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Sally’s children - a personnel report from Jackie Roberts


	*Summer 2007 update on school project


	*Summer 2007 update water project

In the lush Shimba Hills you cannot take water for granted.

Sally’s Childrens Trust
Registered charity No 1118392.

The Stephen Kanja Primary School is located on top of a hill in the Shimba Hills, inland of the town Ukunda, a coastal town 50 km south of Mombasa. Some children have to walk up to 10km to get to school yet they are smiling and dressed smartly in their clean uniforms.

The Shimba Hills offers beautiful, lush scenery, it is also the home to much wildlife including antelope, elephants and monkeys. (Click on the photos below to enlarge them)

In the UK we take water for granted but high up in the Shimba Hills the Stephan Kanja Primary School and the community do not have access to clean water. Families have to walk long distances to obtain their daily water supply. The report previously published on this site goes into detail about it.


	The water project is the first project that Sally’s Childrens Trust is undertaking. This project is particularly important to us, as a family, because it was at the Stephen Kanja Primary School that our daughter, Sally, visited only days before her accident. Sally loved children and had a magical approach with them. We have heard how much she and the children had enjoyed the time she spent with the youngest class. She also made a desk whilst at the school and this is now being used.

In consultation with a water engineer (personal contacts which we have in Nairobi), a feasibility study was undertaken at the end of last year. The project work commenced in April and to date a large water holding tank has been built. There is much manual work to be completed and it is a slow process. Replacement roofs and guttering are being put in place and this will mean that the rainwater will caught and stored in large tanks.
(Click on the photos below to enlarge them).


	Many Thanks We have been overwhelmed by the financial support given to Sally’s Childrens Trust. The coffee/lunch morning organised by Chris and Liz Lance in March was amazing and we thank you all for supporting this fundraising event. Also our thanks to the Church Gift Day donation and all donations received from you all.


	Next Project
Sally’s Childrens Trust is now supporting a further school called the Muhaka Primary School. This is situated on the lower slopes of the Shimba Hills in the Kwale District. It is in such a desperate need of repair and many of the children are being taught under the shady trees; which is fine in the dry season but in the wet season - impossible! The school, which was founded in 1944 has a pupil attendance of 300. It is hoped that when there are more classrooms and facilities there will be the opportunity for more children from the area to receive an education. The photographs show the overcrowding in the classroom and lack of desks.

Gordon and Gil visited this school last June and saw the rundown state the buildings were in. Sally’s Childrens Trust is funding many of the projects, such as the building of new classrooms, toilet blocks and materials to make desks. We have been informed by Camps International that since June considerable progress has been achieved by students undertaking some of their gap year with Camps International and Camp Kenya. Link www.campsinternational.com

The children we have met at the Steven Kanja School, the Muhaka Primary School and a local orphanage are just so very happy. Education is very important to them, they do not have the material play-things that our children here in UK are accustomed to but yet they enjoy their lives to the fullest and are always smiling. We hope that through our tragic loss we are able to give a future to children in the Shimba Hills and thank you all for supporting Sally’s Childrens Trust.

(Click on the photos below to enlarge them).