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Land Fund - URGENT

The landlord of Excel School is an alcoholic and turns up at the school demanding rent (whether it is due or not) whenever he runs out of drinking money. The school has no choice but to pay him as he will otherwise lock the school until he is paid.

The landlady of Lizpal School keeps increasing the rent which now accounts for more than half of the schools income. In addition, it is very likely that she will sell the school land to Chinese developers. She is not obliged to give the school notice.

These stories are not unusual. The landlords of the slums are in a position of power and exploit every opportunity to maximise their income without any concern for the impact of their actions on the school and its pupils.

Porridge and Rice wants to buy land to break the stranglehold of the landlords, starting with Excel School then Lizpal School.

Land will not only free these schools from their awful landlords, but allow the charity to build proper brick buildings, hugely improving school facilities.

The charity has decided to start a land fund to raise the £200,000 needed for land for Excel. The goal is to allocate money each month to this fund, and seek donations specifically for this cause.


Lizpal Toilets

It took a while, but Lizpal School at last has its own toilets thanks to money from the Sainsbury Foundation and a lot of patience. The building of the toilets, turned out to be far more complex than expected, not because of the construction work required, but the politics.

The landlady and public health all had different views on what was required and who was responsible leading to some unpleasant clashes, with Lizpal school caught in the middle. It took a while but it eventually happened, and has been worth the effort.


Excelling at Excel

Excel Emmanuel School, usually just known as Excel, was the first Porridge and Rice partner school.

The charity partnered with the school in January 2014. At the time, it had around 250 pupils, high rates of teacher turnover, and high levels of pupils absenteeism.

In addition, there was limited access to clean water, no cleaning and hygiene routine, mulitple classes in a single classroom, too few desks, large teacher salary arrears and much more.

A great deal has changed.

The number of classrooms has doubled with each year group now having its own room. The number of desks has also increased ending the practice of seating 4 to a desk designed for 2.

One teacher has left to complete her studies and another was fired. Teacher turnover is no longer an issue now that teachers are always paid on time and receive benefits like meals because of Porridge and Rice.

Pupil absenteeism is close to zero thanks to the nutrional school meals, clean water, and hygiene programme. The problem now is that pupils often come to school when they are sick, and have to be sent home to avoid infecting other children!

In 2 years, Excel has changed considerably for the better.


Laptops

Porridge and Rice is pleased to have been able to distribute more laptops to the Kenyan Leadership team. The charity is very is very close to having all the team on line.

Once all the members of the Kenyan leadership team have laptops, the next goal is to provide laptops for teachers to share and then laptops to be able to teach IT skills to pupils, improving their job prospects.

If you have a laptop you would like to donate, please email info@porridgeandrice.co.uk with details.

Redlees Park Fair

The Redlees Summer Park Fair was a great success. It was the last fair of the summer for Porridge and Rice.

Porridge and Rice has become a regular item at school and summer fairs in neighbouring boroughs. The fairs provide a steady stream of income for the charity, as well as increasing awareness of the charity and the work it is doing.

The more people helping at a fair, the more effective it is. If you are interested in volunteering, please email info@porridgeandrice.co.uk.

Teaching Skills

Sharon Hellema provided lessons for teachers on how to develop a work plan for the term from a syllabus.

Despite being committed and talented, the majority of teachers in Porridge and Rice schools have no more than a secondary school certificate so no training in how to teach.

Porridge and Rice is now providing in-house training for teachers in teaching techniques and subject content covering topics from discipline to the latest developments in scientific knowledge.


Safari Simbaz

Kinjah set up Safari Simbaz, a cycling team, to provide young boys with an alternative to living on the streets. The boys live and train together under his tutelage.

Kinjah is a talented cyclist who has competed successfully internationally. His most famous pupil is Chris Froome.

The Safari Simbaz has since expanded to football with teams competing in local leagues.

The boys of Safari Simbaz will provide the pupils at Porridge and Rice schools with weekly cycling lessons.

The goal of the cycling lessons is to teach the children to aspire to things usually considered outside of their reach. In return for the lessons, Porridge and Rice will help the Safari Simbaz to collect donations of football equipment and other items that they need.



Visit the PaR Facebook page for more pictures and details about the work done by PaR.


If you have any questions or comments, please email on info@porridgeandrice.co.uk

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING PORRIDGE AND RICE

©Copyright 2016 Porridge and Rice, Registration Number 1155841


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