SUMMER 2020 NEWSLETTER
WE Care is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty through education and improving lives by implementing water-related projects that benefit the community.
JOSEPH STUDYINGAT HIS HOME WITH HIS NEW LAPTOP.
EDUCATION
Current University Students
Joseph studies at Mt. Kenya University near Nairobi. He is studying business and accounting and has been elected to represent handicapped students at the university. His left arm was injured when he was a child and is atrophied in a fixed position. He has gained wide recognition in his effort to improve the lives of handicapped individuals.
David studies business management at Kenya College of Accounting Western Campus in Kisumu.
James, Sharline, Jenter and Joseph rent rooms near their universities while David is able to attend classeswhile living at home. WE Care provides them with $100/month to help cover rent and food expenses. Due to the closure of university campuses in Kenya, these students returned home where they continued their studies online. WE Care was able to provide each student with a laptop so they could access class material from their rural homes. No cable service there! Each student has to purchase credits which allow them to have access to satellite signals from their location.
Secondary School Students
Students are invited to attend schools based on the results of a comprehensive national exam given at the end of their eighth grade year. National and highly-rated private boarding schools seek those who attain superior scores; however, since room and board are included, the fees for these schools are often out of reach for students from impoverished families.
Jacquie, Maryanne, Costa, Movine, Jackline, Denilson, Glen, Glen Otieno and Emmanuel have all qualified and attend quality boarding schools. Jacquie and Maryanne will complete their studies this year and should be invited to continue their studies. Successful students are assigned a university and course of study based on results of national exams. The academic year for universities follows the calendar year.
Secondary schools were closed recently due to the cur-rent pandemic and are scheduled to open the first week of June.
Day school students include: Lewis, Bryan, Race, Eugene, Antoinette, Miriam, Alex, Jesse, Sarah, Jentrix and Gorety. They are enrolled in three different schools, each close enough to their homes to be able to walk there each day. We have placed students according to qualifications and proximity to schools.
Several of the students are orphans who were living with an elderly relative who was unable to provide a school uniform, supplies or fees. We seek to help the most promising of the students who come to us for assistance, but must refuse many students from this rural area each year. Students must show high achievement each term in order to receive support.
JON STEINER WITH ONE OF THE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MAHERO.
Evans, who is recognized as a community leader in the village, supervises WE Care projects and remains in close contact with all students and their schools.
WE CARE PROJECTS
Solar Panels
Thanks to a generous donation dedicated to water-related community projects, WE Care was able to replace electricity with solar panels as the power source for pumping water from the well we drilled two years ago. This is a considerable monthly saving to the community. Depending on the weather and other local conditions, as many as 1000 people rely on this well for safe drinking wa- ter. During recent flooding that displaced hundreds of people in the area, the well was the main source of clean water for the entire community.
STUDENTS HELPING MOVE STORAGE TANK INTO PLACE AT SCHOOL.
Gutters and Holding Tank
Mahero Secondary School, the local high school, used to pay to have clean water transported to the school. With funds dedicated for water projects, WE Care was able to install gutters on one of the main school buildings and purchase a 10,000 liter holding tank to collect rain water. As a result, students now have a supply of water that can be consumed as well as used for cleaning lunch utensils and for personal hygiene.
School Toilet Project
The school lacked adequate clean toilet facilities for girls. A new latrine with cement floors will soon be completed for their use.
Community Challenges
WE Care works in the Mahero village community near Siaya in Western Kenya. The climate is divided into two rainy and two dry seasons. Since extremes can occur, dry often means drought and wet can mean floods. This year the area experienced excessive rainfall which resulted in re- cord-breaking flooding of the local river. High water destroyed many traditional stick and mud homes, forcing residents to stack their belongings along the raised roadbed and to spend days sleeping there or in the local school. Five of our families lost their homes.
The river was slow to recede and rebuilding homes will be challenging. In addition, all of the crops located in lower areas were destroyed. This disaster coincided with the arrival of the Covid19 virus pandemic. Stay at home orders were issued, transportation was halted and food supplies dwindled. Outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and malaria are feared.
Thanks to the support you have provided, WE Care is able to educate promising students and improve the lives of those living in the Mahero community. Although our effort may appear small in the larger scheme of things, each of the lives we touch will in turn affect many others during their lifetime. It is my wish as I approach my 80th birthday that I will be able to see these students attain their goals and that I will once again be able to visit them.
Your interest and support is greatly appreciated and is crucial to achieving the goals of WE Care. Thank you. Asante sana in Kiswahili.
JON STEINER, PRESIDENT
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