Educating orphans and children from disadvantaged backgrounds and assisting their guardians / family to become financially self-sustaining.
Roko 20 Academy opened in January 2014 with three classes, Nursery, Pre-Unit and Class 1. We are situated just outside a small village called Kambirwa, near Murang’a town, Central Highlands, Kenya.
Our project is to construct a new kitchen. As the number of children and staff has grown, and continues to grow since we opened in January 2014, our cook is unable to cope preparing meals for 75 pupils and staff in the tiny kitchen with small two wood burning stoves. Cooking in this kitchen is a health hazard as she is breathing in toxic smoke due to lack of proper ventilation. We urgently need to build a new kitchen and equip it with stoves which are safe and efficient to run. We need to provide a food preparation area and storage. We plan to build a simple outside dining area as our pupils currently eat their meals at their desks. We are looking to raise £5,000.
In a country devastated by AIDS, children are orphaned and left in the care of guardians or elderly grandparents many of whom are living in abject poverty.
We at Roko 20 are currently sponsoring 28 children from the community to a free education. We provide three meals a day, a uniform and basic healthcare. We are also working to assist their families/guardians out of poverty.
In addition to educating orphans we also accept fee paying pupils whose parents can afford the school fees but these are set at an affordable rate so as not to exclude those in our community. Fees paid help with the running costs of the school and enables us to sponsor more children.
At Roko 20 we have introduced a Rabbit Project. We donate a female rabbit to our sponsored children’s family or guardian so that they may breed to sell for cash or keep for meat. We ask that they give back their first born female rabbit so we can pass this on to the next family.
We also assist a group of over 30 elderly ladies, many of whom have been left to raise their orphaned grandchildren, to become financially self-sustaining selling their traditionally woven baskets.
We work in co-operation with KENWA (Kenyan Women with AIDS) and Murang’a Rescue Centre, an orphanage for neglected, abandoned and orphaned children.
We sustain the school’s food programme with produce grown on our farm such as maize, beans, tomatoes and fruit. We have a large greenhouse and have had some success growing tomatoes.
We now have 68 pupils and a waiting list of 11 for our Nursery Class. We are currently constructing a new nursery class and before the start of Term 2 in May it is anticipated we will take in another 25 pupils.