Notes from Staff meeting 16th September 2022

Good evening y'all....

We have come to the end of second term 2022 today. We are grateful to God for the far He has brought us.

We are also grateful to each one of you who has in one way or another extended an helping hand of any kind to us. Feel appreciated. 

We closed today on 16th Sept and we will open on 26th Sept for the third term. We have a 10 days rest. 

We held our staff meeting today and noted the following :

1. It was a very short term ( 26 weeks instead of the usual 39 weeks)... Plus the many short breaks occasioned by politics. This really affected the academic calendar because the syllabus remains the same. We , however managed to squeeze time and work hard in order to cover the syllabus.

2. We had a lot of absenteeism. We attributed this to the political temperature with some parents opting to travel upcountry with their families. Another factor that might have contributed to absenteeism is the high cost of living which has made it difficult for parents to afford food for the families thus opting for the children to stay home. Not having food at school didn't help the situation either.

As we all know, our feeding program helps to keep the children in school because they are at least assured of two meals a day on week days. This meals include porridge during break time and a hot meal during lunch time.... Lack of food contributed so much in absenteeism.

3. We also agreed to do home visits to homes so that we can get to know which kids come from extremely vulnerable families.... This will help us to identify kids with dire needs 

4. We noted that most kids did not bring school requirements due to lack of purchasing power..... Books, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, tissues and manila papers are provided for by the parents nowadays and it's almost next to impossible for some of them though a few were able to buy....

5. We also noted that the premises needs a few repairs. This includes the water piping from the meter to the tank ( there is some spillage). The toilet doors need to be replaced, grade one floor and the corridor Infront of the kitchen need to be repaired. We also need around 5 desks because the old ones are broken beyond repair.

6. Next term will be the shortest of the other two because we will have only 9 academic weeks with no breaks in between.. it is our hope that the necessary requirements like chalks, pens, marker pens, crayons, and water colours will be available.... Especially chalks and pens.

7. Last but not least... It was suggested that if we have funds we take the children for a tour to the animal orphanage and to the ostrich farm.... .

Most of this kids have never been outside maili saba and so this tours will create memorable moments and lifetime memories to them.

We are looking forward to a more productive term next term .

Have a blessed break until next term.

MEMBERS PRESENT IN TODAY'S MEETING

1. Mercy Kerubo

2. Evaline Auma

3. Kellis kageni 

4. Margaret Mueni

ABSENT WITH APOLOGY

1. Josephine Mueni ( has a sick child admitted in hospital)

2. Mary Mbocha ( was attending a relatives funeral)

Jambo y'all and Happy New Month of February.

We at Happy day are continuing on well with our daily activities. We are in the process third term of 2021 academic year and so far we are grateful for all the assistance accorded to us. We are still in the covid 19 period and so times are hard for hHppy day families. Our feeding program is of great impact in keeping the kids in school because at least they are assured of getting two meals each day from Monday to Friday.... A big percentage of the kids comes from very poor families and so the food provided for in school is very essential.

Since we opened school in January we have had 3 staff meetings where the following was highlighted:

1. Minor repairs in the school
2. We need new desks ( 10 have been bought)
3. We need to reintroduce morning breakfast ( chai)
4. We need a curriculum book and teacher's guide books for all activity areas.
5. We need to have a parent's meeting
6. Our pre primary 2 and grade one need to have a graduation ceremony
7. We need to plan for an education trip outside maili Saba for all kids and staff
8. Our blackboards need to be repainted
9. We need learning materials eg... Chalks, pencils, pens( red and blue), plain papers, scissors, stick glue, manilla papers, erasers, sharpeners, water colors, crayons, and markers... And any other learning materials
10. We also discussed on time keeping and record keeping.
11. Lack of school uniform among our kids was also discussed and we realized that there was a need of coming up with a kitty that will help the school to provide uniform for those who don't have.


We will keep on updating after every meeting on new developments including achievements and challenges.


We have tried to document some pictures and videos as we do our activities and more are on the way.
Have a blessed New month.

We hope to be able to give our reports on a monthly basis.

Greetings from Happy day junior school December 2021

Hello everyone,we hope and pray that you're all well and just like us glad to witness the end of the year. We at Happy Day Junior School are particularly grateful to all friends and well wishers that have played a great role in one way or the other in ensuring the School operates smoothly year in year out. Currently as we come to the end of year 2021, the school has a total 52 kids ranging from the ages of 3 years to 9 years and a total of 6 working personnel. Due to your continued support we have been able to continue with the feeding program at the school and payment of staffs for services rendered,we are so grateful for this. The School will be closing up for the CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS on the 22nd Dec and will resume on 3rd January for the new term. Whilst we appreciate all the support given we still are in need of some essential items for a better operation when we resume with our learning. The requirements are as follows: (KSH 1000 = ca 85 NOK 23.12.21) - GOVERNMENT REQUIREMENTS 1-Government certificate-24000 2-Local government cert- 21000 3-Covid compliance cert - 18000 4- School Code. - 5000 Total = 68000 - LEARNING REQUIREMENTS *At least 10 desks for the kids *Exercise books *Pencils/Pens/Markers *Crayons and Colours *Manilla papers *Scissors (pattern) *Threads(different colours and sizes) *Needles *Chalks (white and coloured) *Stick glues *Registers We thank you all again for all the support given and do take this opportunity to warmly wish you all MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Enjoy your Holidays from all of us at HAPPY DAY JUNIOR SCHOOL. SvarVideresend

Oppdatering

2020 var et tøft år. Skolen måtte stenge pga korona og alle faste givere har blitt informert om utfordringer som kom for dagen i den forbindelse. Vi har heldigvis funnet gode løsninger på utfordringene vi hadde, og skolen startet opp igjen etter at myndighetene ga koronalettelser i januar 2021 med ny driftsstruktur. I 2021 går det 50 barn fordelt på fem trinn fra nursery til Grade 2. Skolen er fremdeles helt avhengig av innsamlede midler i Norge og vi trenger mer penger for å opprettholde det tilbudet vi bygget opp før koronaen. 

Vi setter veldig stor pris på månedlige autotrekk til 1503 91 06091! Passer engangsbeløp bedre for deg, kan du bruke samme konto eller VIPPSE til Happy Day junior schools venner #104265. 

Den nye driftsstrukturen er som følger: Styret i Happy day junior schools venner i Norge forvalter alle pengene. Det er ingen administrasjonskostnader og hver måned blir alle de ansatte lønnet direkte fra Norge med tjenesten World Remit (et internasjonalt VIPPS system). De ansatte på Happy day er fire lærere, en kokke, en pedagogisk leder som også underviser og en administrativ leder som jobber deltid. Penger til mat og andre utgifter blir hver måned satt over på en kortkonto knyttet til Happy day juniors schools venner-kontoen. Bedriftskortet til denne kontoen disponeres av den administrative lederen og han dokumenterer alle utgifter overfor styret i Norge. Hele personalet har jevnlige personalmøter og er knyttet til en WhatsApp-gruppe hvor også styret i Happy Day juniors schools venner er med. Dette bidrar til at kommunikasjonskanalene er direkte mellom alle ansatte i Kenya og styret i Norge, og vi har veldig god erfaring med dette så langt. 

På årsmøtet i Happy Day junior schools venner 10. mars 2021 ble disse endringene i driften vedtatt og følgende ble valgt inn i styret i Norge: 

Leder: Titus Mutinda Kawinzi 

Nestleder: Jan Vaaland Johannessen 

Styremedlem: Kjetil Hoem Borgan 

Styremedlem: Øyvind Braaten 

Det gamle styret er fortsatt trofaste støttespillere. 

Har du spørsmål, kontakt leder på titusmut@hotmail.com

Monthly Report August

Written by Teacher Margaret

Jambo y'all, we hope this finds you well. We too are well despite the challenges caused by Covid 19. Its now official that schools will open in 2021. This is due to the increasing numbers of new Covid 19 cases in Kenya. Kenya and especially Nairobi is recording very high numbers than ever before. This has become a big challenge to vulnerable families. Livelihoods have been forced to change due to lack of income. As we all know, most of happy day families live from hand to mouth and covid has made it even worse. We have been giving food twice a month to happy day families and now is the time they need us even more. An example is a family that consists of two parents and five children with no form of income and living in a rented shanty. When I visit such a family I feel so much sympathy because they expect some help from us. Me and you have been of great help to such families and we should continue doing it for our fellow humans. We who visit them cannot even explain the joy they get when they see us. Its been a good feeling to see a sad face light up in joy and happiness when they receive a hamper from us. May all those who make it possible continue to be blessed. We will bring live coverage from families who will accept to be filmed so that you can all see the joy. We hope we will continue sponsoring this program as time goes by.



Our July / August budget is as follows :::: 

Salaries......... 80000 

Insurance.......18000 

Water...............3000 

Food............. 62000 

Liquid soap.... 3500 

TOTAL....... 166500 

We received half of our salaries in the middle of the month.... We are forever grateful

Utdeling av mat og hygieneartikler

Monthly Report July

Written by Teacher Margaret

Jambo y'all. It's yet another end of month which would have been second term mid term in the normal school calendar in Kenya. Unfortunately it's not due to the Corona virus. We are waiting for a government directive on measures to take for schools to re open. We are set to reopen gradually but we even don't know when that will be. Right now Nairobi is reporting the highest number of positive cases since Corona came. Yesterday Nairobi alone had over 100 new cases and this is an indication that schools might not open soon. 

The closure of schools has denied our vulnerable families the daily school meals that we had been providing. As we all know that food had been the only food some kids get due to poverty. Right now families have to depend on handouts from wellwishers like me and you for survival. We at Happy Day have been very lucky because we have you our friends and supporters during this pandemic. We have been getting foodstuffs,soap and toiletries twice a month and we are very grateful. May each one of you be blessed. We are forever grateful. We have also allowed families that live near the school to get free water from our storage. Until schools get back to normal or we get a new normal, food will continue to be a big challenge to the families. Most parents were laid off from work immediately Corona arrived and so they don't have any form of income. Most of them were casual labourers and so the work from home does not apply to them.

We will continue updating about any new developments in the education sector which might have new requirements for the reopening of schools.


Our June/ July budget is as follows :

Salaries........ 80000 

Insurance......18000 

Water..............3000 

Food............ 62000 

Liquid soap.... 3500 

TOTAL...... 166500

In addition to this, we have given the staff half salary earlier i June and we also distributed food for KSh 62000 mid June.

We don't know how long we can keep this up. We should be able to deliver food in mid July, but then we have to get support from YOU to manage the 1. of august expences. We keep hoping that people will continue to support extra. 

Thank you!!