Challenge

As I write this I can hear children singing their songs as the golden morning light paints a wonderful picture over the Alekii school here on Rusinga Island. My favourite is about their morning routine:

"...I brush my teeth/

I comb my hair/

I have a cup to tea/

I run to schoooooooooool!..."

This always makes me smile. Even at this tender age I think they appreciate how lucky they are to be getting an education at all, there are so many more who sit idly by the beaches watching the world go by, passive observers.

Most of them are orphans, with many of them having lost parents to HIV/AIDS which has ripped the community apart. Despite all the hardship they have been through, they are full of youthful joy and energy, and you can see their various talents shining through in the form of academic ability, artistic temperament and athletic ability. Each pupil is good at something, and they are rightly proud of it.

Sadly, the building which they are taught in is decaying. An old shack of a house, wind blows through the rafters and the old iron sheet roof creeks anxiously. Cracks big enough to put your arm through streak the walls inside. Many of the parents talk about their concern that one day the house will collapse and their children will be trapped inside or worse, that the children would be crushed.

The Alekii Self Help Group, a community based organisation who maintain the school through their own donations have confirmed that they need to be out  January  next year, and so have just two months to raise $8,000 to build a new school of three new classrooms which would allow more pupils to enrol whilst providing a safe environment for the children to learn in.

Mount Kenya

It's for this reason that I've decided to do some fundraising of my own. Next week I will be climbing Mount Kenya, the second tallest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro. It is a difficult five day climb with altitude sickness being likely, and the small rains have just started so I expect to have to battle through the weather, but it will be worth it if we can raise some money and get this new school built.

 So far this has been something of a one-way monologue from me, but now I want you to get involved. I'm going to get the fundraising started with £300 and I'd like to try and raise £2,000 eventually. If you can, please support me in doing this for Alekii. 100% of all donations go direct to the construction of the new school, there is zero administration in this charity as no one draws a salary, and all materials are donated by members. Please post your name and donation amount in the comments field underneath, and I'll transfer on your behalf.

Pamela

You'll be helping children like Pamela, who lost her parents to HIV/AIDS early in her life. She lives with her aunt and uncle who already have three children. With just a fisherman's salary between them,  they would not be able to pay the government school fees and she would not receive an education at all. If the Alekii school is forced to close, it will be children like Pamela who will miss out on a critical stage of their development, and be severely limited in reaching their potential for the rest of their lives.

If you can, please support Alekii today by sponsoring me in this challenge. I guarantee that your donation will be wisely spent, and to these children it could mean the difference between achieving their potential and a life consigned to poverty.

Thank you all.