Adam Kessler's Fundraising Page
Adam Kessler is raising money for Education Partnerships Africa
Story
Hi everyone,
Thanks for visiting my fundraising page! As you probably know, I was selected to take part in Kenya Education Partnerships, which is an amazing charity that sends 20 students out to communities in rural Kenya each year in order to invest in Kenyan secondary education. I'm really excited about the project, and hopefully if you read this page you'll see why.
Kenya Education Partnerships is a volunteer-run charity that supports schools in the Kisii region of Kenya. Every year it invests at least £1500 in each of its ten target schools, which goes to buy sustainable resources such as books or lab equipment. It isn't much in British terms (the average inner-city comprehensive school has a budget in the millions) but makes a massive difference to the impoverished rural schools. We select schools that have dedicated teachers and staff, but simply don't have the resources to deliver a good education. All the teaching qualifications in the world wouldn't help you if you're faced with a class of 50 students, armed only with three textbooks and half a dozen pens. The schools need a relatively small investment to deliver a much higher standard of education. Typically after working with them they double their intake and really improve their exam results. One of our schools just sent their first student to university - a massive achievement in a country where universities are dominated by a rich elite.
To this end, I will be travelling to Kenya and working there for ten weeks over the summer. With another volunteer I will be designing and implementing resource acquisition programmes to help the schools to achieve a sustainable level of growth, from which they can then manage their own expansion. Only sustainable resources are purchased - such as books, science equipment, furniture and sports equipment. With the aid of the headteacher and staff, we will invest 750 pounds each in the areas of greatest need in that school. Whilst in Kenya I will also work to achieve other goals of KEP including raising HIV/aids awareness, increasing opportunities for female education and development, and increasing post educational opportunities.
Thanks for visiting my fundraising page! As you probably know, I was selected to take part in Kenya Education Partnerships, which is an amazing charity that sends 20 students out to communities in rural Kenya each year in order to invest in Kenyan secondary education. I'm really excited about the project, and hopefully if you read this page you'll see why.
Kenya Education Partnerships is a volunteer-run charity that supports schools in the Kisii region of Kenya. Every year it invests at least £1500 in each of its ten target schools, which goes to buy sustainable resources such as books or lab equipment. It isn't much in British terms (the average inner-city comprehensive school has a budget in the millions) but makes a massive difference to the impoverished rural schools. We select schools that have dedicated teachers and staff, but simply don't have the resources to deliver a good education. All the teaching qualifications in the world wouldn't help you if you're faced with a class of 50 students, armed only with three textbooks and half a dozen pens. The schools need a relatively small investment to deliver a much higher standard of education. Typically after working with them they double their intake and really improve their exam results. One of our schools just sent their first student to university - a massive achievement in a country where universities are dominated by a rich elite.
To this end, I will be travelling to Kenya and working there for ten weeks over the summer. With another volunteer I will be designing and implementing resource acquisition programmes to help the schools to achieve a sustainable level of growth, from which they can then manage their own expansion. Only sustainable resources are purchased - such as books, science equipment, furniture and sports equipment. With the aid of the headteacher and staff, we will invest 750 pounds each in the areas of greatest need in that school. Whilst in Kenya I will also work to achieve other goals of KEP including raising HIV/aids awareness, increasing opportunities for female education and development, and increasing post educational opportunities.
As one of this year’s project workers, I am responsible for fundraising £750 of the money the charity invests in the school, while I must also raise money for my vaccinations, living costs and flight to Kenya. Actually being there is an essential part of the process; ensuring that the money raised isn't wasted or mysteriously vanished, and evaluating the results so the charity knows whether to work with the same school next year.
To this end, I'm running the Reading half marathon - thirteen miles of hard, gruelling pain. The smiling cartoon figures in the picture to the left are seriously misleading. Thirteen miles isn't fun at all. If you can sponsor me for this, you'll win my eternal gratitude, and make a real difference to Kenyan schools. Please give as much or as little as you can - just three pounds can buy a textbook for the school.
If you're a UK taxpayer you can tick the appropriate box and KEP will receive 28% tax rebate. It costs you nothing, we get an extra 28%. So please do if you can! Thank you for any donations you give, and please get in touch with me (therealsmith@gmail.com) if you have any questions about the charity, Kenya, or just about anything.
Thanks a lot!
Adam