Back to School!

January marks the beginning of the new school year in Kenya, and our Nairobi Kids headed back to class on January 6.  As can be seen from these photos of the first week of school, the children were excited to be back in class and see their friends. 

Fanuel (the school director) reports that 95% of the sponsored children (other than Form 1, which reports next week) have returned to school.  Brenda (the Plant-a-Book Int. director) has emailed any sponsor whose sponsored child has not returned.  Therefore, if you have not received an email you can rest assured that your sponsored child has safely returned to class.  We may still see a few more children straggle in as some families travel far into the countryside over the break and their return is sometimes delayed for various reasons.

Since high school eligibility is dependent upon KCPE scores, Form 1 traditionally starts a few weeks after the other children return to school.  WHS Form 1 students will begin the school year on Monday.  We expect a list from Fanuel of the Form 1 students have returned to class by the end of next week.

In other exciting news, Fanuel reports that the primary school children are already using the two new classrooms that have been built, even though the construction is not yet complete.  He assures us that they are safe to use.  Thank you to all of our donors who made the construction of these much needed classrooms possible!  Donations are still needed to complete these rooms.

Please remember to update your sponsored child’s grade level when writing them letters or making purchases from the Online Shop.  If you have any questions about your sponsored child, please email Brenda at info@plantabook.org.

 

 

 

 ~ Submitted by Brooke

52 Week Fundraising Challenge

 

Some of you may have seen the “52 Week Money Challenge” that has been making the rounds on Pinterest, various blogs, and Facebook.  The concept is simple – each week you set aside an amount equal to the week of the year.  So, you set aside $1 in week 1, $2 in week 2, $3 in week 3, and so on, until week 52, when you are saving $52.  The beauty of this system is that you should not feel a huge pinch in your budget as you increase your savings amount because each week you only need to find $1 more than you saved the week before.  Though the amounts seem small in the beginning, by the end of the year you will have saved nearly $1400!

Our large fundraising goal this year is to complete the fundraising for the construction of the new classrooms for the Galilee Primary School.  Wouldn’t it be fun if we all tried the “52 Week Money Challenge” to benefit our Nairobi Kids?  If you can take the challenge as described above you could contribute $1378 to the effort – that is a quarter of a classroom!  If using dollars will not work for your budget, the system is easily modified to save in 50 cent increments (yielding $689 at year end), quarters (yielding $344.50 at year end), dimes (yielding approximately $137 at year end), or even nickels (yielding approximately $69).  Any amount is appreciated!  You could also do the challenge in reverse if you tend to have more money at the beginning of the year than at the end.  However you choose to execute the challenge, these funds would go a long way toward putting our kids in safe, dry classrooms by 2015!

If you would like to print out a template showing how much to save each week, the Life As You Live It Blog has templates available for the system using dollars, 50 cent increments, and quarters, as well as saving dollars backwards.

For more information on our Buy-a-Brick campaign to build new classrooms for the Galilee Primary School, visit www.plantabook.org or email info@plantabook.org.

~submitted by Brooke

*All external links have been provided for your convenience only. Plant-a-Book International is not responsible for the content of any external websites which are linked to from this blogsite.

Construction on the New Primary Classrooms Has Begun

Construction has begun on the two primary classrooms that we have partially funded to date!  These classrooms will replace the dilapidated, temporary structures that the children in the Galilee Primary School currently occupy.  We need only $1396 more to fully fund these two classrooms.  Assuming that we are able to raise the remaining funds, construction is expected to take approximately two months.  This timing will allow the students to move into the new classrooms during the first term of the new school year. 

Please help us raise the funds to complete the construction of these first two classrooms by making a donation to our Buy-a-Brick Campaign.  For more information on the Buy-a-Brick Campaign, please visit www.plantabook.org or email info@plantabook.org.

~submitted by Brooke

Update on the Buy-a-Brick Campaign

Thanks to our generous donors we continue to make progress in our fundraising efforts to replace the temporary Galilee Primary School classrooms with safe, permanent structures.  Our current goal is to build six ground-floor classrooms for the primary students.  To date, our Buy-a-Brick Campaign has raised enough money to fund our first classroom, and we are working on funding a second classroom.

 

One of the temporary Galilee Primary School classrooms needing replacement.

Our campaign recently received a significant boost from a contribution by the students at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Sydney, Australia.  The children there held a Busking Day to collect money for charity, and were able to raise $515 toward the construction of our second classroom.  Thank you, Our Lady of Lourdes, for helping to build safe, dry classrooms for the primary students at Galilee!

We need only $1396 more to fund the second classroom.  Please consider making a donation to the Build-a-Brick Campaign as part of your Christmas or end-of-the-year giving.  We would love to have the second classroom paid for before we close out 2013!

For more information on the Buy-a-Brick Campaign, please visit www.plantabook.org or email info@plantabook.org.

~submitted by Brooke 

Buy a Brick Campaign Update

We are making slow but steady progress toward our fundraising goal for the new Galilee Primary School classrooms.  So far we have raised $2423.50 toward the second classroom, leaving us with $3276.50 more to raise.

YOU can help make this dream a reality. The walls and roofs of the current primary school classrooms consist of sheet metal with rough wood pole supports, and one wall in each room is half sheet metal and half chicken wire to allow for airflow and a little light. The state of deterioration is very evident. The roofs are leaking, causing flooding during the rainy season. The children need and deserve a healthy and appropriate learning environment. Imagine clean, dry classrooms for these children to learn in -- such a basic need, yet out of reach without your help.

Here are things you can do to help our children:

1.   Use Goodsearch.  Each time you need to do research on the internet, please use www.goodsearch.com.   This doesn't cost you a dime, but Plant-a-Book International will receive funds from your participation!  In the box labeled "Who do you Goodsearch for?" simply type in:  Plant-a-Book.  Then search away!

2.  Shopping on line is convenient, but with one small step your shopping can help others, too!  And it's easy!  Simply go to www.igive.com. Select Plant-a-Book to receive a percentage of your purchase at no cost to you!

3.  Tell others about Plant-a-Book International and ask them to make a small donation.

4.  Round up your latte order and put the change in a little change purse -- at the end of the month that change could add up to a couple extra dollars to donate.

5.  Add up your change that ends up on your dresser and donate it.  Just think of what we could accomplish if everyone did that each month!

6.  Sell your items on eBay and select Plant-a-Book International as the registered nonprofit to receive a percentage of the proceeds of your sale!

7.  Add our tag lines below to your signature on your emails -- this is an easy way to spread the word about our work:
www.plantabook.org
www.nairobikids.blogspot.com

8.  Donate Now!  Just click the button below ~ any amount is appreciated and will go along way in helping our Galilee children!