Buradi Village School Fundraiser

If you’ve spent any time on Hornby Island, you may have been lucky enough to meet Ignatius (Iggy) Ochieng and his wife Melanda. They moved here from Kenya a few years ago and quickly became beloved members of our community.

Though they now call Hornby home, Iggy grew up in Buradi Village, a small rural community in western Kenya. He works hard here to support his family back home — and remains deeply committed to improving life for the children in Buradi.

A few years ago, Iggy and a group of Buradi natives created a committee to identify the most urgent needs of the Buradi Primary School and start raising funds to address them. In 2023, when Iggy was working at Sea Breeze Lodge, we helped by launching the Buradi Village School Fundraiser. The fundraiser was hugely successful and allowed us to complete our #1 goal — building safe hygienic lavatories for the students!

Before this, the school had extremely limited access to toilets or handwashing facilities, and those they had were unsafe and lacked privacy. This lack of sanitation was not only a health and dignity issue for all students but disproportionately affected female students, impacting their attendance and likelihood of continuing education beyond the primary level.

Since then, thanks to generous support from people like you, we completed all the necessary lavatory upgrades and managed to use some of the additional funds to provide much-needed desks, chairs, and shelving to improves the classrooms!

Now, we’re reigniting the fundraiser to help tackle the next phase of this inspiring project and bring even more positive change to Buradi.

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR BURADI PRIMARY SCHOOL (these plans have been updated since the fundraiser launched, based on consultation with the Headmaster and teachers, and students, during the lavatory project; they reflect the most up to date priorities of those the school serves and is run by).

1. CREATING A KITCHEN GARDEN AND CHICKEN COOP TO SUPPORT SCHOOL MEALS

Many students attend school from 8 AM to 4 PM without eating. Having a kitchen garden growing healthy greens, and keeping a small flock of chickens producing eggs, will ensure some basic nutritious food is available for students. It will also allow them to have hands-on experience that supports the Kenyan primary school Agriculture curriculum. Longer term funding for a sustained meal program, supplementing what is grown with purchased items from farmers in the village, will follow on at a later date.

2. REPLACING THE CONDEMNED CLASSROOM BUILDING AND REPAIRING WINDOWS AND FLOORS OF DEGRADED CLASSROOMS

Currently the students are studying in unsafe and overcrowded conditions, as one entire building has been condemned by the government as unfit for use.

3. BUYING DESKS (WITH IN-BUILT CHAIRS) AND TEXTBOOKS

Students currently stand or sit on the floor in many of the classrooms. The standard school desk (with in-built seat and book storage, and which seats two pupils at a time) can easily be built by local craftspersons in the village, so that all the students can be accommodated.

4. ADDING A CLEAN WATER STATION

The school’s single water station is shared with the whole village, often causing long wait times. A second station would give students better access to clean water during the school day.

5. INSTALLING A SOLAR PANEL

Frequent power outages disrupt learning. A solar panel would provide reliable, sustainable electricity for classrooms.

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This is a community-driven effort making a real difference.

Every donation — big or small — goes directly toward improving education and quality of life for Buradi’s students.

Leave your email with your donation to get updates on the school’s progress.

Let’s keep the momentum going — and help build a brighter future for Buradi! ❤️