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Morning assembly
After-school dance class
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Giraffe news July 2021 (pdf)
DownloadThanks to the wonderful generosity of our sponsors and supporters, we have provided food aid to the most vulnerable families affected by lockdown and the subsequent loss of earnings.
In addition, we have supported our partner schools as they adapted to online learning (Secondary GEC) and alternative teaching methods in Tumaini and Green Pastures Primary schools. Some students struggled with finding appropriate technology and wifi signals but, for those who were successful, it enabled them to continue their studies and also provided a valuable connection to the outside world - so important for their mental wellbeing. Last month, the GEC students still in Nairobi attended a Covid secure meeting with their teachers, providing an opportunity to give feedback on the past 6 months and discuss the approach going forward. Some universities have managed to continue their courses online and we have helped our tertiary students with food aid and internet costs.
Our small Kenyan office team have been successfully working from home, keeping everything running on the ground and even managed to run the annual Pre-college Mentoring Programme via Zoom recently. Normally done in person, this programme is a vital part of preparing our students for life in Higher Education covering topics such as self study, budgeting, keeping healthy and general advice about living independently.
Final year secondary and primary students returned to school in October to prepare for their national exams, rescheduled for March next year. All social distancing and Covid secure protocols are being followed but both staff and students are delighted to be back. Not only does it mean a return to face-to-face education but also the provision of regular, healthy meals. We are still awaiting confirmation when the additional year groups will be asked to return but we hope it will be soon.
Throughout the pandemic, we have supported our partner schools as they adapted to online learning (Secondary GEC) and alternative teaching methods in Tumaini and Green Pastures Primary schools. Some students struggled with finding appropriate technology and wifi signals but, for those who were successful, it enabled them to continue their studies and also provided a valuable connection to the outside world - so important for their mental wellbeing.
We have been working with a Belgian charity, Close The Gap, who have helped us provide laptops for our new college students and will also do so for our secondary school, GEC, once the teachers have received training in how to incorporate IT into their lessons – making our school one of the most forward in the area.
Using money from the 2018 Christmas Appeal we are funding counselling services to support our students, many of whom have experienced terrible ordeals in their short lives. We are delighted that this is already showing success and we undertaking a series of training sessions for our staff and teachers in counselling techniques so they are better able to help our students from such difficult backgrounds. It proves again that the generosity of our sponsors and supporters is making a real and tangible difference to the lives of these children.
We are incredibly grateful to Holy Trinity Church in Brussels for the grant they awarded us to install solar lights at GEC.
GEC is situated in a rural area on the outskirts of Nairobi where electricity supply is unreliable and power cuts are frequent. This leads to difficulties for both staff and students and has a real impact on the children's learning as well as safety. Through the generosity of Holy Trinity we have now installed solar lights 4 classrooms and the girls' dormitory and it is already making a tremendous difference to the school.