Mwamba Academy
(Eldoret, Kenya)

Our vision:

• To promote education and sustainable community development, especially for children.
• To provide a better tomorrow to needy children, including children orphaned because of different calamities.

How did we start?

Mwamba Academy was started in January 2008 by Fatuma Namatsi, a 30-year old woman with a vision to expand and explore the world for the children. Mwamba Academy is located in Kenya, at the outer cast of Eldoret in Rift Valley province, in Moi's Bridge division.

The political violence that hit our country at the end of 2007 destroyed many lives and a lot of the valuable property. There were a lot of clashes in the Rift Valley. Most of the people had to leave their places and come to the interior side of the country to have a peaceful atmosphere. The most affected group were the children since they were at the loosing end, as many of heir parents were killed, and what their parents had built was all in ashes. The faces of most of these children showed a lot of fear and desperation; some couldn't find any place to live with family, and were therefore accommodated by some neighbors. Many are forced to work hard in house chores and farming to help bring food on the table. Their spirits were seen to be diminishing since they had no hope for tomorrow.

Mwamba Academy started with the aim of rebuilding the hopes of these children and helping them to realize their dreams. Mwamba Academy focuses on the orphan children and vulnerable children around the community. Fatuma Namatsi build a clay house structure in the name of a school to be able to accommodate the children where they can learn, play and find at least a meal, and to give them a sense of belonging somewhere again. Since then the children have started to smile again, and they have a sense of belonging in the community; they have a place they call school, where they can have meals and learn like other children.

The feeding program and the learning activities are currently funded by the business proceeds of Fatuma Namatsi, who runs a shop that sells cosmetic items and accessories.

Organizational structure of Mwamba Academy:

Mwamba Academy has four temporary structures that are constructed out of clay and timber, and have iron sheets for roofing. It has a 11 structural rooms: 2 toilets, 1 bathroom, 4 classes, 1 store room, 1 kitchen, and a staff room .The school is on a 0.3 hectare land, of which part is used for the school farming project. The school consists of 23 boys and 37 girls. The children are in nursery, pre-unit, and from classes 1 to 3. It has four teachers, a matron who volunteers to cook meals for the children, and a security man who guards the school. Each class has one teacher who administers their academic progress. The school also has a supervisory committee that passes motions to build up the school.

Our current activities:

1. School project

The school project is farming. The parents of the school community help with the small school farm whereby they plant different vegetables and cereals. During the harvesting seasons, some of the crops are sold on the market to get some funds to administer the school while half of the cereals and vegetables are used for the feeding programme.

2. Feeding program

Meals are normally provided twice a day. The food from the school farm contributes a lot to the feeding program, but it is not always sufficient because the seasons for planting and harvesting differ. The meals consist usually of porridge, vegetables etc since that is what currently affordable.

3. Learning activities

The skilled teachers do their best to give the children a basic education. However, books and other supplies (including furniture) are scarce, and makes studying sometimes hard because the children compete for a place to sit or for the few books to read and write.

What are our future goals

• To expand the visibility of Mwamba Academy
• To expand the school to provide education to more children
• To build a home for more children
• To further improve the living conditions of these and many more children.

What are the current financial needs?

Item	Monthly expenses in Kenyan Shilling (KSH)
Food for 60 children (approx. KSH 3,000 per day)	84,000
Stationeries (books and pens)	4,500
Monthly salaries Three teachers @ 6,000 each Head teacher (KSH 8,500 per month) School Matron School keeper/Security guard	18,000 8,500 4,000 4,000
TOTAL AMOUNT PER MONTH	KSH 123,000 or 1,540 US dollars

We like to get involved! How can we help?

Mwamba Academy, being a small organization, is growing with the support from Fatuma Namatsi, the originator of the programme. The income of her cosmetics shop in Nairobi provides some small funds to administer the school, but is not sufficient to cover all current expenses of the school or to allow further expansion. Any contribution is appreciated very much. One can get involved through:

• Donations i.e cash or in-kind
• Volunteer
• Provision of school needs, such as books, uniforms, shoes, furniture (such as desks) etc.
• Construction materials for the School
• Food, such as cereals, etc.

Monetary contributions can be sent through the following address: MWAMBA ORPHANS EDUCATION SELF HELP GROUP, P.O BOX 40013-00100 NAIROBI. EQUITY BANK BURUBURU BRANCH ACCOUNT NO 0950195666293 SWIFT Code EQBLKENA Bank code: 68 We thank you for your support!

I like to get more information, or I like to visit Mwamba Academy: Please contact Fatuma Namatsi: Email: fatumanamatsi@yahoo.com Phone numbers: (254) 0733 532560 or (254) 0720 784414