Intumbule Primary School Update!

The following is an update of the community I visited in Kenya, the work being done there, and what is happening next. I'm very excited to hear about the school doing so well, as this is where my sponsored child, Mumbua Muuo, attends. That's her smiling face above! I just got my first letter from her last week. She's in Class 2 now, or 2nd grade. She's a shining star and I can't wait to hug her face this summer! Jane, one of the empolyees of BrightPoint, recently visited Ngaamba and she's the one who gave us the update below. Enjoy!

The children were out of school on term break, and so I didn’t get to meet all of them when I was in Ngaamba last month, but I did meet some and a lot of their parents. They are so excited and appreciative of your help… the program has gotten off to a GREAT start. I had a meeting with the Leadership Council and they filled me in on the progress.

Ngaamba is such a wonderful place to live, a close knit community, but the drought for the last few years has really put all of them into bad economic shape. They depend on farming, for their own food as well as selling any excess to provide other needs for their families. So, the first priority of the school was to feed the children a hot lunch every day!! That was implemented from the first day of school in January… and the results are all the students have MUCH better attendance. This is the only meal some of these children get, so the parents make sure they come to school… and when they attend, they learn! The parents are collecting the firewood, carrying the water and paying the cook for this program. This is part of the 410 Bridge/BrightPoint model, that we “assist” in projects, but the community gives part as well.

The 2^nd priority that the PTA and Leadership Council identified was more teachers. So as more sponsors came on board, they were able to hire 2 more teachers and will add even more. The 3^rd priority was met for the first time during this term break; it is what they call “tuition”… what we would call “tutoring”. BrightPoint is providing money (from your sponsorship) to pay teachers to help any Grade 4-8 student who wants to go to the school to get extra help during this break, and most of the children were taking advantage of this service. Because many have not attended school in recent years, or not attended regularly… many of these kids are behind, so are able to use this “tuition” to catch up or get ahead.

The 4^th priority was more furniture…desks and teacher tables and chairs. We have gotten enough sponsors in this program that the monthly income has grown to be able to start having desks made. As the rest of the Star Students are sponsored, and the Intumbule Primary “Quality Improvement Program” gets fully funded, each child will have a desk, each teacher will have a table and chair, each child will have the textbooks needed and not have to share, and learning materials (maps, reference books, etc) will be purchased. Then assessment tests can be funded and given to each child every term to prepare them for the all important 8^th grade National exam that determines if they qualify to go to High School.

So thank you for your caring hearts and love for these children. You are truly improving the quality of education for ALL of the Intumbule children, and the community is thrilled with the progress that has been made and it will just keep getting better. The other schools in Ngaamba and nearby Kiu are jealous, and all are begging to be the next school to be chosen for a Quality Improvement program. The entire community…. Leaders, Pastors, PTA, parents and students… could not stop telling me how excited they are and that they see a much brighter future for the children of Intumbule.

Friends...interested in sponsoring a child like Mumbua? Go to the BrightPoint website and check out the possibilities...

http://www.brightpointforchildren.org/child-list.php?communityid=19