Donate Now - Last Push for KCSE/KCPE Fees

This is the last week of our fundraising for the 2013 KCSE and KCPE exam fees.  January 31st is the deadline for donations.  What are the KCSE and KCPE exams?

The KCSE is the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam -- the Kenyan high school exit exam.  All of our students who are now in Form 4 (their last year of high school) will need to take this exam at the end of this school year (November).  However, the fees for the exam are due NOW.  At $85/student it is daunting for our students living in poverty to come up with that kind of money.  So any donation that you can make toward these fees will help more of our Form 4 students sit for the exam.

The KCPE is the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam.  This exam is taken by students in standard 8 (like 8th grade in the USA) and they must receive a passing score in order to advance to high school.  These fees are more reasonable at $6.50, but can still be difficult for our standard 8 students to pay.

Form 4 Waddington High School students hold up a sign thanking sponsors for helping with their KCSE fees so far!

Fortunately we have raised some money toward these fees but still have a long way to go to cover more students!  Please visit www.plantabook.org today and make a donation.  Even $5 or $10 will help tremendously!

Standard 8 Galilee Primary School students hold a sign thanking sponsors for helping with their KCPE fees!

 Thank you for helping the needy students at Waddington High School and Galilee Primary School!

Friday's Featured Child ~ Ann

Meet Ann K - HH367

Ann is 13 years old and in standard 8.  Her birthday is August 11.  Ann's father tries to find work as a casual laborer and her mother is unemployed.  Due to the extreme poverty of this family, they could not properly care for Ann and therefore she came to live at Holly House where she could have food, shelter and an education.  Ann enjoys reading story books.  Her best subjects are math and science and she dreams of being a doctor someday. HH sponsorship is $30/mo for full sponsorship or $15 for co-sponsorship.  Can you be Ann's sponsor and friend?

Email info@plantabook.org for more information.

A New Year Has Arrived!

Ringing in a new year, our Galilee Primary School, Waddington High School and Holly House students returned to school on Monday of this week!  It's a brand new school year.  The school year in Kenya consists of three terms.  The first term is from January to approximately mid-April, second term is May until August, and third term is September until December. 

If you are a sponsor, this would be a wonderful time to get a beginning of the year letter off to your sponsored children.  They love hearing from you, seeing photos of you and your family, and knowing they are in your thoughts.

If you aren't yet a sponsor, check out the adorable faces of our little ones, the intense faces of our older ones, and make a difference in the life of a child -- change their future!  Visit plantabook.org today!

Friday's Featured Child - Joy!

Meet Joy!

Joy is in standard 1 and is 6 years old.  She lives with her unemployed parents and an older brother in abject poverty.  Her best subjects are Math and Science and she wants to be a doctor when she grows up.  For now, she enjoys reading storybooks and singing!  She helps her parents by cleaning.  Won't you reach out to help Joy?

Sponsorship fees for primary school children are $12.50/month.  For more information, please email info@plantabook.org.

New Year's Message from Fanuel

Dear Sponsors and Friends,

The new year is here.  2012  has been successful for us and hope that 2013 will be even better.

Our prayers and wish is that more and more sponsors come forward to sponsor children both at WHS, GPS and HH for it is the sponsorship that has kept these children in school, put books in their hands, keep teachers in class and so much more.  It enables the children to learn well and before our own eyes  transformation of our poverty stricken community is taking place and soon and very soon light will be showing at the end of the tunnel. What  we  most need at the moment is to have more children sponsored so that  we can help our community. On this may I take this opportunity  to urge our sponsors whose children did the KCSE exams last year or are no longer  coming to our schools to consider  sponsoring another needy child, we all reach out to our friends, family ,colleagues, church, etc. and spread the word, for the more sponsors we get we shall be able to keep  so many more children in school and many lives will be transformed in the process.

This year our priorities are in improving the school infrastructure, ie our primary school classrooms, being that they are temporary they are not comfortable for children to learn in during rainy season because of leaking.  Then we need to purchase the remaining plots of land and sanitary facilities.

At the same we would like to do some purchasing of textbooks  and  other teaching aids in areas we feel our children are not performing well, e.g mathematics, so as to improve their performance.

Thank you so very much. I wish you and your families a happy and successful year 2013.

God bless

FANUEL

Fanuel Okwaro
The Director
Galilee Primary School,  WHS and Holly House Children's Homes