The Choir

 Went to the nursing graduation at St. Elizabeth's, Mukumu

Dancers - Love the hair do

Nuru taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

More dancers

The guides lead in the nursing graduates

Sukuti Dancers

People join in

Enjoying the grad

Grad Irene and a friend

Some students and grads

Form 4 exams have ended and the students now wait for their results to be released in February. These are 5 of our KEEF graduates. They are all hoping to have the opportunity to attend university.

National examinations are on for standard 8 (grade 8) and form 4 (grade 12) . St. 8 writes for 3 days so tomorrow is their last day. These tests determine to which school they will be called (if they can afford to attend). When the results are out, boys will be coming to the KEEF office hoping for a scholarship and girls will be going to the CHES office hoping for a scholarship. There will be many disappointed boys. We had about 35 scholarships last year and we interviewed about 127 boys before we closed the gates and said no more interviews. Unfortunately the majority of grade 8 students cannot afford to go on to secondary education.

The form 4 exam results determine which university the students can attend as a govt. subsidized or regular student. That requires a high B or better. KEEF (Kenya Education Endowment Fund) has 14 boys graduating. Hopefully the majority of them get a high B or better. Those students can obtain a government loan so it is much cheaper to obtain a post-secondary education.

Went out on the motorbike with Ronald to visit Nixon, Roselyne and family because Mellan Alinda just turned one. Had a great visit and came home with a kuku (chicken) in a box . She was crowded in with a pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and green pepper so they cut a hole so she could have more room, She is now sharing the chicken coop with 3 guinea fowl and another chicken.

Went out in a matatu to visit a couple of KEEF students who attend a day school. I wanted to see how their solar lamp was working. The brothers live  in a one room rental unit that costs about $5 a month. This allows them to be closer to their school. The solar battery is on the roof as they can't leave it unattended in the yard when they are at school. They get tea at 10 am and lunch at school. Supper they cook on their jiko. The young man on the right is an A student.

Leaving for Kenya

I'm getting ready to leave for Kenya on Monday morning. I'll be doing on-site administration for the Kenya Education Endowment Fund (www.kenyaeducation.org) and a Rotary Foundation  Project that will build 50 protected springs in the Kakamega area as well as other projects.