Term 2 Projects

A couple of people have already asked me what projects I intend to work on next term. I am hoping this means they wish to choose one to finance ;-) Although I have yet to settle on the short-list, the long-list currently looks like this:

1) School & Community Library
2) Solar Power
3) Branding & selling St. Anna Own Brand Products (Dried Fruit)
4) “Renting” Neighbouring Unused Land
5) 4k Clubs
a. Music club costumes
6) Jane Wanjoki’s House
7) School Trips
8) School "Houses"

1) School & Community Library

As I am sure I have mentioned before, we have a 20’ x ‘8 shipping container here on site (not the one that arrived recently) which is ripe for conversion to a school & community library.

We submitted a detailed plan to a company in Nairobi via the Bishop’s son Kiiru, who were supposed to get back to me with a quote but I have yet to hear anything. However Kiiru will be coming up to Murang’a this weekend for Easter so I will touch base with him to find out where we are.

The main problem with container conversions here in Kenya is the temperature. Those things are like an oven so whatever we do with the container will have to counteract the heat. There are all kinds of coatings that can be applied and ventilation installed, but if this turns out to be a bit steep, we will turn to plan B i.e. build one from scratch.

2) Solar Power

Although teachers have told me to prioritise the library, my feeling is that this one is the biggie. Our electricity supply is erratic at best; and now what with it being rainy season ‘n all, it cuts out each day exactly 5 minutes after the rain starts to fall. The continual outages are also negatively affecting borders learning … the school day ends at 19h00 instead at 21h00.

We had received a quote earlier this term from some contacts in France which was very reasonable, however since providing them with a plan of the school & the lighting requirements (number & type of lights per class, 2-3 hours per day etc) a few weeks ago, I have not heard anything back. I am worried they are gonna turn up in the night and clear the place out!

Actually together with the mail sending the plan and details, I asked for and am waiting more information on the company, the people they propose sending to assist in setting up the local network up and training the locals (this is a must). Not having had a response is leading me to doubt the veracity of their proposal (I’m so cynical). This would be a real shame as all other quotations we significantly more expensive; I remember thinking when we received it that it was too good to be true.*

That said, this remains for me the priority project. If we can start small and first ensure the children can study in the evening, we can then think a little bigger and even imagine selling some of the power back to the grid.

* Wouldn’t you believe it, the same day I penned this update the quote arrived: €6,090.00

3) Branding & Selling St. Anna Own Brand Products (Dried Fruit)

The name “St. Anna” is inextricably linked with the Bishop and, like the Bishop it is well known, trusted & respected throughout the Murang’a and Gathuki-ini area. This “brand” recognition must be leveraged to the benefit of the school. The name should be used to create to a portfolio of “own branded” products which can be aggressively marketed to sponsors & the community.

There are tonnes of fruit here and I am sorry to say a large portion of it goes to waste. Potential revenue is currently rotting on the ground all around the school; this must not be allowed to happen. So my idea is this: We will organise a series of meetings with the local farmers to propose the formation of small cooperatives around different products. Excess produce from the local families and farmers (e.g. mangos in season, bananas and pineapples) will be brought to a central point (St. Anna) for processing & transformation into a final product that can be packaged & sold on.

Having read all I could find on the subject of drying fruit, I am convinced it would be a fairly simple task to construct drying trays made of wood & that screen stuff you find on windows and doors to keep out insects. We then peel & prepare the fruits, pre-treating them lemon juice to stop the browning and place them on the drying racks; to accelerate the process we could also consider picking up a dehydrating machine (somewhere between £30 - £300).

This pooling of production & processing will allow us all to benefit from economies of scale in production (1 larger more efficient drying installation) & allow us to negotiate prices from a position of strength (buyers will not be able to trade us off against each other).

The products, branded as “St. Anna” can be sold directly to buyers and through a point of sale at the school and the revenue shared amongst the cooperative.

This concept could then be extended to other products such as honey, cotton printed bags 4 life, woodwork. If we take the long view for a second, once the St. Anna brand is established and if products are making sufficient a return, we could imagine renting a small premises in Murang’a as an outlet staffed by 1 or 2 members of the local youth group. Additional youth group members would then become responsible for a product line e.g. product line manager “dried fruit”, product line manager “honey”, product line manager “bags 4 life” and act as travelling salesmen responsible to soliciting and making contracts in the location, zone, region. Youth group members will be paid a small basic salary and a % per piece/product sold e.g. the product line manager selling Bags 4 Life at 100sh could receive 10sh per bag.

4) “Renting” Neighbouring Unused Land

Many of the school’s neighbours have large shambas (gardens) which are not being completely used. My plan is to put this land to productive use for the benefit of the school & community.

At the beginning of next term, together with those who know the surrounding neighbours, we will identify 1 or 2 local families (and later more) and who are not using 100% of their land. I intend to approach them in the hope of coming to an agreement to “rent” a part of their land in exchange for produce cultivated upon that land, or a % of the profit made upon its sale (assuming the produce is not all consumed at the school)

The next step would be to recruit a small team of local residents as a workforce. This team should be remunerated in the same way as the land owners or if any of the team have children attending St. Anna their time could be offset against school fees.

I think this is a good plan.

5) 4K Clubs

Outside of football & volleyball, there are currently few extra-curricular activities for the children. Having discussed at length with some of the teachers, the idea is to form 4 new clubs (not sport related) designed to provide children with fun & educational opportunities.

Coming under the heading of the 4K Clubs (Kuungana – to join, Kufanya – to do, Kusaidia – to help, Kenya – to Kenya) these activities should balance teaching children life skills & responsibility with providing them a forum for creativity & self expression. With that in mind, next term the following activities will be offered to the pupils from which 2 must be chosen, 1 from each pool.

Pool A: Physical
. Rabbits – Feed, water and clean the rabbits
. Gardening – Use unexploited land behind the girls’ dormitory to cultivate vegetables (for school & rabbits)

Pool B: Creative
. Music – Choir, dance & music with the objective of organising community performances and participating in local competitions (for this a costume/uniform of some description will be required)
. Drama – Staging small productions of the childrens’ own invention plus producing larger pieces for performance to the school & community.

A pupil & teacher will be assigned as ‘lead’ for each of the clubs and a planning will be established that ensures each activity is pursued seriously (seriously in the organisational sense not the not fun sense).

It is important to note that all of the above groups with the exception of drama were suggested by the pupils themselves. In fact the music group met for the first time last Monday evening to discuss the objectives and the commitment required; the meeting was chaired by the 2 girls who asked me if we could form the group. We have already found a dance troop from Nairobi who are willing to come up and work with the kids!

6) Jane Wanjoki’s House

As I am sure you recall, Jane’s house is practically falling down. As soon as the masons have finished with the boys dorm construction (estimated 2-3 weeks), they should switch their attention to building her a new home.

7) School Trips

I would love to organise some school trips for class 8 (the senior class) or the top performing students in each class. I have yet to work out the modalities of it, as we are constrained by our capacity to transport many at one time, but I feel it would be a great motivator to plan some visits to places such as the the Kimbura Dam & Kiru Tea factory (any excuse to visit it again).

8) School Houses

Finally, and this one is close to my heart from my own childhood. There is currently no organization in place transcending the school. So what I am thinking is that I will float the following: Students will be subdivided into “houses”. This will allow them to better interact across age groups and provide opportunity for games & competition.

Students will all be assigned to a house. I came up with these great names the other night: Gryffindor, Huffelpuf, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, but apparently they have already been used before?! So I thought the houses could be named after something more Kenyan … the big 5 wild animals for example:
i. Lion (red)
ii. Leopard (yellow)
iii. Rhino (white)
iv. Buffalo (green)
v. Elephant (blue)

(Is 5 too many for 240 students?)

The School Executive Committee would of course be free to decide on other house names should they so wish e.g. famous Kenyans or other.

Each house will elect a house “captain”. Each house will be associated with a colour. The colour will be worn during competitions. Each year newly arriving students will be sorted and added to a “house”. Once a year an inter-house sports day will be held and houses will compete for a trophy.

This concept should be gradually extended to other activities (school quiz contest etc…)

And there you are. If we can do half or more of these plus the website, I’d say we’ve done alright.

Happy Easter everyone
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