Update May 2017, Almost There!
The roof is officially on, inside plastering was completed in late April and outside plastering has begun! We are still making progress, but need your help to bring the girl’s dorm to completion.
The $25,000 Jasco Giving Hope Foundation challenge was met, bringing us within $26,000 of the goal to finalize funding. Diana is now twelve years old and in seventh grade. Help us finish strong and complete the dorm so she and her friends will have a safe haven to grown, learn and flourish! Watch the video and donate at https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/TheMaishaProject_1/dorms.html.
Update Nov 2016 and an exciting challenge!
We are making progress, but need your help to bring the girl’s dorm to completion. Jasco Giving Hope Foundation has stepped it up with a $25,000 challenge between now and the end of 2016! Watch the video and donate at https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/TheMaishaProject_1/dorms.html.
Each morning, 11-year-old Diana and her siblings, Sospeter and Bella, wake up before the sun rises. They get dressed in their uniforms and begin their walk to school on the village’s dirt roads. All three children attend Maisha Academy, which is a 30 minute journey from their house. Diana and her siblings are not alone. The majority of Maisha’s students walk around 40 minutes to school each day. Walking in the village can be hazardous, especially early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The narrow roads are filled with vans, cars and motorcycles that do not yield to pedestrians. Children are often lured by people wanting to sell them into sex-trafficking, slavery or forced labor. Young girls face a higher risk than boys when walking and are often bullied, raped or beaten.
In addition to the human dangers, students must also face the environmental dangers. Rainy seasons come twice a year, each lasting for months at a time, leaving the roadways full of knee-deep mud puddles. The children walk home in the pouring rain, sometimes taking a longer route to avoid sand traps.
When children get home, they face a new set of obstacles. Caregivers may be grandparents, extended relations or widows in the community. Frequently, a child is identified as “vulnerable” or “partial orphan,” meaning one or both parents are living but are unable to feed the child or send them to school despite working full time. Sponsors step in to invest in the child’s education and provide a solution to this financial problem.
Keeping children in these homes is ideal, but sometimes factors make this an unsuitable option. Some of the Children at Maisha Academy live in stable homes. However, some of the children live in unsafe or compromised situations. The homes that are supposed to shelter them become the threat. A child’s home environment has significant effect on learning and school performance.
In order to address this issue, Maisha Project is building dormitories at Maisha Academy. A girls and boys dormitory will be built to house academy students identified as at-risk in their homes. The dorms will not only give at-risk children a safe home, but will also directly increase their ability to focus and learn. Children in the dormitories will receive three meals a day, ensuring proper nutrition.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the girl’s dormitory was held on Friday, July 31, 2015. Joshua Ouko, project manager, and Jerry Ogollo, Maisha Academy head teacher were present for the groundbreaking.
On Nov. 7, 2015, over $15,600 was raised through Fund the Dormitory Auction at the Light the Future Gala to fund the girl’s dormitory. Construction on the boys dormitory will begin immediately following the completion of the girls dormitory and Maisha hopes to raise a total of $387,000 to complete both of these projects.
We need your help to make this vision become a reality. Donate to help complete the dormitories and make a difference in the life of an at-risk child. To make a donation, visit https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/TheMaishaProject_1/dorms.html.
Watch and share the video below too!