Climate Action in Education: Planting 10,000 Trees

With the re-opening of schools in Kenya, we are so excited to start small kitchen and community gardens as the long-rains season in Kenya nears. In the meantime, we have continued to develop our environmental workshop curriculum and cultivate our backyard in readiness for the upcoming rains. We currently have over 50 different varieties of fruit trees, flowers and plants and we hope to take the number up to 200 by the end of the season. Our backyard will continue to remain the site for propagation and environmental workshops for the foreseeable future so that we can continue to work safely with small groups of students and continue to practice social distancing.

Over the past few months, after much care and continuous fertilization of the soil in the backyard garden, we have enjoyed mini harvests of guavas, pomegranates and custard apples. Flowers continue to bloom even as we prepare much of the land for the addition of more varieties of trees, flowers, herbs and vegetables.

Many of the elements we have incorporated in the workshops and garden involve re-using and recycling; we are re-purposing used coffee cups, single use plastic (like water bottles) and wooden pallets into planters so that students can learn about creative ways to use existing resources within their communities in their gardens.

COVID Relief Update

We continue to be in awe of the impact that has been created by your generosity over the past year. As we continue to support families that were impacted adversely by the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, we feel a deep sense of gratitude for the support YOU – our incredible community of donors – have given to us.

By the end of February, we have been able to support 881 families (4,172 beneficiaries) providing a total of nearly 75,000 meals. Prior to the re-opening of schools, we were able to support 607 students with education packs that helped them continue to learn at home. We were also able to support 140 teenage girls and their mothers through our menstrual hygiene workshops where we discussed important issues like: personal and menstrual hygiene, body image and sex education. Each girl also received a sanitary kit that will last them at least 12 months and enable them to continue to go to school.

The relief we have been able to provide over the past year has resulted in savings of over KES 1.5 million (US$ 15,000) for the 881 families that have helped them cover bills and other expenses like rent in these difficult times.

Back to School for Students in Kenya

Schools in Kenya officially and fully resumed in January 2021. After a few weeks of adjusting to the new normal, most schools are now running at full capacity. With no major spikes in COVID-19 cases so far, schools are likely to continue until the end of March before breaking for Easter and resuming in early May.

At RKF, we hope to gradually transition back to re-introducing all our programs at schools, especially the daily meals program. For now, we are continuing to support students through their families by providing food relief packs while we closely work in collaboration with each one of our school communities to identify how to improve the programs we offer and the best way to ensure we can adhere to strict COVID guidelines as we transition back.

Early brainstorming sessions with head teachers, teachers and parent representatives from different communities across the County have resulted in meaningful conversations that we hope will create more robust programs with greater emphasis on community ownership. We hope to share more details as this process continues over the coming weeks.