About the schools, Olives Rehabilitation Centre and Nyota Ing’arayo School, are located in Mombasa, Kenya in the suburb of Bombolulu; often referred to as the slums of Mombasa. GVI has been in partnership with these schools since 2009 an have helped bring these once day care centres of about 60 children to now fully fledged primary schools with eight Standards and upwards of 200-350 children per school. This is a huge success for these children, but we need to keep up with our growing classrooms

Why textbooks? With a Kenyan National Exam in the way of our students going on to Secondary School, the only way we can ensure our students are prepared is by providing enough textbooks. Textbooks here are the building blocks of the Kenyan curriculum and without them our students run the risk of missing vital information or concepts that are crucial to passing their life changing exams. Currently our students often share one textbook between 4 peers making it challenging for all students to work at their own pace and reach their maximum potential. We want to change this!

The Swimathon! We’ve challenged our schools to help raise money and fill both of our schools with these much needed textbooks. On November 8, 2013 our students and volunteers will be completing a ‘swimathon,’ hosted by a local hotel, Sanana, that swims the difference between the bottom and the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa! That’s 295 laps to reach 5895 m in height! Our students have risen to the challenge and we hope you will too!

You can help! To support our students we’re asking you to collect sponsors, pledges and small donations! Even a small donation of £2.50- £4.00 can make a big, book of a difference. This is a unique and fun opportunity for your class to connect with one in need and do a good thing! Every penny raised will go towards providing books for our classrooms – drastically increasing opportunities for our enthusiastic students as they make their way to a brighter, more educated future!

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