Many of us are familiar with the saying “less is more”, but I’d like to suggest that there are also times when more is more. In this case, more instead of less classroom space for teaching children.
Change Has Come
After years of waiting, praying and wondering if building would begin, change has finally come to the Miruya Primary School in Migori County, Kenya. Last week, a group of 7th and 8th grade students filed into their brand new classroom. After settling in at their desks they looked around to admire the painted walls, tiled floor and glass windows. They were speechless.
You can watch them entering their new space for the first time below:
When More is More
This classroom represents years of planning and hoping, as well as a multitude of prayers on the part of the Miruya community. When William Aludo first discovered the school in 2018, he found an abandoned building. Eighteen children were there, sitting on the cracked and dusty floors of an empty classroom. There were no teachers. The government had all but forgotten this really rural area, and consequently no teachers had been hired to teach at the school. That same year Everyone’s Child received a generous grant to help breathe life back into this little school. We hired teachers and a cook, and built bathrooms and a new kitchen. The enrollment began to grow. Within one year we were holding a Matching Challenge to raise funds for a new classroom. The number of students had multiplied and they had run out of classrooms to hold them.
Commitments
At a recent meeting, the EC Board of Directors made a commitment to build another classroom at the Miruya Primary School, allowing current and future 7th and 8th graders to have their own learning spaces. Our next step will be to investigate the potential of having a well dug so the children and staff will have access to clean drinking water. These small steps are the beginning of a revitalization of this neglected but beautiful area of Kenya. If you are in a position to help with either of these projects, please click here to add your support.
Asante Sana
More space, more water, more opportunities, and more hope. That is when more is more. The children of Miruya Primary School may not be able to thank you for your support first hand, but if they could, they would shout “asante sana!”, and their joy would be felt across the ocean.
Blessings,
Ruth