It is always a surprise to me to see how much we are able to do. Koins is a small organization, with a tight budget and projects limited to private sponsorship. Yet, each year, with the help of kindhearted and generous donors, we are able to continue to build schools and provide scholarships in our service area.
2010 Recap:
Students:
- 91 students were on scholarship for their secondary education
- 9 students were on scholarship for higher education (university and college)
- Help was provided at the Albino school in Kibandaongo
Building Projects:
- A new water cistern in Miguneni was completed just after the first of the year
- Two new classrooms and a water cistern at Vikolani primary with fund raising led by Val Stokes
- Two new classrooms and a water cistern at Dzivani primary with fund raising led by Dallin Frampton
- Two new classrooms at Miguneni primary with fund raising led by Kris Kimball
- Two new classrooms at Mwache primary with fund raising led by Robin Kimball
- One new classroom at Chikomani (Windridge) primary with fund raising led by Cindy Workman
- New kitchen at the KCC (Koins Community Center)
- Staff quarters at the Sean Michels School (under construction will be completed in early 2011)
- Kitchen addition at Sean Michels School (under construction will be completed in early 2011)
- Well over 100 new desks constructed and delivered to the various primary schools mainly Dzivani, Miguneni and Mwache.
- 7 4-stall latrines were built at various schools with a grant from Safaricom.
Micro business projects that were mostly self funding (based at the KCC and BTW in Mnyenzeni):
- Cell phone and battery charging
- Tractor work
- Sewing of uniforms and other sewing needs of the village
- Renting the KCC to other groups
- The workshop completed desks and chairs for Mnyenzeni and Bofu secondary schools as well as other local projects
Other
- Kendy’s volunteer work at the Mnyenzeni secondary school
- Dallin Frampton and his time in the village
- Two successful major expeditions (March and July) and a June visit by the Michels family
- Accounting system up and running in QuickBooks
Funds have started coming in for construction at Gona Primary in 2011. So far about 20% of the needed funds have been raised. We still have a ways to go.
As we look forward to 2011, we have a March expedition developing, a dental expedition planned for July, hosted by the Michels family, and a July/August Koins expedition. We will continue to raise funds for the Gona school, and I am awaiting a "wishlist" from our Kenyan board with further building projects outlined. We continue to take care of a large number of student scholarships.
We are looking at partnering with a group called Self Reliant Agriculture. This is an organization with expertise in training local farmers how to farm better, to use their land to provide their family with nutritional self-sufficiency through improved agricultural production. I am excited to see how their involvement can bring improved quality of life to our villagers, most who are dependent upon their small plots of land to provide sustenance for their families, and who are now focusing the majority of their efforts on growing corn, which provides limited nutritional benefits.
On my personal wishlist for Koins in 2011 are the following:
- Volunteer(s) willing to donate their time and stay in Mnyenzeni for an extended period to teach English at the secondary school and other skills in the villages
- Corporate sponsorship that will allow us to tackle some of the larger issues, such as water and health needs, faced by the villagers
- A grant writing volunteer that can help us find grant sources that might help us with some of our larger funding needs
- A continued willingness on the part of those who are supporting our students through scholarships
Koins would not be in existence without the support of our wonderful donors. Thanks to all who care enough to help those who are unable to help themselves.
Asante sana,
Ingrid
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