"United we succeed"

This is Kogere Primary School’s motto, where approximately 450 pupils from poor families living in Sega village, Western Kenya, study. In 2006 Simba Friends Foundation successfully implemented a project which involved reconstructing and renovating the school’s buildings. The project was financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within a Polish Aid Programme. The Kogere School is today an example of sound development where buildings are well kept, gardens are tended to and pupils and teachers are fully motivated to work.

In the beginning it was not easy – says Mr. Steven Mbanda, the headteacher of Kogere School – the institution had only 7 classrooms, the building’s walls had never been plastered or painted since the school was opened, there were no windows, doors, desks, books, stationery. We did not even have a staff room. The rainy seasons were the hardest – recalls Mr. Mbanda – we did not have place for the nursery school and standard one’s pupils, so when it rained, teachers were forced end lessons so that the children could take shelter in the nearby mud-huts…

Nevertheless, thanks to the Foundation’s long-term assistance we have managed to solve the biggest problems faced by Kogere School. After 8 months of hard work all the classrooms had been plastered and painted, new windows and doors had been installed, administration rooms and new classrooms had been built. Now teachers have their own staff room and classrooms have been furnished with new desks and chairs. Lessons are no longer interrupted by the rainy season and pupils don’t have to worry anymore about water dripping on their heads from leaking roofs or wading through ankle-deep mud. The Nursery children have their own colorful classrooms, tables and small chairs and the school’s garden is flourishing.

This school is more that I ever dared to hope for! I see that my students too, are very happy and teachers proud that they can teach in such a “modern” school – Steven Mbanda emphasizes with joy. He continues making new plans for his school - today his dream is to open a Book Center which will enable his students acquire knowledge.

The headteacher of Kogere School knows that on his own, he is helpless. That is why he has turned to us once more in the hope that we will be able to assist. He believes that this time too, united we shall succeed.

The Ada Book Center, named in honor of Mrs. Ada Ofwona, built next to the Kogere Primary School in Sega presently stands empty. For parents whose only way of income is farming, buying text books for their children is indeed a great challenge, especially if they have more than one child attending school. A standard one pupil’s complete set of text books cost 1 405 KSH (Kenya Shillings) approximately 70 PLN and a standard 8 pupil’s, 1 979 KSH – approximately 100 PLN. It is therefore, no surprise that pupils do not have access to their own syllabus text books or that the ones they do have are in pitiful conditions having been used over generations by former Kogere School students.

Will Mr. Mbanda’s dream for the Ada Book Center come true? This will depend on each one of us. To start with, we would like to buy a total of 2 149 text books, including course and reference books as well as teaching support materials worth 758 530 KSH (approx. 38 000 PLN). This is a huge amount for one person, even in Poland. However, let’s look at it from a different angle; If, 862 people scarified two cinema tickets worth 44 PLN or 1000 people, a novel worth 38 PLN and instead donated the money towards this cause, then the pupils of Kogere Primary School will be able to open the Ada Book Center this year. For us a small price to pay but for them, doors to unlimited horizons.

If you prefer buying specific text books e.g. for Mathematics, Kiswahili, English, please visit our website www.simbafrieds.org for the full details of book titles, number of copies required and price list. Who knows, maybe thanks to your book children gifted in mathematical skill will be discovered, take an interest in history or even open doors to a world previously unknown to them. Maybe some of them will even graduate, write a book or win the noble prize and help others…… and all because of you!

So let’s do something! And remember that United We Can Succeed for sure! Please transfer your donation to the following Bank Account:

Volkswagen Bank, 34 2130 0004 2001 0411 3171 0002 with a postscript Ada Book Center

A detailed list of books is available HERE