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Onsite Needs Assessment
King’s Highway Schools in Eldoret, Kenya
The initial assessment took place during a meeting
in Eldoret, Kenya at the King’s Highway Church and School during a
meeting with Pastor Frances Ranogwa, Pastor Henry, April Stensgard and
Diane Boynton on March 25, 2007.
Florence Ranogwa is the director of both locations
of the King’s Highway School. The largest of these two schools is
referred to as the ‘Country School’. There are approximately 160
children who attend this private school from pre-school age through 8th
grade. This school receives no government funds and is a fundamental
source of education in the rural area outside of Eldoret. School runs
from 7:00am-5:00pm with the preschoolers ending their day around 3:00pm.
The school has a van that gathers the children from the surrounding
communities and brings them to the school. Uniforms are required. The
Kenyan government harshly regulates private schools but provides no
funding or support.
The Ranogwa’s feel very strongly that a strong
education is the key to changing the cycle of poverty, sickness and
unemployment in the area. Specifically, they feel passionately that the
children become fluent in English so that they may function and benefit
from the global community and economy. While the Ranogwa’s, school
staff, surrounding community and the church community are giving 100% to
the education they are hindered by the lack of funds, lack of
educational supplies and the overwhelming needs of the community they
serve. During our time at the school and in subsequent meetings Pastor
Frances expressed his vision for the school and the education of
children and youth of Kenya. Because of that vision and desire for
excellence, I would say that they are not satisfied with the education
that the children are receiving. However, I would say from my
conversations with the children, staff and community that the children
are receiving as good an education as the resources will allow.
The top three needs of the school are probably the
same as schools everywhere with lack of funding being the greatest
challenge. Funding would allow more rooms, more supplies, more staff,
etc. which would result in more children getting an education. The
second greatest need is books and supplies. They are currently using a
very limited amount of supplies and books. The teachers write everything
on black boards then must erase to move onto the next subject. This
makes continuity difficult when revisiting work the next day, going over
homework, helping students who miss school due to illness and so on.
There are no books available for students to check out and take home.
There are not books available to read just to the love of reading and
learning. This is a huge challenge compounded by the fact that funds
must go to so many areas that getting multiple copies of books for
students is way down the list of urgent needs.
Basic educational supplies are very limited. A few
classrooms have printed maps, educational posters, and charts on the
walls. Most have only hand drawn items. During our visit we purchased
very basic plastic chairs for each of the classrooms. This was the first
time that the teachers had the luxury of having a place to actually sit
down during their 10+ hour days. We also noticed that there were no
erasers for the blackboards and several of the blackboards had holes in
them. We purchased erasers while we were there and added new blackboards
to our list of needs.
One of the biggest challenges is language.
While the official national language of Kenya is
Swahili, each tribe or region speaks it’s own language so Kenya is a
nation of many languages. When children come to the either of the King’s
Highway Schools they are taught Swahili, if they don’t know it already
and English as well.
We were continually impressed with how well the
children and staff communicated with all of these languages and the
challenges that must bring. While they are learning English they would
benefit greatly by having much more exposure to written and spoken
English in the form of audio tapes, CD’s etc. There is a computer
available that can be used occasionally as well as a projector and
walkman for music. Electricity is available by generator on occasion but
battery operated items are ideal (until you factor in the cost of
batteries).
When asked about what language they preferred to
get books and supplies in the answer was resoundingly, “English”. There
was no doubt or hesitation. They want these children well educated and
fluent in English both written and verbal, ready to take their place in
the global community.
We were able to raise funds for a library. The
foundation was poured while we were there and with the last update we
were informed that the walls are going up. What the library and school
desperately needs are books. The library structure is symbolic of the
force that guides these Kenyans every single day—HOPE, hope that help
will arrive, that their overwhelming needs will be seen and that humans
are basically good and will help.
The students are not all in the appropriate grade,
especially by U.S. standards. During our tour of the school we met
students who were significantly older than the norm. It is never too
late to learn and it is appropriate that all are welcome to become
educated. Most of the children spoke some English with the older
children being much more fluent. They did have a difficult time with our
English and how fast we talked although when we slowed our speech and
spoke more clearly communication improved.
The staff is comprised of a group of dedicated
individuals who work full-time and part-time. Many of them are student
teachers. Florence Ranogwa explained to us that student teachers in
Kenya must student teach for free for five to six years. It’s hard to
comprehend the dedication required to work for free for that extended
period of time in such harsh conditions. Florence explained that’s just
the way the system works there but that teachers did have a teacher
retirement system after certain number of years. The teachers we
observed were dedicated, friendly and focused. We were very impressed by
the student to teacher ratio that King’s Highway School provided. They
were able to keep the classroom size to 25 children or less compared to
the publics schools where there might be 1 teacher to every 100
students.
We had open access to the school, teachers and
students. When we were out in public in Kenya, we always had native
Kenyans accompany us for safety reasons and to help us communicate. At
the school we were able to visit freely with the students and teachers.
Although we went as a group during our tour during the other times we
went individually and visited with different groups able to ask the
questions and interact in ways that appealed to each of us.
The students were a joy and delight! They were a
happy group who were delighted by visit and by our digital cameras. They
LOVED having their pictures taken. Fourth grade boys are universally a
silly group and as soon as they figured out that their antics could be
captured on film they spent the next half hour or so playfully acting
out for the camera.
The students seemed happier, healthier and more
carefree than the surrounding children who were not in school however
the poverty and struggles of the area were evident even with the
students. They all had uniforms but they were often worn and ill
fitting. Hunger is a major challenge in Kenya and these students are no
exception. They are lucky in that lunch is available at school for those
students who can’t go home or didn’t bring a lunch. Most of the children
we observed ate lunch at school. Lunch consisted of a plate of boiled
beans and maize.
When we discussed what type of books were needed
they expressed great need for phonics books, workbooks and science
books. They asked that all of the books be in English.
There is a strong network of support mainly from
churches in Colorado and Canada. They have provided the funds to add on
classrooms, get the desks that are at the school, provide the supplies
that the school does have and help support the staff. Books have been a
great challenge due to the weight of books and shipping. Multiple groups
go over at different times during the year and individuals carry an
additional bag filled with supplies. With such desperate need 50 lbs
fills quickly and books are heavy.
There is not one student or one staff member at
either of the King’s Highway School who would not benefit greatly by
literacy support. Their hunger to learn was genuine. They just need the
opportunity.
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