Updated letter about the the girls in Kenya

I have some friends in Kenya and one of them is a teacher as myself. I would like you to read his letter
“As for the two girls that I told you about let me tell you something about their background.

One is called Sarah Ombati, she is in Form 3 and she is 15yrs old. She is very bright but comes from a very poor family. Her father is a casual worker so he is on and off work with no stable source of income. Her mother is tailor who mends clothes and the job is unreliable.In her primary school exams she got 395 out of 500 marks. Since she entered this school she has maintained either position 1 and 2 despite the fact that she is often send home because of fees. She hopes to be a neuro-surgeon when she finishes her education. They live in a two roomed house with no electricity and running water. At the moment she has a balance of 22,000 kshs as school fees. As for next year when she is in form 4 she will be required to pay about 10,000 kshs and if she will not  have paid by January the balance then she will be forced to go home. If she continues with her good performance I am sure she will go to the university.

The other one is called Teresiah Kihuyu, age 17yrs and in form 3. comes from a very poor family where the parents are self employed and have a small land where they grow cabbages to sell. They are 9 children in the family but only 3 of the children are in school because the parents can’t afford school fees. She was forced to stay home for about six months because of school fees. Her father’s inability was a result of a hospital bill he had to pay of the sister who had gotten an accident in school while doing an experiment in the laboratory. Despite her being sent home often she often does well in class. Last term she had a B-. She hopes to be a lawyer or architect. Up to now, she has a fee balance of 31,000ksh. Next year she will be required to pay about 10,000 ksh for her form 4 exams.

Well Hans, sorry for giving you all this issues, but I hope and trust that out there they are good people who would be willing to assist the less fortunate. I believe you saw for yourself how people live and survive and any kind of help would be welcome. I know with your blog page the two students might just get some assistance.

Otherwise I am doing fine. In fact with the big globe, geography has become very exciting like everyone one want to handle it in class and teach the others. As you saw, the students are really active in class and very challenging. By the way, our Red Cross Club won the national first aid competition. It was tough but we managed to defeat all the other teams from all over the country. This is our second year as champions. I hope next year we shall win and retain the trophy for good. I was also voted the most active patron and the most active club in our branch.

Now that am connected I shall be in touch often. Say hi to your wife, children, students and friends. I wish you all a good time.

Yours friend
Robert”

(2 dollars is about 22 Kenya Shillings Pappa HANS comment)

I recieved following info today 1/10

“As for the two girls, they normally depend on bursary if lucky given by the constituency development fund which gives assistance to needy student. The bursary normally ranges between 2500 to 8000 hence they are always left with a balance. This term they were not lucky to get the bursary. Fees per year is normally 18000kshs. As for next year, the girls will be required to pay 18000 but they pay in installments of 10,000 the first term and the balance divided between 2^{nd and 3rd term, next year will be their last so any assistance will only be for one year. I have faith that these two girls if assisted  can achieve they goals and become great people who can help others in future.  As for the information about the bank, its MOI GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL, KAMANGU. Account no. 100-098-956 Savings account (Kenya Commercial Bank, kikuyu branch, kenya). SWIFT code: KCBLKENY   “}

I do hope I can find sponsors soon, Pappa HANS

Things are not always what it seems

Today I recieved an email that looked just like one of many spams, I wrote a short question… Who are you and answered the mail without opening it. Just like I do with all the rest spams that I believe to be spams but am not sure about.

This one did not bounce back with “unknown adress” but a polite and humble short response from one of my readers somewhere in Stockholm, that wanted me as a good high school teacher to recognise the situation of the people in Tibet in my teaching. Yes I do recognise the hardships for these people and I sometimes qoute Dalai Lama, as often as I qoute Gandhi or even mother Theresa. all good people and representatives for the human part of humankind.

I salute all people who in their heart try to reach out and do some more… touching the lifes of others in a unselfinsh way.

I give you the link to the filmclip of the simple demonstration that this small group of protesters outside Chinas embassy recently. They raised the flag of Tibet. A flag that are prohibited to raise in Tibet, could give you 20-25 yrs in prison for doin such an act. there are so many terrible things in this wonderful world, lucky enought we can use our free will to do what we can… None can do all but all can do something.

Thank you all for helping the world by acting on your free will

Pay it forward project… LA Unica

Today I recieved the word that five students at Sannarpsgymnasiet in Halmstad will do a serviceprojekt for La Unica. Dedicating at least 50 hrs each in different ways of fundraising. They will start with having discos for young kids…   Great girls and students. I am so proud of them! There are some more students that are planning on doing similar things, I will let you know of them later, as their written ideas come to my knowledge.

I enclose the letter from the five students…

La Unica-projekt

La Unica är en skola som ligger i en byn Lusigeti utanför Nairobi, Kenya. På skolan går det 197 barn varav 38 är föräldralösa. Skolan drivs av David Gaitungu och Mrs Mwaura. Barnen lever i en miljö utan elektricitet, därför kan de inte studera på kvällarna. De enda lokaler de har är två förfallna byggnader.

Vi är fem elever som heter Katarina, Amira, Ajsha, Kitty och Farhia. Vi går vårt andra år på IB-programmet på Sannarpsgymnasiet. IB är en internationell erkänd utbildning där all undervisning sker på engelska. I vår kursplan ingår CAS. Det kan liknas vid projektarbetet (100p) på de nationella gymnasieprogrammen. CAS är uppdelat i tre delar; Creativity-Action-Service. La Unica är vårt service projekt.

Vårt mål med projektet är att samla in pengar till La Unica. Vi vet att de behöver bl.a. elektricitet och en “fish tank”, en tank som de kan odla fisk i och på så sätt få en inkomst. De behöver också bygga ut skolan med fler och säkrare byggnader för att tillgodose barnens behov. De behöver skolmaterial som t.ex. läs- och skrivböcker.

Vår vision är att samla in pengar genom att arrangera barndiskon i grundskolor runtom i Halmstad och Hyltebruk.

Vi skulle gärna uppskatta ert stöd med att tillåta oss använda era lokaler till roliga barndiskon. Vi kommer stå för kostnader kring snacks, musik, dekoration samt skojiga tävlingar. Vi kommer också att se till att det finns en vuxen närvarande om det skulle behövas. Allt vi ber om är att få använda era lokaler till ett bra ändamål. Hjälp oss att hjälpa barnen i La Unica!

Get the balance right…

Welcome to virtually tour with us. We had a schedule, you dont, good for you!

This is a glimpse of the trip we did as a family during summer -08

Above picture is from the Jokurlsarlon, meaning the Glacier pond, just below Vatnajokull on the south coast. Vatnajokull starts way up there…

At this place one could not see the effects of global warming closely because this place is always the melting pot and has been for a very long time, but other glacial places we visited it was quite obvious that global warming had its grip on the glaciers. I visited the same glaciers three yrs ago and at least 150 feet less length on the glaciers. On top of that … the height have also decreased. I will show you some pictures from some glaciers.

This lake is called Fjallarlon and is located a few miles west of Jokurlsarlon, a much more quite place and where you can see the effects of global warming. Take a good look at the ridge behind the lake. Can you see the dark areas to the right, yes the ice is hollow and the mountain shines through, this was not three yrs ago. Another thing is the bare rock visible to the left, two areas within the icefall, these were covered with ice three yrs ago. Im sad to say I have witnessed the ice melting in a rapid way. The melting only ends if the climate grows colder, nothing in Iceland indicates that. On the contrary, warmer summers and less snow in winter shows a steady increase in temperature during the last 10 yrs. More storms and rain, but less real snow.

The map portrays the whole of Icaland and this specific area is showing most of Vatnajokull. to the far right in the picture the lake, jokullsarlon is shown and the small valley glacier left of it is just above fjallsarlon, hardly visible for the non trained beholder. Further along the south shore there are many valley glaciers. the most famous one is perhaps breidamerkullsjokull, because theres a huge camping site in front of it (Skaftafell) and the beautifull waterfall of Svartifoss is at its end. We camped just on the left of the highest shown peak at Svinafell, a small site with good scenery in all directions. The great plains very visible on this map are the results of many volcanic eruptions under the ice. The ice melts and all dust and material laying in the ice transported down the glaciers at high speed and the plains are the left overs when the water has stopped flowing.

At Pauls grandmas home upcountry

Two great kidz with great parents

These kids are really smart. I sat watching Caroline 6 yrs old do maths at the level of 10 yr olds in Sweden. Waweru is 4 and he can copy letters and numbers real well. They are both top of the line in school and Im very pleased to be able to follow them as they grow. With a father named Paul and a mother named Feristus they will grow up doing alot of good in this world.

Very educational!

Exams starting soon and then Polytech…

Having recieved word of promised sponsorship of Everlynes Polytech programmer education!  Talked with Paul in Kenya on the phone tonight! We are very happy!  So many good people in the world, ready to reach out and touch someones life at this great length and proportions.

Pay it forward Everlyne!

Finally meeting Everlyne…. Future Programmer….

 

There are many kids waiting to get into High school. There are various quality on the schools. The ones with quality costs about 500 dollars a year, all included. Feel free to contact me through making a comment on this page, I will read it before publishing it.

Would you like to become a donor through High School for someone in Kenya. I have a solid contact in Robert, a teacher at one of Kenyas many schools, Moi Girls High School (Kamangu) – 1 hr NE from Nairobi.

Everlyne has taken some classes in programming (C++ and Pascal, I believe it was) and would like to become a programmer. A good IT Consultant company in Sweden has shown concern and interest in paying for her next schooling! Thank you ever so much! The IT-Diploma program at a Polytech costs 1100 dollars! 1,5 yr training.

Bomas, Cultural centre, Nairobi

An hour program at the large cultural centre of Bomas! Entrance fee and just a month after the Post election violence had something to do with the many empty seats. There was about 70 people looking, sitting on one of the sides of the globe.