SUPPORTING SACRED HEART SCHOOL, NAIVASHA, KENYA DREAM FOR SOMETHING BETTER
A dream for something better, Wangari Ceclia
Wangari’s New Year Prayer
Glory and praise to God our Almighty Father. We thank you, Lord and we honour you with grateful hearts. Thank you God Father Almighty for the precious gift of this New Year 2026. We surrender ourselves to you, O God. Guide us, protect us, bless us and our families. May this year draw us closer to you and each other.
Making a difference
You may recall that last year Wangari undertook a long, hot and arduous journey into the northern outreaches of Kenya. She had planned to take several girls from the Turkana and Marsabit counties- marginalised nomadic peoples where children have little or no hope of education. These communities are led by Elders and Wangari had been informed , “there is a process which must be respected”. She has since spoken to a Catholic Priest who is Turkana and who has kindly asked her to be patient and that in time things will unfold. It sounds like delay to me!
In the meantime, three girls from the streets have been admitted and are receiving extra coaching to help them catch up. (picture below)
Wangari writes,
“Thank you so much for your incredible support, and especially for buying maize and beans which will sustain us for the whole year. With the money you donated and by selling 3 sheep we were able to provide the new children with T-shirts, jackets, trousers and inner clothes. We also bought food supplies such as rice, wheat, flour, cooking oil and sugar. In addition, we were able to share rice and flour with a few very poor and destitute families around us”
In Kenya, all things are relative.
National Exam Chaos
Placing successful students in good secondary schools has always provided a sense of joy and achievement, but this year things were very different. Let Wangari take up the story. “The Grade 9 National Exam results were released and, as usual, our children performed very well. When, however, the Ministry of Education announced the Grade 10 school allocations, the situation descended into chaos.
For some reason, the Government decided to mix students countrywide, placing some of the best performing children in the poorer county schools and placing some with low marks in the best National schools. This caused confusion, pain and uproar amongst many parents and guardians.
Our top student, Elise, scored 71/72 points, one of the highest in the whole country and was allocated a place at a county school. We had 17 children who sat the exams and not one was placed in a school which matched their performance.
I decided to take action! I began visiting good secondary schools, meeting Principals and humbly presenting the cases of our children I was not alone: thousands of parents were doing the same. Some of the wealthier ones were offering bribes of up to 150,000 Kenyan shillings to secure places in the top schools. Eventually the crowds became so large the school gates were closed and many turned away without being heard. The month to January 15th was one of the most difficult periods of my life. I spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day alone, immersed in prayer, begging God to open doors for our children. I had no money for bribes-I only had Jesus. I asked the children to join me in prayer; I fasted and continually invoked the power of Christ, day and night.
Good news at last! Wherever I had managed to present our children’s cases they were eventually accepted. In some
schools I stayed all day until everyone else had left. On two occasions even the security guard spoke to the Principal
saying, ‘There is one Catholic sister left here who takes care of orphans and has a child with excellent grades-please help her.’ Our top girl was admitted to Maryhill High School. Our top boy was admitted to Mang’u National School. All 17 have now been admitted to good schools. Thank you so much for your prayers, love and continued support. God has been truly faithful. I am now taking two days to rest!”
A triumph of prayer and persistence!
