Thurua Special School

Early this year we went to visit Tharua Special School near Naro Moru, Kenya. Our hearts were broken when we saw the very poor level of facilities provided for these dear children. Since then, we have been regularly visiting and helping in small ways such as providing toys, floor mats and nappies. We are however stirred to do more, in particular to help build some better sleeping and bathing facilities.

Context

Tharua Special School is a newly formed boarding school in Laikipia, Kenya. The school currently has 25 students and is hoping to take on another 25 students as the site develops. These students all have varying levels of disabilities, including: spina bifida, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, blindness, deafness, communication needs and learning difficulties. These children are highly vulnerable in society and the staff at the school are determined to help create a safe, loving environment for them to live in during term-time. The 25 students are however currently sleeping in crowded, disused classrooms from the neighbouring primary school and there are no purpose-built equipment/facilities. The toilets and showers are also completely inadequate. They have recently been given a two acre plot of land to build on and have managed to build one classroom from the help of another charitable foundation. There has currently been no further funding offered to develop this site or facilities further.

Staffing

The school only has two full time paid teachers including the headmaster and there is only one matron at night to look after all 25 children.

The current need

Having consulted with the school’s headmaster and board of management, a plan was proposed to help improve the quality of life for these dear children while staying at the school.

Water – Pipe work is needed to bring in the community water, followed by a good storage tank and tower.

Better living conditions – The children need their own purpose-built dormitory and adjoining bathroom. They are currently sleeping in wooden classrooms from the neighbouring mainstream primary school.

The phased proposal

The school currently has very little infrastructure and so we are starting from the ground up:

Phase 1 – Provide water, a storage tower and plumbing on site. We aim to build a twin 6 metre high water tower with sufficient base water storage tanks. These tanks will be filled from a community water project. Approx £2500

Phase 2 – Create drainage and sewage works for all grey water and foul waste. Approx £2500

Phase 3 – Building phase: Construction of a 10×20 metre building to include 4 toilets, 4 showers and the dormitory itself. Approx £20,000

The total for the water and building projects is estimated to be around £25,000. This excludes the provision of: beds, bedding, curtains, furniture e.t.c. We hope to partner with other local charities to provide this.

It would be wonderful to also dig a bore-hole for this school, to enable them to have a more reliable and sustainable source of water provision. This would cost at least another £10,000. If you know of any water charities that are keen to partner with us, then we would love to hear from them.

Future maintenance and sustainability

We also need to ensure that the project has future funding to help maintain the facilities.

A trustworthy and efficient project

Living only 20 minutes from this school, we are perfectly suited to oversee this project and ensure that the money donated goes directly to where it is intended.

Match funding

We are also excited to announce that we already have one donor willing to match donations up to £1500!