today, we are also successfully selling water to families in Kapkemich and the neighboring community of Serem that enjoy the quality, safety and value of clean drinking water. Building sustainability for the future today!
The Kitchen/Bakery – where we teach and train Home Science and Culinary skills. The girls of St. Anne’s will learn to make bread for the school in lieu of purchasing from a 3rd party vendor. Other foods and baked goods will be produced from local Co-Op resources and available to sell. (Opening in 2024)
Together, Education, Health and Wellness, and empowerment through Entrepreneurship IS Envision Kenya.
Together with your generous support, Envision Kenya will make a difference, 1 girl at a time. Asante Sana
Financial Update
The board of directors for the Friends of St. Anne’s Girls’ School are greatly appreciative for the generosity of our friends this year. A fun time was had by all who attended our successful fundraiser in May. Fundraising is ongoing. So far through June of this year, we have raised $65,000 but $40,000 is still needed to fund new and ongoing post-secondary scholarships in 2024.
Your generosity has gone and will go a long way in helping us achieve our 2024 goals –scholarships for 182 secondary, 126 post-secondary and 1 post-graduate scholars.
We’re Back From Kenya and have lots to Update!
A note from Ruth:
Visiting the school and clinic in Kapkemich always humbles me but also makes me very proud of all that has been accomplished thanks to the generosity of our Friends. So many thank you’s (asante sanas) expressed to us by students, staff, parents, patients and the community asking us to thank you for your generosity. So, THANK YOU/ASANTE SANA.
I along with three other board members, Dan Dakotas, Ginger Riddle and Cathy Allin, visited the school and clinic in late May/early June. We met with current and prior FOSA scholars and some of their parents. We also met with the new principal, her staff and faculty, and some school board members discussing and planning for the future of the school. We had discussions with the officers of the FOSA Alumni group who is planning a fundraiser in August to assist needy students at St. Anne’s.
A FOSA tradition is to hold an all-school celebration providing soda and treats for the students. The students’ joy and excitement is palpable as their laughter and their voices raised in song fill the air.
We also met with the clinic administrator, Lydia Kageha, a former FOSA Scholar, to discuss and plan for the clinic’s future and how to achieve self-sustainability. She and the staff work long hours to provide quality care to this rural, medically underserved area.
Ginger Riddle – Director of Education
Mathematics in Action – Updates from Kapkemich!
It’s so much easier to visualize with technology why one least squares regression line is better than another!
With help from a student group at Leavenworth High School, FOSA supplied a high visibility projector to St. Anne’s in the spring. However, the ability of St. Anne’s teachers to use the projector as a teaching tool was still extremely limited by the fact that they had only one laptop to connect to it, when we visited in May.
With 20 teachers sharing one laptop, there isn’t time to practice using online tools or make presentations. During our visit this past May, Ginger enjoyed working with the teachers sharing some basics of using GeoGebra, a terrific online tool for showing mathematical constructions, equations, and even 3D equations, and helped model ways to use it with statistical and calculus concepts.
Desmos is another powerful math teaching tool but has limited applications while there are few devices for student use.
Ginger decided to donate her personal laptop there so teachers would have a second one, but more laptops and additional projectors are definitely needed; there are a myriad ways they can help teachers convey ideas to the girls: show YouTube videos for language learning or history, show a powerpoint lesson, or demonstrate effective, safe search techniques.
Some of our fundraiser participants specified that their donations should go toward computers, and after consulting with teachers, we think laptops will serve the purpose best.
They can be used by students during computer classes, and by students or teachers at other times. These donations will add three more laptops; an improvement but still far short of enough for effective teacher planning.
Update: Revision Books ON THE WAY!
FOSA conducted a survey of St. Anne’s students in Spring 2023, and one need mentioned by a majority of those surveyed was the lack of revision (review) books to help them review their subjects. Kenyan students are examined on the standards from all four years of each subject at the end of their high school career. To ensure success on the very high-stakes national examination at the end of Form 4 (Senior) year, there is a great need for reviewing early standards throughout high school and before their grueling, three-week, national examination period.
Revision books are designed to help students do that. Time was of the essence for our Form 4 students last year, so a board member purchased a few copies for each of their 11 subjects, in the hope that sharing the books will be better than having none. We included revision books for our FOSA Scholars in our grant request to Sisters of Charity for 2024 which we are excited to announce has been approved! ASANTE SANA for their continued support of our girls.
Behavioral Health Program Updates
Norah Teyie, the clinic’s social worker, is very busy conducting community visits every Tuesday and Friday working with a community health volunteer who identifies households with different challenges including:
- domestic violence
- substance abuse
- people suffering from chronic illness
- single young mothers who are showing signs of depression
- young people who need emotional support
- and many students who have for some reason – attempted suicide
In most instances she assesses the best way to approach each individually on a case-by-case basis. Those with chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure are referred to our clinic for management and health talks with our nurses.
For those with drug abuse, we have now organized a support group and meeting place and at least twice a month they are welcome to participate in a behavioral change program where we invite a professional from different institutions to come and talk to them.
Those suffering from domestic violence and trauma issues book appointments with the clinic and attend session talks with Norah to determine if the situation is severe. If so we usually refer them to a specialist.
With girls from St. Anne’s experiencing academic performance challenges, she is now conducting 1-1 sessions with them on Monday and Wednesday after school each week. Nora works through what are the conditions or obstacles to learning and determine with faculty and staff next steps to help them become more successful at school.
ASANTA SANA Nora for all the hard work you are doing to make Kapkemich, a stronger, healthier and vibrant community!
From the Principal’s Corner
Thanks to your donations, FOSA was able to purchase laptop computers and a digital projector to be used at the school. Teachers are are now able to utilize PowerPoint presentations, images and even film as teaching tools.
Consequently, teachers and students alike find the projector to be a useful classroom device. These are some advantages of using projectors at St Anne’s – Kapkemich secondary school.
- Easier Note Taking:
Projector has enabled teachers to create bulleted PowerPoint presentations or other highly organized notes for the class. Students can take better notes with the ability to discern what information the teacher displays is most useful to them. Additionally, students ask the teacher to repeat a slide if they missed information. - Greater Teaching Versatility:
Projector release teachers from being bound to pen and dry-erase boards to present information to their students. With the use of the projector, teachers can now use films, slides, and images to teach students about the world and places they have never seen and can’t imagine. Students can listen to lectures given by worldwide experts. Teachers also find that the Internet is more useful since projector can display web content to an entire class, rather than each student accessing information on small individual computers. Our projector also delivers exceptional sound quality, which is advantageous when listening to music or educational films. - Better Use of Class Time:
Prior to the use of projector in the classroom, teachers had to spend time writing notes on the board, as well as erasing information due to limited space. By using the projector, teachers can more easily prepare all notes prior to class for easy presentation. Teachers also find that they spend less time repeating or rewriting information that is now accessible with a simple click. - Better Student Presentations:
Students are appreciating the use of projector as they prepare class projects that they can now create in PowerPoint. Consequently, students find that presentation creation goes faster with each person using their own computer to create their section of the presentation. Presentations on a projector, additionally, reduce the need to make copies of materials to pass out to classmates during presentations that can now be displayed for the entire class to view at once.
Once again thank you so much for your donation. It’s truly appreciated.
Amos Kipkemboi – HOD Academics
Sarah mwaura -School Principal.
Art and Music at St. Anne’s
During this visit, Dan Dakotas, retired high school and college art teacher, taught two art classes at St. Anne’s. The art project was inspired by the recent eclipse of the sun. The students used Prisma color pencils to draw on black Letramax boards their interpretation of the sun and moon during an eclipse. Another opportunity to integrate artistic creativity with science. During a prior visit, Dan also used nature as the inspiration for an art project where the students drew from life using leaves and flowers. According to Dan, art teaches a person critical thinking and a way to express what they experience in nature, the spirituality and joyfulness of creativity, and the juxtaposition of light and shadow not only in nature and the environment but in the lives of people. Thank you, Dan.
Envision Kenya is a strong believer in achieving our mission through partnerships. In the last year Envision Kenya partnered with the William Baker Choral Foundation – The Institute for Healthy Singing and Voice Research. Jamea J. Sale, PhD, Executive Associate Director of the Choral Foundation and Director of the IHSVR, Niccole Williams, MME, Education Director, and Greg Wegst, advisory board member traveled to Kapkemich to provide musical guidance and training. Additionally, the IHS&VR has provided a variety of instruments and resources to support student learning.
Recently, St. Anne’s advanced to Regionals in music and dance competition, an achievement that has filled the entire school and community with pride and excitement.
St Anne’s Girls High School is a shining example of how integrating arts into education can create a more well-rounded, dynamic, and inspired student body.
Envision Kenya Van
Transportation during our prior visits to Kenya has been reliant on the few Kenyan friends who own cars, sometimes needing 2-3 cars to carry the visitors and all their luggage. Thanks to two donors we are excited to report that we were able to purchase an Envision Kenya van. Those of us who recently visited Kapkemich in May had the privilege of being the first visitors to benefit from it. Availability of such transportation fulfills one of the criteria for bringing medical and educational teams to Kapkemich to support the mission of Envision Kenya.
Partnership with Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence, Kansas
Earlier this spring the students at Bishop Seabury High School in Lawrence Kansas – spent a couple of months collecting balls, books, and shoes to support the efforts of Envision Kenya. Dan Dakotas and Ruth Schukman-Dakotas visited the school in early May to receive the donations. Dan and Ruth along with another board member, Ginger Riddle, presented the balls to St. Anne’s and Kapkemich Primary schools during their recent visit.
