LEWA EDUCATION TRUST APPEAL

Background

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is located in the northern foothills of Mount Kenya about 250 kms northeast of Nairobi. The Conservancy came into being on the 1st of April 1993 and was officially registered by the Kenyan Government as a “Not for Profit” organization on the 20th of February 1995. 
                      
Human populations are rising and poverty is deepening over most of Africa, putting intense pressure on the environment.  As a result between a third and half of Kenya’s wildlife has disappeared in the last twenty years.  Rural farmers have also suffered as human and wildlife populations have been forced to share increasingly limited land. Wild animals regularly damage crops and predators kill domestic stock, which builds up a mistrust and misunderstanding of wildlife. 

LEWA EDUCATION TRUST

The Lewa Education Trust, under the umbrella of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy was established in 2001 and is based at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy offices near Isiolo, Kenya. 

The Trust is managed by a group of professional and business people. The principal members are:

William Craig - Chairman Lewa Education Trust
Faith Riunga - Executive Officer
Delia Craig - Trustee
John Gikaru - Trustee
John Ngeera - Trustee
David Parkinson - Deputy Director, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Isaac Njagi - Finance manager, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Jane Craig - Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Moses Mwongera - Ministry of Education official
Sara Spendrup - Secretary to the Board
Nicky Dyer - Borana

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE LEWA EDUCATION TRUST

The Lewa Education Trust’s main aim is to give the children on our boundaries access to the best possible education and to create an awareness of the importance of conservation.

Much of this is made possible by kind donations from friends, tourists and other visitors to Lewa. Additionally, the annual Safaricom Marathon gives 20% of the money raised to Education.

Schools on request can bring pupils on a day’s outing around Lewa where some of them see animals such as rhino and elephant for the first time in their lives. They have a picnic and are given talks and hopefully in the future will watch videos on conservation activities.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

1. PRIMARY SCHOOLS

At present, the Trust supports eight primary schools:

• Lewa Downs primary School
• Leparua primary school
• Mutunyi Primary school
• Munanda primary school
• Ntugi primary school
• Karimba Primary School
• Kanyunga Primary School
• Subuiga Primary School

The support to these primary schools includes:

• Building classrooms, teachers’ houses and ablution block.
• Buying textbooks, desks and writing materials.
• Facilitating training and refresher courses for teachers
• Improving the communication systems of the school e.g. buying mobile telephones
• Providing water to schools
• Facilitating Conservation Education in the schools and acommunities
• Equipping the schools with computers so that they are able to maintain their own databases and train pupils in basic computer skills
• Providing lunch and/or porridge for the pupils
• Providing well equipped playgrounds
• Fencing the school grounds
• Providing transport for teachers and pupils
• Facilitating end of term exams for Standard eight and seven on a competitive basis
• Bringing in Volunteers to the school
• Tree planting

MAJOR PROJECTS

The following comprise some of the main projects that the Trust hopes to achieve between 2007 and 2013.

Primary School Support

Each of the eight primary schools have, in conjunction with the Lewa Education Trust, complied a five-year primary school development plan to improve their schools’ infrastructure, the curriculum and teaching / learning methods. The aim is to provide a conducive learning and teaching environment for both the pupils and the teachers.

The costing for all the programmes and projects below are current at December 2007. Please confirm with Education Office if you would like to make a donation to ensure they are current and valid. Thank you. TOP

Adequate classrooms for the eight primary schools

An average rural Kenyan primary school classroom has 30 pupils.  In the five years that Lewa has been supporting schools in its neighborhood, in conjunction with the schools and our donors, we have built a total of 21 classrooms in the eight primary schools.

However, there has been a marked increase in the enrolment in these schools and the classes are now literally “bursting at the seams”.  The government does not provide any support to the schools to construct new classrooms and it is the responsibility of the schools community to provide these.  Even though the communities have done a remarkable job of improving their schools, this responsibility is too much for them.

A contract to build a good classroom with a proper span and accommodating 30 children has been placed at a cost of $8,000. To fully satisfy the needs of all the eight schools, more classrooms will be required over the next five years as per the five-year plan.

Cost of one classroom              $7,000 TOP

Sufficient desks and chairs

An average sized desk about two feet wide should accommodate two children.  However due to the increased enrolment in our primary schools, you will find four to five children sharing the same desk, making writing very uncomfortable.
                                                    
The eight schools require desks in the classes - with one classroom accommodating 30 pupils. Using the ratio of two pupils to one desk, to fully equip these classes, 15 desks will be required per class.

Cost of one desk used by two students                      $30.

Cost of 15 desks for a class of 30 Pupils                    $ 450 TOP

Solar Energy

The primary schools have no mains electricity either in the classrooms, offices or in the teachers’ houses and consequently are unable to run electrical devices like computers. The schools wish to install solar panels, batteries and inverters so as to provide better use of equipment or to enable computers to be used.

Already, two of the eight schools have installed a renewable solar powered system that can run one computer, one printer and two bulbs in the head teacher’s office at a cost of $2,080.

Cost of supplying renewable solar power to one school:     $2,080

5-year target of supplying 6 schools with renewable solar power:   $12,480 TOP

Library Books

The majority of children attending the eight Lewa supported schools have no access to books at home.  Textbooks, which the children may have, may not provide the joy of reading and the vast amount of general knowledge to be acquired through reference books. A selection of books is needed at the schools to open a new world for the pupils. A donation to be used to purchase new or second hand children’s books would be an investment in the children’s’ future.

Cost of a set of 10 library books                                               $ 50

5-year target of 2000 library books for the eight schools:  $10,000 TOP

Sports facilities / playground

Netball, football and athletics are presently played on makeshift dust pitches with ash and sawdust used for temporary lines.  The children have learned to make their own balls from plastic bags or socks due to shortage of proper leather balls.

The following facilities would improve games / recreation in the schools tremendously:

1. 1 set of football goals and nets           @ $ 200
2. 1 set of swings                                   @ $ 250
3. Balls –
1. 1 football                                @   $ 30
2. 1 netball                                  @   $ 30
3. 1 volleyball                              @   $ 30

1. 1 set of Netball and volleyball hoops    @   $ 100

Two schools, through very generous donations, have been equipped with the above. 

Cost of sports equipment for one school                                 $ 640

5-year target of sports equipment for 6 schools                  $3,840 TOP

Refresher courses for teachers

The world of learning is changing rapidly as technology advances. Teachers need to keep abreast with what changes there are around them by constantly refreshing their knowledge. Refresher courses are offered to interested teachers, at various public universities, during school holidays at the Trust’s cost and funding is needed for this.

Lewa Education Trust is currently sponsoring one nursery school teacher – Lydia Wanja - for a degree course in Early Childhood Education at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. The annual cost for her education is $ 1,700.

The Trust hopes to sponsor one teacher annually.

Cost of educating one teacher                                        $ 1,700

5-year target of educating eight teachers                $ 13,600 TOP

Lunch Program

Majority of the parents, who send their children to the eight primary schools, depend on subsistence farming for their livelihood. When the rains fail and during the dry season, they are only able to feed their families on one meal a day. Concentration in the classroom is made harder due to hunger. $30 a year, which may be small by Western standards, can feed a child on a diet of maize and beans for a year. If the children were given one meal in school, this would make a big difference.

Four of our primary schools have started feeding programs but these may not always be consistent because:

1. One of the schools plants its own maize and beans and whether they harvest anything depends on whether there is good rain.
2. The second school gets a donation of maize and beans from the government stores in the district and sometimes these are not available.

The other two schools have been very fortunate to have a dependable lunch program through the good will and generosity of a good friend of Lewa. They therefore are able to feed their pupils on one meal a day, everyday.

Cost of feeding one child per year                                      $30

Cost of feeding one classroom of 30 pupils per year             $900 TOP

SECONDARY SCHOOL BURSARIES

The Trust awards thirteen bursaries annually – seven to the best performing pupils in the above schools respectively, the 8th to the son / daughter of a Lewa employee who performs the overall best. The other five beneficiaries are from school from the expanded bursary Programme still aiming at schools boundaring the conservancy.

Currently, the Trust is supporting 102 secondary, 29 College, 5 university and 20 primary school students of who 15 are orphans.

Despite this, many of the children cannot afford to buy supplementary items like uniform, textbooks and boarding items. From 2003, the Trust has committed itself to providing the bursary beneficiaries with full tuition fees, uniforms and boarding items at a cost of $700 per pupil per year. The Trust therefore is actively seeking additional funds to help build up the capital needed before each academic year begins in January.

Cost for one student per year                                                     $ 700

Total cost for 4 Years per student                                              $ 2,800 TOP

Tertiary education                                    

In today’s working world, a secondary school certificate is not adequate to secure meaningful employment. Every year, 90% of our bursary beneficiaries pass well and get admission into government universities or colleges.  It is for this reason that the Trust would like to award bursaries to its two overall best secondary school leavers and each year it would need to fundraise for this.

Cost for one student per year                                                      $ 1,700

Total cost for 3 Years per Student                                              $ 5,100 TOP

Orphans

In our schools, we have many children orphaned by the AIDS scourge and other by illnesses and accidents. We try and assist these children as per the need basis identified by the school head teachers and community. This is done by accessing to the children basic needs like food, clothing, as well as education.

Cost of sponsoring an orphan per year                                    $ 500

What do you get when you sponsor a child?

• Three letters per year from the student
• Three Progress reports on the student
• One annual report from the Lewa Education office
• Two Lewa Wildlife Conservancy Newsletters

Note:  * The costs are calculated at an exchange rate of Kenya shillings 65    to the dollar.

SUMMARY  

Administrative and Legal Information

Donations to the Lewa Education Trust's appeal can be sent to:

a. Kenya Shilling account:
Barclays Bank of Kenya Account name: Lewa Education Trust
Nanyuki Branch Account number: 8150836
P.O. Box 214 Swiftcode: BARKENXA
NANYUKI

b. Dollar account
Standard Chartered Bank (Kenya) LTD
Account Name: Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Branch: Nanyuki
Address: P.O. Box 150 Nanyuki
Account number: 8702095077800
Sort Code: 02-010
Swift Code: SCBLKENX

The Trust's contact persons are:

Alexandra Dixon
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy ( UK )
Phone: 44 207 266 3736
Email: Alexandradixon@aol.com

OR
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy ( USA )
Contact person: Paula Morris
P.O. Box 7943
Woodbridge, VA
22195
Tel: (703) 680-3182
Email: lewausa@verizon.net

OR
Linda Millard
Executive Director
Tel: (650) 851-7738
Email: Linda.millard@gmail.com

Faith Riunga
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Private Bag, Isiolo
Kenya Email: faith@lewa.org
Phone/ Fax: +254 064 31405

The Trust's accountants are:

Ernest & Young TOP