John Sleet

As mentioned in the last newsletter, this year’s major fundraiser will be an epic endurance walk totalling 88 kilometres around Northampton, known unsurprisingly as the Northampton Round. The walk will take place on Saturday 29th June, starting from Brixworth Country Park in the early hours. The walkers intend to complete the walk within 24 hours – 4 intrepid souls have signed up although more may join.

In June this year, a group of intrepid (foolhardy?) supporters intend to walk the ‘Northampton Round’ in aid of the Karuri School Project.

This is a truly epic endurance 55 mile walk along roads, footpaths and bridleways through villages surrounding Northampton, to be completed in a 24 hour period. The walk starts and ends in Brixworth. Exactly how many individuals will be attempting this is not yet clear. More details, including how to sponsor the walkers , will be outlined in the Spring newsletter.

A great deal has happened at the School since the Spring newsletter, following the Kenyan Education Department’s requirements to make the school a Junior High and continuing to take Year 9 students. Work on the new building, which eventually will encompass an Administration office, staff room, IT facilities, Library, Workshop and Science Laboratory has been going on apace. Thanks to your continued support the structure, plastering, tiling and flooring (phase one) has now been completed.

Our first visit to the school was the day we had arrived at Nairobi airport just after midnight. Our arrival heralded the welcome end of a drought; rain from the UK. It is in a sparsely populated area known as Kinangop, which is about 40 minutes’ drive East and uphill from Naivasha to an altitude around 8,000 feet; the air is quite thin! The last ten minutes are along very rough tracks. The local population is subsistence farmers, many living in timber or mud huts, growing crops for themselves and the market, and keeping a few animals. For most it is grinding poverty.

In November 2022, Chrissie and her husband Jonathan spent two weeks in Kenya and made 5 visits to the school to see Wangari, her staff and children. This newsletter will be the first of two reflecting on their visit and will focus on how we have reached our current position and the life and experience of the students.

Thanks to the extensive work (pro bono) and not inconsiderable skill of our good friend Tom, we now have a new website where you can find all the latest news together with the history of the Project. Check it out on karurischoolproject.org and tell any of your friends who may be interested.

Since the last newsletter, the school has been focused on the National exams. These are very important to the children as their results determine the next steps in life. Wangari reported that some of the young people chose to start their studies at 4.00 am in the run up to the exams! The achievements of some of the children are documented in this issue and make everything our little charity does worthwhile. One girl received the eighth highest result in the whole of Kenya and appeared on TV and the newspapers.