Feed and Educate 80 Children in Kenya For One Year

Will you help Charles feed and educate 80 children of the Kibera slums for one school year?

Charles Olwaro is a man on a mission. For two years he has been operating a makeshift school in the Kibera Slums of Nairobi, Kenya. He does this with the assistance of teachers and peers, as well as with love. Lots of it!

It is unfortunate that schools don’t run on love! Due to lack of funding this school constantly shuts down. When the school closes, the children are left to fend for themselves on the streets and Charles sets out to find work and money to reopen. And the cycle repeats.
You can help! A little goes a long way in Kenya. Sponsor one child for $32 a year.


A quality education is our greatest hope for lifting these boys and girls out of poverty and helping them become productive, forward-thinking citizens and parents.

For more details on this project, please visit our Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/EducatingKenyasChildren/

Our Goal is To Feed and Educate 80 Children for One School Year!
This budget includes:
- Food (breakfast and lunch for 80 children) $1,038 (Only $12 USD per child per year)
- Salaries for 8 teachers $1,394 (That’s $174 USD a year per teacher!)
- Other (books, toilets, supplies) $138
Total: $2,570


Additional Information Provided by Charles Olwaro:

Kibera is the largest slum in Africa with approximately 2 million people comprised of almost all the 42 tribes in Kenya along with refugees from other countries. This rapid increase in population has greatly reduced our resources and increased the rate of poverty in the slums. The school was started in 2015 with 51 pupils including 27 girls and 24 boys. Of these children, 26 were orphans due to deadly diseases such as AIDS while 20 came from single parent households, and 5 had both parents but were addicted to drugs. We now have 80 children under our care.

The school started with myself (Charles Olwaro) as the only teacher and administrator. We are using a hired hall (made of plywood) which we divided into classrooms. The hall is located near the Kenya/Uganda railway which is perilous to our children as the surrounding area is a dumping site for garbage. We have numerous cases of waterborne diseases, which affect our children on a daily basis, along with inhaling dirty air from sewage and garbage.

In Kibera we have only 4 government schools, all filled to capacity. A single class has approximately 100 pupils with only one teacher to attend to them. These students at the government schools are the lucky ones whose parents are working and earning adequate salaries. Orphans live hand-to-mouth and they have nobody responsible for their education.

That is what inspired me to start a school since those orphans from humble families also need access to education - our most powerful tool for the eradication of poverty. In fact, I grew up in similar circumstances as an orphan supported by a foreign volunteer who helped me accomplish my own education. It is only right that I give back to my community with the same type of help I received.

There is a lot of demand from the community whose members value our work with our 80 current children. With additional support we could do even more. For now, our goal is to remain operational. We live day to day.

SHORT TERM AND LONGTERM NEEDS:
- Structurally safe school building which will reduce costs and give us confidence in having our own place. Current building is made of plywood and is flooded with water occasionally.
- Computer laboratory-computer access is extremely important for preparing our children for the future.
- Toilets
- Staff offices
- Kitchen
- Desks/chairs/tables/shelves (each desk seats 3 small children or 2 adolescents. At this time, a few dozen children must stand or sit on the floor.
- Food is needed; most of these children do not have two meals per day and it is extremely difficult to teach a child who is hungry.
- Teachers’ salaries - quality education requires good teachers
- Books

* In Kenya school terms run Jan-Mar, May-July, Sep-Nov

This fundraiser is verified as genuine and supported by iDigitalMedium, a not-for-profit organization in the United States. An iDigitalMedium team member has performed an on-site in person visit to validate the necessity and authenticity of this project as best as they can. iDigitalMedium's role is to provide assistance to verified humanitarian projects through organizational advice and public relations.They assist with structure and encouragement, but do not raise funds. iDigitalMedium is not directly involved with and cannot be held legally responsible for the financial transactions associated with this project.
100% of the funds raised go directly from GoGetFunding (minus bank transaction fees) to Charles’ personal Paypal account.

For questions about this project, please email [email protected]