Annual report 2020
We had an incredible year. Support has increased from all sides, and I am truly overwhelmed by the many people who are interested in the project and helping us. Two years ago, I started with the small idea of supporting Harrison’s school and providing the children with a better future, and today we are on the verge of completing a second permanent building. I never expected this back then, but it makes me even happier to see how far we have come, and I am convinced that we can achieve even more.
In Kenya, schools were closed from March until the end of the year, except for the 4th and 8th grades. This was actually not too bad for the construction process. We were able to advance the construction work without having to pay much attention to the children. We were able to welcome the 4th and 8th graders back to our school starting in October. The reason for the partial reopening was that both classes were scheduled to take their final exams in March. Since the roof of the new classrooms was already completed by that time, they could be taught in the new classrooms immediately. Of course, the floors and walls were not yet finished, but teaching went smoothly. For the first time in their lives, the students were able to attend school in a permanent building!
At the beginning of the year we had classrooms without roof and unfinished walls. In this year we wer able to build the roof, to cement the floor, to lay down electric conduction, to install doors and windows and to welcome the first students into the classrooms. A complete success!
For the school start in January, we needed to get the old classrooms, or rather the metal building, back in shape. To build the new foundation, we had to remove some parts of the metal building and redo the ground. So, we had to level the floor again, re-secure the metal sheets around it, and set up the desks in the rooms. By the end of December, we had a lot of work to do. As you can see in the pictures, I was on site myself, giving my all with shoveling and chopping!
Arrival donation transport
On December 23rd, our donations arrived at Harrison's home. It was a long and arduous process. From packing and shipping to clearing customs and transporting from Nairobi to Mombasa, it took over a month. The toughest part awaited us at the customs in Nairobi. Corruption is a widespread issue in Kenya, and we were not spared at Nairobi Airport. Without bribes, it seemed like we would never see our donations. The donations might still be sitting in storage today. After two days filled with discussions, long waits, back-and-forth, and a lot of bribery, we finally managed to clear the 165 kg of donations and transport them to Mombasa. Since there is a curfew in Kenya starting at 10:00 PM and we could only start from Nairobi at 4:00 PM, we didn't make it home before the curfew. On the way back, we had several encounters with the police. However, since we were carrying donated goods, they were not too harsh with us. Exhausted and tired, we arrived at Harrison's home at 1:00 AM and brought the packages into his house, where they will now wait for the handover in January. Overall, we covered over 1,000 km. Harrison's brother was kind enough to lend us his car.
Christmas campaign
Just before Christmas, we launched a holiday campaign offering people the opportunity to donate school supplies for our school. We had four different packages at various price points. Half of the funds were used for purchasing school supplies, and the other half went towards the construction work. Thanks to your support, we were able to buy pens, pencils, notebooks, rulers, erasers, and many other office supplies, which will surprise the students during the first week of school. These school supplies are incredibly helpful to us, and we are immensely grateful for the support. Not all parents can afford enough notebooks and writing materials. Therefore, these donations are a great help. The children now have the opportunity to learn under better conditions.
FINANCES
I am always very committed to ensuring that all donors know exactly what happens with their money. That's why I openly communicate how we use the funds and the costs involved. It’s also important to note that all administrative costs are covered by me personally. This means that exactly 100% of the donated amount goes directly to the school. The financial report also includes the annual report with the figures of our school's income and expenses. I would like to present these figures here. This year, we received an incredible CHF 8,800 in donations! This money has been used as follows: CHF 8’800.- of donations! This money we have used as follows:
| Construction work | Expenses |
|---|---|
| Renovation tin building | CHF 615.- |
| Wall | CHF 1025.- |
| Filling and leveling of the floor | CHF 2’900.- |
| Roof | CHF 782.- |
| Doors and windows | CHF 1’000.- |
| Window frames and plastering | CHF 350.- |
| Foundation of the new building | CHF 3150.- |
| Total | CHF 9822.- |
The deficit equates my personal donations.
Next projects
As I wrote in the last article, our next goal is to completely finish the first building. This includes the gutters, the window shutters, minor interior work and the painting. We have now obtained a quote for the gutters and we will start the installation in January. As the government is demanding running water and we only have the water tank at Harrisons home, we have decide to realise a water project. We will build an underground water tank for about CHF 2’000.- (KSH 200’000) so that we can collect rainwater. This water will then be able to supply us all year around! This will be another big step for our school. After that, we want to continue working on the new building. As this is being built on the same site as the old tin building, we can only continue the work up to a certain point. We want to finish the construction during the summer holidays, where there are no kids on site.
Another highlight will be the hand over of the donations in January. We will hold it as a part of a big school party with lots of music, dancing and food.
