Memusi School, Magadi, Kenya was the first school the foundation started to work with. In 2007 the school was just a simple shelter, but has since grown to eleven permanent classrooms and onsite houses for nine teachers. It has grown from 6 pupils to over 360.

As part of the development of Memusi School, a number of years ago a toilet block was built in the corner of the school grounds, consisting of eight dry pit cubicles for the children to use. This single toilet block is used by both boys and girls of all ages and now as the school has grown it needs to cater for all attendees of the school. With the increase in attendance and age of pupils, the unisex nature of the toilet naturally introduces new social issues in the community and so it is now necessary for the school infrastructure to expand in order to continue to provide a safe and clean environment for the children to use.

We would like to raise money to build a new single block dry pit latrine of
eight cubicles on the site that can be used by girls only, making the existing toilet a male only facility. Not only will this double the number of toilets at the school it will also provide a facility specifically for the girls that they can visit with confidence.

We’ve managed to raise an amazing £2,667.18 so far through a number of different events, such as Total Warrior, SkyBet Leeds to London cycling Challenge and bake sales. We still have a way to go to achieve our £5,000 target so it’s time for the next big challenge!

The Long Walk

For many of the children attending Memusi School getting to school is the first challenge they have to overcome.  Their journey to school typically involves a long walk in ill-fitting, broken shoes in the Kenyan heat. They then spend the day working hard at school before travelling back home again where they then help their families with their chores. Here’s Koikai and Emmanual’s story…

Koikai (in Baby Class) and Emmanual  (in Kindergarten) are brothers who travel 5km to get to school and then 5km to get back home again (you can see them in the page cover photo).

They are 5 & 6 years old.

Because of the long walk they’re only able to go to school for three days out of five which means they’re not progressing as well as they would if they were in school all week. As a result of this they’ve both been held back a year to catch up.

This is what they are willing to do in order to be at a
school.

In support of their long walk, Memusi supporters Sarah and Dan will be undertaking their own long walk – walking to work every day for a week at the end of April!

For Sarah this is a 14.7km (9 mile) walk from Guiseley to Park Lane in Leeds.

For Dan this is a 13.9km (8.6 mile) walk from Wakefield to St Paul’s Street in Leeds.

Take a look at the photos section to see the routes!

All the money raised from this challenge will go towards the new toilet block, helping to provide better facilities for the kids whilst they’re at school.

Every little helps, and we’d really appreciate any donations and support you can give.

Thank You!! 

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The Memusi Foundation
believes passionately in education and the right that every person has to a free education. It is through quality and free education that every child has the opportunity to escape poverty in their own lifetime, providing a path of hope.

Memusi builds its foundations with 4 pillars in each of its schools. These are quality education, health care, working with local communities and sustainability models. It is these key principles that provide each of our projects with strength to build and the foundations to last.