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Education
Neema Care Center
The Children of Neema Care Center We are currently partnering with Graceway Harvest Chapel to support their free preschool in the slum of Tuwani,
an enclave of nearly 100,000 outside of Kitale, Kenya. In the past five years, Neema Care Center has been saved from
closure and supplied with new buildings, toilets and running water, an exemplary feeding program, five teachers
(and their training), uniforms, shoes, textbooks, and medical care for the 100+ students enrolled every year. As
orphans and vulnerable children, many HIV infected, they can never afford the fees that Kenyan preschools charge;
and since preschool is a prerequisite to attend primary school, these little ones are essentially shut out from
an education.
 New Students, January 2011: "Baby class" This preschool represents their physical security and survival, providing two daily meals, clothing and shoes,
medical attention, sanitary facilities and instruction, and an education that not only excels, but provides their
only hope to qualify for further education and a productive future. For many, it is the only loving, nurturing
environment they experience and almost sole source of dignity and self-esteem as a child.
Only $220 per year can supply the cost of one child's future.
Ongoing Education
PRIMARY SCHOOL - Graceway Victory Academy
Every November, as another "top" class graduates, we face the difficulty of sending our precious students
out of the safe haven of the Care Centre into the unknowns of the local educational system. Many will attend government
schools, usually with no feeding program, but some could very well end up on the streets. Because of these concerns,
our Kenyan partners decided to take on the daunting task of adding Primary levels. Unlike the preschool, the parents
will be expected to pay some fees and help provide their children's supplies. Not only does this help defray
the cost, it teaches responsibility to the adults, helping to change the deeply engrained mindset of dependence
on Western benevolence. We are now in the midst of transition into a self-sufficient Primary school, run by Graceway
Harvest Chapel.
In January 2010, we renovated an adjacent mud and tin building for temporary classroom space; in January 2011,
our Kenyan partners were able to lease a plot across the road from the preschool and erect a larger tin structure
for the 2011 school year. We expect over 100 students to be enrolled up to level 4 in the 2012 school year, bringing
the total in preschool and primary to 200 students.
"STEP UP" SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Though public primary education is technically free in Kenya, there are hidden costs; besides random "fees"
that arise, the schools require that each student supply their own uniform, shoes, desk, and school supplies. Each year,
as up to 30 children graduate from "top class", and prepare to enter primary level, we consider it vital to
supply these items, greatly increasing their chances to continue their education. Many of these students will choose
to attend Graceway Victory Academy, but wherever they may go, they will need these supplies. The cost for one child's
"Step Up" scholarship is only $65.
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