Jambo to All.

Our names are Diane, Rik & Casey Barker, and we are retired Catholic lay missioners. Our final posting was in Kitui County, Kenya, where we worked with desperately poor children living and learning in one of Kenya's residential schools for deaf and deafblind children. Only recently have we learned of an even greater need special school setting, one county over in Machakos. The school's name is Liani-Kivaa, located high on the Yatta Plateau, a very dry, very barren almost lunar environment (The Yatta Plateau is the world's longest lava flow at 260 km in length.) The children at this school sleep on the tables in their classrooms, have no desks, no paper, no pencils, and no chalk to write on their badly deteriorated chalkboard. And we are not talking about one child per table at night, no, we are talking about piles of children sleeping on each table with little or no bedding and certainly no linens or pillows. There are currently a total of 40 students. We have never done anything like this before; we are asking for your help. When we say these kids have nothing, we mean they have less than nothing. They need nutritious food, school supplies, beds and bedding, and a safe place to sleep. The way we make this thing work in and amongst all the graft and greed is that we have a trusted colleague who is a teacher of the deaf and deafblind named Millie M., whom we trust and love dearly. After we left Kitui, Millie moved from Kitui to Machakos, and she will be prioritizing the need and overseeing the distribution of funds. She will send unpaid invoices to us, and we will, in turn, send her the needed funds via World Remit. Everything above board, 100% of the funds raised will go to the kids. We will make the annual audit for this fundraiser available to anyone who asks to see it. You have our word. Thank you very much for reading this. It is a heartbreaker.

Update October 10, 2025

To date, 21 friends and family members - 21 of you guys have donated enough to build 20 sets of bunk beds and the kids can already feel the excitement of having a real bed to sleep in. Since we're not standing right there in front of you, we need for the 21 of you to give yourself a pat on the back and just for one second try to put yourself in the place of a child who is about to get a bed - maybe for the first time in his or her life!

The welder is a good guy and working with him has been a pleasure. He understood that he wouldn't be paid all at once, and he was cool with that. He's delivering the bunks as he finishes them.

We just got word that the last bunk has been delivered and the welder has been paid in full. We ended up paying KSH 340,000 for 20 pairs of bunks. As you can see in the picture, the bunks are all made out of high quality channel steel. Stick welded and painted with two coats of paint.

Update November 3, 2025

Through your generosity, when the students return from their break, they will ALL HAVE THEIR OWN BEDS TO SLEEP IN!!! (Please check out the new pics)

Of course the boys will be sleeping on blue sheets and the girls on pink. And their dorm now has a door on it that locks from the inside. Thanks to all who have donated, but the project's not complete yet. Now we're on to water.

Here's the thing; the school gets its water through a pipe attached to a public bore hole. The problem is, the bore hole pump is powered with solar energy, so there is no water if the sun isn't shining. And the kids have no wash facilities to speak of. No showers, no real lavatories and no wash stands to wash their clothes. We're going to change all of that. Millie is soliciting bids to erect a water tank, and another bid to build a wash facility accessible from the dorm. The toilets they use are pit toilets dug into the ground away from the school and dorm at a good distance. Maybe we'll do something about that next. We don't like the idea of the boys and girls having to leave the dorm in the dark of the night to relieve themselves. Going outside at night in rural Kenya Africa can be very dangerous. Five or Six different cobras, adders, Black mambas, Green mambas . . . and I'm just getting started. Haven't even mentioned any of the many times stinging/biting insects who love to gather around the pit toilets. I don't know what she was doing at the time, but Millie herself was bitten/stung on the back or side of her left hand while at work. The swelling, pain and disability that it rendered is yet to subside. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.