Percy Davies Special Needs School - Kambiti
After the great success of our first venture into Special Educational Needs at Kirunguru School, we have moved on to purpose build a second school in a place called Kambiti on the road between Thika and Embu. Kirunguru showed us just how much demand there was for schools for children with mental and physical disabilities. Since it opened, it has also shown us just how much benefit children can gain from attending a school such as this.
Many of the children who joined Kirunguru were hidden away and kept secret from the world before they were given the opportunity to join this school. Originally, the unit was simply a corner of a classroom in the mainstream primary school with a teacher dedicated to a handful of children. With the help of Vision Africa, a separate building was established with a dormitory which allowed children to board. In May 2007, the school opened a new classroom and a second dormitory allowing the role to increase to 50 children with about 30 boarders and 20 day scholars.
The purpose of a school like this is not to get children to pass exams but to teach them life skills which will improve the quality of their lives and possibly open up opportunities for a more independent future. A link has been made with a local polytechnic and some of the older children attend classes in dressmaking, hairdressing or carpentry. These are children who had been written off as hopeless cases…now they have a future thanks to a school supported by Vision Africa.
With one success behind us, when we were presented with the opportunity of a piece of land on which we could purpose build a second school we rose to the challenge. Donors were found and the structure at the Kambiti site has steadily gone up. The doors opened to the first 20 students in May 2008 and there are currently around 50 children of mixed abilities attending the school. At present, all students are boarding in the facilities which form part of the school.
We are grateful to the folks that have given for the building and equipping of this centre and we know it will be a model school of its type when it is finished. Meanwhile we still need support for landscaping the site and buying equipment for the centre. As the area of Kambiti is semi-arid we also have a real issue with water supply and are looking at how we can improve this; in the meantime the children enjoy making a fuss of 'Mac' the donkey who helps fetch water each day. We have also provided seeds for some drought resistant crops to be grown. The first crops of millet, sorghum and sweet potatoes have taken well and the children are involved in maintaining the shamba (grounds for planting) as Activities for Daily Living (ADL) form part of their curriculum.
In addition to the farming of drought resistant crops, we would also like to assist Percy Davies School to set up income generating activities to allow them to become more self-sufficient. Projects like breeding chickens and rearing cows and pigs can provide funds for the running costs of the school.
In order to fund the monthly running costs of the school, we are also looking for sponsors for the new students. This could be either a monthly payment of £16 or a one off annual payment of £192 for boarders or just £7 per month for day students.
If you are interested in sponsoring a child at Kambiti please visit our sponsorship section to download a sponsorship form, or you can contact us via our contact page or by email to:
Maybe you could get your friends, family or colleagues involved and have a fundraising event at your workplace, school, sports club, scouts etc. to raise more money. The more money you are able to donate, the more work we can do for these most desperate of children.
Thank you!
50p gives a child a main meal every day they are at school.
£1 a week pays for a child’s education
Updated September 2009