History of Kenya Link

The project was originally set up in 1985 between Courthill First School, Parkstone and Karigu-ini School Maragwa Kenya. Later Linwood (Special School) and Porchester Boys (Secondary School) also joined the project. Individual sponsors (Friends of Karigu-ini) were and still are involved in the link project.

Karigu-ini School is a rural school with about 50 pupils per class. At the time the Kenya Link project began, there was no free education in Kenya and so the project focused on sponsoring individuals to enable them to go to their local school. The focus has always been to support the local school and to build educational links in the UK, especially from Bournemouth.

What were the Aims and Objectives?

To establish ongoing projects between Karigu-ini school, Courthill First School Parkstone, Linwood Special School and any other interested partner schools.
To ensure that the project is a positive cultural exchange for all parties
To focus on a rural school in Kenya with Bournemouth area schools
To use story making as a means to discover each others cultures and countries
To enable children from all schools to have a dialogue through letter writing, exchanging stories and art work
To set up resources in all schools involved that reflect the cultures of both countries

Over the years a lot of the above objectives have been successfully acheived.

What Happened Next

From the sponsorship point of view, 25 children are currently supported with at least 9 children having been all the way through primary and secondary education at Karigu-ini School
Hundreds of books have been bought for the school
School uniform has been provided for many of the children over the years
The special unit has benefitted from resources sent by Linwood School

Recent changes in Government in Kenya mean that primary education is now free to all children. However there have been difficulties in supporting the increased numbers at Karigu-ini School, especially in providing toilets. The Kenya Link project has managed to provide four pit latrines for the primary school.

Health

A major problem in Kenya is child health. The school currently has 5 orphans due to losing their parents to AIDS. Malaria remains the second biggest killer and your money in sponsorship could help to purchase mosquito nets for each child. Reducing typhoid mortality can only really be done by educating children and their parents to use clean water and live within clean areas.