The children of the slums of Langas, Kenya, need our help!

We are a group of people from all over the world who meet twice a month to practice nonviolent communication. Rosemary from Kenya is part of our group and she shared with us her need for support raising money to rebuild the classroom and washrooms of the Bemra School in Langas, Kenya. These buildings were wrecked during heavy rainfall and windstorms they had on April 17th, 2024. The school serves 60 children, ages 3 to 10, from the slums of Langas in Eldoret town. As a group we decided to support Rosemary by helping her to raise the amount of money it needs to fix the school and to ensure that these kids will continue to have a safe space and warm meal a day. Please find more details about the project history and the specific needs below, and thank you for your support.

Rosemary Munala tells us: “The school is currently run by myself and 3 local volunteers and has been in existence since 2016 and officially registered with the government since August 2020. Our main mission is providing schooling and providing for basic needs to the children living in the area. Presently we have a population of up to 60 children between the ages of 3 and 10 years of age. These are children born and raised in the slums of Langas in Eldoret town. Most of their parents have no means to provide better education and proper diets for their children.The larger population of Langas is living below poverty levels and we are very glad to try and help these children to enjoy an education like other children from homes with greater economic means.

Last Wednesday evening, the 17th of April 2024, there was heavy rainfall in our area accompanied with heavy wind storms that blew off the roof of the classroom and brought down the washrooms at our school. We are worried given that we were in the process of preparing for the school’s reopening for the next term which starts in May, as the rainy weather continues.

For this reason we are trying to raise funds to rebuild the school as quickly as possible, as our kids are almost ready to resume their classes since the holiday break is coming to an end. We are also hoping to welcome a new population of parents looking to enroll their children when the school re-opens.

After consulting with a local builder and thoroughly evaluating the damages, we aim to raise around 2500 to 3000 USD to finance the rebuilding of the school and the washrooms. The builder has estimated the costs as follows:

Rebuilding of the washrooms (total number: 5 → 2 for boys, 2 for girls, and 1 for staff) 1250 to 1500 USD

Rebuilding of the classroom and roof 1500 to 1750 USD

The amounts are estimates as we use Kenyan Shilling and the exchange rate fluctuates a lot.

This price includes the total cost of materials and the labour costs. Given the urgency of the situation and the need to re-open very soon, we think it would be possible to work in two phases: first rebuild the classroom and two of the five washrooms, in order to get the school up and running again for its reopening, and then in a second phase raise the rest of the funds to rebuild the other three washrooms to complete the project.

We appreciate very much any contribution big or small that you are able to make to this cause, and the sharing of this gofundme page with others who may want and are able to offer their support.

Here is the link to the project’s facebook page where you will also be able to follow the progress of the construction: https://www.facebook.com/bemraeliteacademy/”

Rosemary Munala and the team of Bemra School