OASIS FOR ORPHANS NEWSLETTER

September 2012 

Greetings!  

In August of 2011, I had the privilege of traveling to Kenya with a group of educators. While there, I learned a great deal about the Oasis children, the Kenyan school system, teachers, and the Kenyan people as a whole. For a child in Kenya, a good education is crucial to a hope-filled future.  When a child is given the chance for an education, he is being given so much more than just knowledge.  He is being given the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and impact his community in profound ways.  The children in Kenya know that they must study and work hard on their education so they can have a better life.  They know that their future depends on their education.  They are motivated to learn! 

August 2011 Education Team visiting Kibera

Providing for the educational needs of the Oasis children is one of the core goals of Oasis. Oasis has an Education Team who has been working diligently over the past year to implement a comprehensive education plan to ensure a quality education for each Oasis child. They also work to come alongside Kenyan teachers and empower them by providing professional development experiences that increase their capacity to teach and to improve educational opportunities for students.  

There is a great deal of excitement as we move forward with multiple initiatives for the Oasis children but before I share this news with you, I want to begin by telling you about the educational system in Kenya. 

Class 5 - Hill Springs School

The school year in Kenya runs from January through December. It is divided into three-month terms with a break at the end of each term. The Kenyan educational system includes eight years of primary school and four years of secondary school. Primary school attendance is mandatory, though many families cannot afford to send their children to school.

At the end of Class 8, students take a standardized test, the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam. The score a student earns determines which secondary school a student can attend.

The most prestigious and well-funded public schools are the national secondary schools. Students with the highest KCPE scores are invited to attend these schools. Public provincial schools admit students with the next highest level of KCPE scores. The remaining students may attend district level schools. The quality of education drops significantly at each level due to less funding and resource allocation. Sometimes, students who qualify for national or provincial schools are left to attend district schools because they are unable to afford the cost of the more prestigious schools. Depending on the school, costs are upwards of $500 per year for a district school and as much as $5000 per year for a national school. In addition, school uniforms, shoes and supplies must be purchased. As you can imagine, this is an incredible sum of money in a country where the average income is less than two dollars a day.

At the end of Form IV (senior year), students take the Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam. These scores determine the type of post-secondary education available to a particular student (university or vocational).

Oasis' overall focus rests on producing educated, empowered Kenyan citizens, but we recognize the value of succeeding on the national exams. Oasis is committed to preparing students to excel on exams as they move through the primary and secondary education system.   

Jemilla studying Kiswahili

Here are some of the exciting developments that are improving education.

- Over the last year, the Oasis education team has expanded to include 6 dedicated US teachers who are committed to partnering with individual classrooms in Kenya. These teachers have familiarized themselves with the Kenyan syllabus and are working to provide additional resources to enhance learning in the classrooms.

- Oasis has been working to create a comprehensive educational plan. This plan includes evening study hall for all students at our homes, tutoring based on careful analysis of each child's needs while using real time data so that specific skill deficits are addressed, professional development for Kenyan teachers and the empowerment of Kenyan teachers, online accessiblility to the Kenyan National Syllabi for teachers and Oasis team members, a core foundation of literacy, the implementation of new and affordable technology, and a continued emphasis of academic excellence.

- Imagine being a teacher and not having access to any textbooks for your classroom. This is a regular occurrence in Kenya. A collaborative effort between the Chapel and Oasis allowed for the purchase hundreds of textbooks for the school. Hill Springs School is one of the only schools in the region that has textbooks available for students. Over the course of the year, we have seen school scores improve dramatically due to this simple change!

- The Education Team is presently accumulating books and resources in order to create libraries for each classroom that coincide with the Kenyan curriculum. During the 2011 trip, eleven bins of books, resources, and school supplies were donated that are now being used in the classrooms. In addition, many multi-media resources were brought by teams during this last summer. Our goal is to keep a stream of educational resources that are not available in Kenya headed to Oasis children to enhance their learning.

- During this year, eight educational tablets were purchased and loaded with a wealth of learning tools! Irynsoft, a software company in California, is collaborating with the Oasis education team on the development of software that allows our learners to use Kahn Academy math and science lessons, as well as to provide practice exams and reading material!

Betty reading on the Tablet

Thanks to all of you for your support of the Oasis children in Kenya. We are at the genesis of determining how we will support them. Please feel free to contact me with thoughts, ideas, questions or prayers.

God Bless,

Jim O'Malley

jim@oasisfororphans.org