Child2Child News

April 2013

A peaceful Election across the country! James is successful in gaining entry to St Mary’s Boys Sec-ondary School in Nyeri Also in this issue: Holidays; A first recording: Quadratic equations and more....

The Kenyan General Elections. Monday 4th, 2013

In 2007/8 there was significant violence across Kenya as tribes fought for their candidate, (or so they thought!), and everybody was in fear of a repeat of this in March. All the Presidential candidates were asking for calm and peace amongst their supporters. This did not stop the country grinding to a halt for a week as the votes were cast and then counted. We were in the house with seven of the boys during this time. In case of vio-lence we had bought in dried vege-tables and soya meat along with about 20 litres of UHT milk. We also bought a 25kg sack of rice. As it turned out, there was peace, and we were able to get out and about from Wednesday onwards. We thank God that there was no repeat of the 2007/8 violence and we were able to send the boys back to school, driving on the high-way without fear.

A First Recording Ibrahim has been writing songs for some time using our 3/4 size gui-tar and over Christmas was able to record his first song. The studio was very small and the mixing desk was just a few chan-nels big. But the mixer got things sorted and he ended up with a great track in Kiswahili, about not being a goat, but a sheep who fol-lows Jesus. You can listen to the song here: http://child2child.webnode.com/news/ibrahims-first-song-has-been-recorded-/

Each poling station had 6 boxes for 6 different cate-

gories of candidate. (On the cover) The queue out-

side one of the poling stations in Nairobi.

A day in the Holidays What are the holidays like here? We are trying to balance the educational needs of the boys with their spiritual needs and their responsibilities to themselves and to the household. So a typical day goes like this: Up by 9:00am Breakfast by 10:00 Devotions at 10:15 ish This will involve a Bible passage being read and talked about and then a time to pray. We then go on the discuss the day and what is happening in the day. We talk about what duties are to be done. (E.g. Cleaning of bathrooms, tidying of rooms, kitchen garden care, front garden care, kitchen floor cleaning, washing of personal clothes). We then have a couple of hours of study. This will either be self study or we will actually sit down with some and go through a subject. During the last break, we were doing quadratic expressions and equations and studies on an English drama book they are studying. 1:00ish lunch. They cook their own lunch which will be a vegetable dish. 2:00 Duties. 3:00 till supper time is free time. They can just hang around the compound or go to town or see friends.

6:00pm Supper prep. One boy each day helps us with the supper prep. 7:00 Supper. All together around a double table. After food then there is one boy to rinse the plates and saucepans 8:00 onwards three times a week we have a movie together with the projector. On the other nights they watch TV in their own lounge. Sunday nights are our private time with no interruptions!! Saturdays do not include study and on Sundays

they all go to their church, (www.citam.org.ke), and then they are free except for supper prep and rinsing. We try to put a couple of outings into a holiday when we can. In August 2012 we went to a museum and to the local crater. Down the road from us there is a hotel with satellite TV so if they want to watch a football match, they go there and buy a soft drink with their pocket money and watch the game!!

The holidays continued....... We also have a time where each boy sits with Matt and discusses his school progress and anything else he wants to talk about. These times have proven to be very valuable. We also try to get the boys to visit their families during the holidays for a few days at least. This keeps up the connection with what family they have. In August this year we are having one or two men coming out to help Matt as Mi-chelle will be in UK helping our youngest daughter prepare for her wedding. But help would be valued for the long No-vember/December holiday. If you would like to help us during that time then please contact us.

Whilst we are very grateful to all our sponsors who cover the boys school fees, if anyone would like to help to-wards the high cost of feeding our boys during the school holidays, then that would be most appreciated! Bank details are below if you are able and would like to a donation. The holiday dates for this year are ap-proximately :

12th April to 6th May 9th August to 2nd September 15th November to 8th January

Donations can be sent to our Child2Child bank account via Avail’s office in Leeds, making a cheque out to Avail-Kenya, or you can transfer funds direct to our bank account. Avail 62 Holborn Approach, Leeds LS6 2PD

Sort code: 40-27-15 Account name: Avail-Kenya Account Number: 54670272 Please contact the Avail office if you wish to gift aid any donation.

James has now moved from Primary to Secondary. From previous long distance problems over secondary transfer, we knew that we would have difficulty in getting James into a secondary school. Unlike the

UK where everything is sorted, (even appeals), several months before the event, we braced our-selves for the difficulties. Firstly because of the teacher’s strike in Septem-ber 2012, the exams were late in being taken, then the results were a month late in coming out. Then, when he didn’t get the result he was hoping for, and consequently, not the schools he was hoping for, (the particular schools he chose

only take the high flyers), we had to start looking around. We sent an applica-tion to St Mary’s High School, but as James’ mark was well under the entry requirements, we were not hopeful. But we went to Nairobi to see a few schools and as we were returning to Nakuru dis-heartened, we got a phone call to say that he had been accepted into St Mary’s! There were 3000 applications for 120 places. Then came a trip to Nyeri to get the acceptance letter, then the return trip again on the opening day to get him in!! Indeed a miracle! We are so grateful to God for opening the way for James. He will now spend the next four years there before he takes his KCSE, (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education), but he’ll come home for holidays!!

Sam’s progress Sammy has had some difficulties in school and it has lead to us transferring him to another school. We are in the process of sorting that out now. We are also still looking for his Mother and Uncle. The Aunty of another one of our boys, who is a police inspector, is helping us in Nairobi. Please pray for success in this venture as it will really help Sam to concentrate on his studies.

Daniel and Isaac both got their final school results in March. They

were not enough to proceed to colleges, but we thank God that they are now furthering their dreams in Nairobi, at Bible school and with professional foot-balling. See January’s newsletter for more details of their new ventures. (You can read it here: http://issuu.com/africamatt/docs/jan_2013_one_year_celebration_news )

Dormitory Block

Parade Ground

Matt and Michelle’s personal news We have had several boys sick, or wrongly accused of things in school, so we have had a busy term, which actually doesn’t end until 12th April. With the tension of the election, we were able to feel a little what Kenyans have been feeling themselves. Michelle has been enjoying visiting our American friends up the road and helping with home schooling. Kate and Johnny invited us to join them on Easter Day, and we and two of our lads had fun playing games together with them and their ‘orphansnomore’. To see one of the games, go to: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151323435296854

We had an adventure on Good Friday when we were on the way back from church. We were at the roundabout waiting our turn to move out when a large car started it’s move and so hit the back of our car. As I was getting the other driver’s insur-ance details, I was taking a photo of the damage in situ, when the phone was grabbed out of my hands by a street youth. Immediately, Kirwa and Sam leapt into action and got the phone back. Other street boys who were there also helped and it turned out that they recognised us from the feeding day in January. The outcome for the car was good, as the driver of the other vehicle was the Kenyan bronze 800m medallist at the London Olympics last year! We sorted out the problem without insurance and he paid up there and then!!

I have been helping a couple of organisations with their proposal writing. One document talked about a school growing up under the arm-pit of another school! They meant, under the wing of....

Also designing houses and churches....... Fulfilling my building needs! Also I have been able to speak at one school to the students a couple of times. I have so missed being in school, so was very glad that I had that opportunity.

Finally a big thank you for all who have been support-

ing us as we live here with the boys. We are truly grateful for your love and kindness towards us.