De Bridge School, Nairobi, Kenya

School
Children in the DeBridge Community (Waithaka section of Nairobi) love to go to school. Each day the DeBridge School receives many parents or guardians who plead with them to accept their children. Unfortunately, they do not have enough capacity to accommodate every request. Thus the school can only accept children who are the most vulnerable such as those in abusive families, those who cannot afford a meal in a day, and young girls running away from female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage arrangements.  DeBridge School has some children whose families can partially afford to pay the tuition fee, and they use this income for operational costs; mainly to pay teachers and rent their facilities. The school includes children in grades k -12.

Women's Center
The DeBridge School also operates a center to support women and girls in Kenyan society. Laws and customs in Kenya allow women to be treated as second class citizens, subservient to their husbands and without property rights. These same women create the essential social fabric of Kenyan society and are responsible for cohesive family structures. Without support they fail in their struggle and therefore the community fails. Between education, support groups and skill training, DeBridge attempts to strengthen Kenyan society by supporting its women. 

Since the majority of the children cannot afford to pay the basic tuition fee, the school's budget has been running in arrears for several months, with teacher’s salary arrears of $6813 and rent arrears of $5049.

There are a total of 14 teachers who are each compensated as follows

6 high school teachers compensated $112 monthly
4 primary teachers compensated $90 monthly
4 ECD teachers compensated $85 monthly

A school lunch is supported by well-wishers, friends and community members who provide food supplies, though usually not enough to meet the needs of the students. 
Many of the DeBridge students get only this one meal in a day.

DeBridge School Funding Needs
Donors May Choose To Sponsor a Child/Children by
Donating

     $17 for a uniform
     $205 for tuition fees/ per year for each student. 

Donors will receive an acknowledgement letter and a profile of the child being sponsored, in addition to reports on the child's educational progress in each term. Donors may choose to communicate with the sponsored child if they wish.
Smaller donations are welcome and can be allocated to general or specific purposes. 

For a full profile of the DeBridge School and Community Center, its mission and funding needs, click this link:
DeBridge School and Community Center


Additional needs:

Computers and internet service subscription funds
Building materials and maintenance funds
Direct assistance to pay arrears balances


Thank you for your consideration,
Matthew Kolb