E-KiD - Der Kindergarten

Nursery

At first, our monthly costs were about 10,000 Kenya shillings. Depending on the exchange rate, that translated to about Euro 125.00 - 150.00 total, or Euro 7.81 - 9.37 per child, for education, food, medical care and miscellaneous expenses. We enlisted the local financial management expertise of our long-time friend Maria Haemmerle. Maria is a German expatriate who has lived and worked in Diani Beach since 1999. Joshua, the Kenyan rector of the Diani congregation of the New Apostolic Church, provides on-site project management. He oversees the procurement of food and teaching materials, and personally pays workers' salaries each month. Almost as important, he is always willing to listen to suggestions and questions.
...the first year (2003)...
From the very first day, the little ones felt really good in their kindergarten. It started every morning, from Monday to Friday, at 8:00. The children played, did some painting and singing and also learned letters and numbers. In addition to their mother tongue, Swahili, they learned their first words in English. At break time, there was lunch for all, freshly prepared by the cook. For many of these children it was their only meal of the day. At noon school was over, and it was "pick-up time" for the children (although some even went home on their own).... <more>
As the months passed, our children encountered the same obstacles as children everywhere: illness, scratches and tears. But they also had laughter and lots of fun. And so, step by step, they made tremendous progress, from one developmental stage to the next. Through phone calls and letters, our dear on-site "correspondents" kept us up-to-date about the children's progress and the functional aspects of the school. But by the second half of the second year, it became clear that "we" had outgrown our accommodations... <more>

...the third year (2005)...
At the beginning of 2005, we paid a three-week visit to Kenya. Our local "correspondents" had notified us about a variety of issues we needed to address. It was important for us to go and assess these situations firsthand. Because of changes in the public school - for example, the class size had risen to 80 pupils - we felt it best to place our "graduates" in different circumstances. We put them into a half-private school, where they would receive more attention, and are in better hands. This new school required not only the usual school fees, but a contribution for teaching materials as well.... <more>

...the fourth year (2006)...
... started with a little shock: Our on-site manager, Joshua, informed us that the local health inspector had paid a visit to the kindergarten, and had noted the lack of sanitary facilities. The inspector stated that either the kindergarten must build new toilets as quickly as possible - or risk being shut down! Of course, the kindergarten had toilets, of a sort. The New Apostolic Church, where the kindergarten was still located, allowed the children, like all church visitors, to use the only existing toilets on the property. We would describe them as "pit latrines," and they were just like most toilets in the area. However, it turned out that the septic field had become full and no longer functioned properly. The owner of the church property declined to build a new one. Indeed, this situation called for urgent action.... <more>
It seemed our motto had almost magical powers! When we returned to Diani in January, we found that the kindergarten had, indeed, continued to progress. Our "perennial" issue was resolved: the toilets were finally in place and properly separated, in accordance with the law -- three in a "boys' room", and three in a "girls' room." So, we could welcome the local health authority with confidence. <more>
(from Barry + Jenny Raynes)
No-one with a conscience can take a holiday to Kenya and not feel compelled to do something to help. The cost of a cocktail in a hotel will save the life of a Kenyan. However Heike and Heinz Isbrecht, a German couple from Bremen, did more than most people. They realised that the village Diani near their hotel had no school facilities. Although schooling is compulsory in Kenya, and Kenyans take education very seriously, many children are unable to travel the long distances to school. <more>

Volunteer-Report: Seven weeks in a different world (22. february - 8. april 2009)
(from Stefanie Beuernfeind and Merit Sauter)
Stefanie wanted to expand her horizons - to experience and see something new, to escape her daily routine in Germany - by working somewhere different. She happened to hear of Kindergarten in Diani and met with some members of the committee. She became so excited about what she learned that it took at least one hour for her to report it all to me - and after that I was just as excited as she was!
So, I, too, went to meet with the committee in Bremen and I was "sold," too! <more>

...the eighth year (2010)...
Now it‘s already March of 2010! So we are very pleased to find you all still there, ready to go forward with us into another year of progress and joyful experiences for the children at KiD! Likewise, we wish you the same kind of year!
Allow us to "take you away", once again, to Kenya. As cold as it was here this February, it was exactly the opposite when we landed in Mombasa - extremely hot - with little respite in the 37°C shade! But with so many administrative details to attend to in only 2½ weeks, we knew it would not only be the heat that would cause us to break a sweat; we had become accustomed to "sprinting" toward our
goals from our countless previous visits! <more>
(Travel report by Denise Hearn and Jacky Keen)
Jacky and I travelled to Diani Beach - Kenya in July this year (2010) After doing our amazing safari and a few other days out through our tour operator, we decided we wanted to meet some local people, so we went out of our hotel grounds for a walk. Almost immediately we met a couple of guys from one of the "shops" directly outside our hotel. They were both called Joe (Joe "Frasier" and "Big Joe"). They were very friendly and told us how happy they were to see some people leave the hotel grounds, apparently it doesn't happen very often! <more>
(by Irulan Horner)
Preparation
My name is Irulan, I work for a company called Reconstruct. As an organisation who cares about children in care in England, the directors felt that supporting the KiD charity matched the company philosophy of supporting children through education and providing positive adult role models. I was privileged to spend a month with the KiD school in Kenya working as a volunteer, learning more about the children, the staff and the Kenyan way of life. I was proud to go as an ambassador of Reconstruct and the employees who support the KiD project through sponsorship of pupils and a teacher at KiD.... <more>
...the tenth year (2012)...
Much has happened at KiD in the past few months, but our most important news is that all of our KiD children are well, thank goodness! Other than the usual childhood bumps and scrapes, we have had no worries! We, the KiD team (in Kenya and in Germany) are full of joy and thankfulness for the success of our projects - the ones you make possible with your generous support. We invite you now to take a few minutes to sit back, make yourselves comfortable and catch up on the latest developments at KiD. Let’s "leave" Germany now and travel back to Kenya… <more>
A friendly Jambo to everybody! In Kenya, we would normally answer this greeting with "jambo habari." This means "Hello, how are you?" We reply: "Muzuri karibu!" With "muzuri," we say that we are fine, and "karibu" means welcome. This greeting is as fitting as the smiles on the faces of our children, for it is a pleasure to tell you that Project KiD is doing "muzuri" - just fine! As we told you in our recent report, we are overwhelmed by the rapid growth and the good work being done at the local level as well as in Germany. So, now we also want to say "karibu," to welcome you to and to share with you all the recent developments in our KiD "adventure." <more>
(by Julia Werner and Fenja Niemeyer)

a christmas like „Jambo“ to all of you. We are very happy to be able to report to you, that all of our children are doing great as well as that our project KiD is doing wonderful. The year is getting to an end, we however have not just yet found the calmness, nevertheless we can happily look back at another successful year 2013 during which a lot of things positively developed and changed. <????????more>

A friendly Jambo to everybody! In Kenya, we would normally answer this greeting with "jambo habari." This means "Hello, how are you?" We reply: "Muzuri karibu!" With "muzuri," we say that we are fine, and "karibu" means welcome. This greeting is as fitting as the smiles on the faces of our children, for it is a pleasure to tell you that Project KiD is doing "muzuri" - just fine! As we told you in our recent report, we are overwhelmed by the rapid growth and the good work being done at the local level as well as in Germany. So, now we also want to say "karibu," to welcome you to and to share with you all the recent developments in our KiD "adventure." <more>

A friendly Jambo to everybody! In Kenya, we would normally answer this greeting with "jambo habari." This means "Hello, how are you?" We reply: "Muzuri karibu!" With "muzuri," we say that we are fine, and "karibu" means welcome. This greeting is as fitting as the smiles on the faces of our children, for it is a pleasure to tell you that Project KiD is doing "muzuri" - just fine! As we told you in our recent report, we are overwhelmed by the rapid growth and the good work being done at the local level as well as in Germany. So, now we also want to say "karibu," to welcome you to and to share with you all the recent developments in our KiD "adventure." <more>

A friendly Jambo to everybody! In Kenya, we would normally answer this greeting with "jambo habari." This means "Hello, how are you?" We reply: "Muzuri karibu!" With "muzuri," we say that we are fine, and "karibu" means welcome. This greeting is as fitting as the smiles on the faces of our children, for it is a pleasure to tell you that Project KiD is doing "muzuri" - just fine! As we told you in our recent report, we are overwhelmed by the rapid growth and the good work being done at the local level as well as in Germany. So, now we also want to say "karibu," to welcome you to and to share with you all the recent developments in our KiD "adventure." <more>


The kindergarten classroom.
These seven children joined the kindergarten in 2003
Back in Bremen, the pre-Christmas fundraising bazaar and the youth choir concert were a huge success
To the left of the road, near the palm trees, lies the site we purchased for the new (current) KiD.

The security wall was a reality at last!

The provisional kindergarten house, made of wood and corrugated sheet metal

...our construction crew relied on muscles, not machines ...

...the "footprint" of the foundation

Friendly, bright and inviting: the new KiD kindergarten

The side plan from new KiD-Plot - for raising vegetables. For bigger picture klick here

Our colourful, beautiful new KiD school building. For bigger picture click here