Jambo Happy Day family.
We hope this finds you well. We are well too. This is our March 2025 newsletter.
We are glad to report that we are progressing on
well and the first half of first term 2025 hasn't had any major events or
occurrences so far. Our staff are always ready to be caregivers to the
Happy day kids and we are trying to nurture good and wholistic citizens of the
world.
This term we have
fluctuating number of kids in attendance per day. We attribute this to lack or
absence of the feeding program. Parents are supposed to either bring
lunch for their kids or the kids go back home for lunch and then come back to
school for the afternoon classes. This is a very hectic and sometimes
difficult thing for almost all the families of happy day. Reason being
that the families are struggling to even have a meal. Some parents have
resorted to taking their kids to school projects that have a feeding program.
Currently we have
approximately 45 kids. I say approximately because they don't usually attend.
We have asked the staff members to do a follow up
and get to know why some kids come 3 days a week and why some take up to a
whole week and come back later. The staff are willing and able to take
on the task of visiting the affected Happy Day families.
As we all know, 95% of Happy Day families are very
poor and some extremely poor. ... Here are a few samples of the happy day
families:
1. Two siblings from a migrant family from Burundi.
The parents are jobless and their other sibling is very sick. They can
barely afford to put food on the table . They are unable to buy school
requirements for their kids and especially exercise books and pencils. We have
been trying to assist where possible but due to the hard economic times we have
not been able to provide the items for them. The oldest is a very bright and
polite 9-year-old girl. Her brother is 5 years old and very withdrawn.
2. Another child is a 9 year old boy from a very
humble background. The mother is mentally unstable and unable to provide
for her only child. The boy has very good vibes and blends well with his peers.
Most of the times he comes to school crying because of hunger. We used to make
sure that he and others get breakfast before classes but now we too are unable
to. He is a go getter who doesn't give up easily.
3. The last child we will present in this newsletter
is a 7-year-old girl from another migrant family.
The mother makes baskets and mats as an income
generating project. This work enables her to feed, clothe and educate her
daughter. Her mum is one of the few parents who are able to provide
requirements for their children at happy day.
THE REQUIREMENTS THAT PARENTS ARE REQUIRED TO
BRING FOR THEIR KIDS ARE :
1. 8 exercise books
2. 3 HB pencils
3. 2 manilla papers
4. Crayon
5. Modeling clay
6. Scissors
7. 3 tissue papers
The above are bought termly except the books which
are bought after they fill up.
The above requirements costs maximum 1000
shillings, (approximately 86 NOK) from a bookshop and they are the most
essential items for a learner. Unfortunately only about 10% of our kids
families can afford that and it becomes very difficult for the teacher to teach
without.
The last few terms we have had the feeding program
ongoing. The parents were contributing 20 shillings each. We have not received
any support from Norway for a long time due to lack of funds. Unfortunately, we
have had to stop the feeding program because only a few of the parents
continued to contribute and it became a huge task for the management here.
Teacher Mary is one of our staff and she doubles
up as a community health volunteer. This has given her exposure to many
families lifestyle around the area and she helps our families to get medical
help when they fall sick. She takes our playgroup class (the youngest of our
kids) who rage between 2 ½ to 3 year olds. Teacher Kelli's is our longest serving staff and she takes
our pre-primary 1 class who rage between 4 to 5 year olds.
This term we have an upcoming fun day. The date has
not yet been confirmed. During such events the kids get exposed to life outside
their neighborhood and it's is an eye opener and a great motivation to them.
Our staff too get to interact with staff from other schools and exchange an
idea or two. Immediately we who get the details to when and how much to
pay for the event we will give the details. We are hoping for support
from Norway to be able to take our kids on this adventure.
Currently our school is in need of a renovation
especially the wall paintings. This includes the outside wall which is worn out
due to weather conditions.
As we reported earlier this term, our water system
was tampered with during the Christmas holidays and we have been unable to
bring water back. We have been buying water from a water vendor and it is not
easy. We therefore require 3000 shillings to have the plumber come and repair (check
what happened in our previous newsletter) and maybe buy the required items to
help bring back water. We were not the only one affected. Some of our
neighbors were affected too and they brought back theirs by paying the above
amount and buying the necessary items. We hope we are able to have the
water restored as soon as possible.
We really appreciate all the help and assistance
accorded or extended to us from all our happy day friends. We are forever
grateful because we wouldn't be where we are without your help. Feel
appreciated and may you be blessed.
We will keep you updated.
If you have any concerns,
input and even compliments you are welcome to share with us and we will gladly
tackle the raised issue.
ASANTE SANA
