Crowthorne CE Primary School

Crowthorne CE Primary School is partnered with Kashitu Basic School in Serenje. Ruth Jackson is the Deputy at Crowthorne and over the last year they have been doing lots of fundraising activities, including a sponsored skip! Ruth was part of the Kerith schools trip earlier this year and visited Kashitu School for the first time. She was able to see the huge difference that the money her pupils had raised would make.

Kashitu Basic is a rural school based about an hour from central Serenje and the journey to the school is a bumpy one down hilly dirt tracks and through the countryside. The school had been facing a number of problems, such as a lack of study books for the pupils in grade 8 and 9 and no science equipment (pupils only knew the science apparatus by names but had not seen them physically). They also lacked mattresses for children who travel long distances and therefore sleep in one of the classrooms on the floor during the week. It was also felt that a decent structure needed to be constructed for the male pupils who are weekly boarders. These pupils had been sleeping in a two roomed thatched shelter which was almost collapsing.

With the £4629 raised by Crowthorne CE Primary, Kashitu school have been able to buy:

- 240 books for all the key subjects such as Maths, English, History, Geography, as well as atlases and dictionaries. The headmaster Mr Chisulo said ‘This has brought a lot of joy to pupils especially the grade 8 and 9. The school is now fully stocked with study books for the pupils.’
- 40 mattresses for the girls and boys who board during the week.
- Building materials for the boys’dormitory. The construction of this building will commence in April 2012 once rains have almost wound up. Mr Chisulo says ‘This will change the face of the school. Pupils are so excited about this good news. The school authority at Kashitu Basic School is so thankful to the Crowthorne CE School for the support and wishes the school administration all the best in their endeavours. The contribution made to the school will go a long way in helping build the future of many children within and outside the community who are going to learn from this school.’

Thank you to Ruth Jackson and all the pupils and staff at Crowthorne CE Primary school. It's amazing the difference that this will make to the lives and futures of the pupils at Kashitu Basic School.

Thank you

Back in October we set out to raise a total of £170,000. This included £80,000 for year 4 of the project and £90,000 for Project 125, the building of the girl's dormitory.

If I'm honest I felt a little daunted by the figure of £170,000. It's a huge sum of money. And yet as we head into Christmas we can celebrate that we have reached our target! It's incredible - what a faithful God and what a faithful church. Thank you so much to everyone who gave, who believed, who prayed.

I'd like to say a special thanks to our young people who raised thousands of pounds towards Project 125. They conga'd to windsor, did sponsored silences, washed our cars and much more. Thank you to Amy Mehta and Alice Benham who were the driving force behind so much of this.

Christmas is about hope and you are part of bringing hope to the thousands of people in Serenje. Thank you for making the following possible:

3000 orphans & vulnerable children receiving support (school fees, uniforms)
1000 families receiving agricultural support (training and seeds)
117 church and community volunteers visiting and supporting people living with HIV and AIDs.
110 (50 church leaders and 60 community leaders) receiving leadership training.
100 girls will have a safe place to live and sleep while they attend secondary school.

Merry Christmas.

Zoe