Happy Christmas

We would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas from everyone at Tumaini. We are having a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas. It's been all hands to the deck decorating "the room with no name, but many uses." As you can see they are enjoying a much deserved cup of tea. The children really enjoy decorating the place and it adds a really festive feel; especially as the weather is currently pushing 40 degrees! Mtavi and Nasib worked really hard to build a stable and manger for our Nativity Set and the children really love our woolly characters. Now the decorations are up and rehearsals are complete we are ready for our Christmas day service and performance by our very talented children (and puppets).

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year. Xx Glyn, Jane, Maureen & June.

Graduation Ceremony

We have come to the end of another school year here at Tumaini, it's been a great year as was reflected in our Nursery Graduation and closing ceremony. Top overall student in upper primary was once again Emmanuel Shikku who achieved an average score of 415/500 over the year, he was very happy to receive a bicycle, especially as next year he will be in Std 8 so will not be eligible for the competition. I know the competition will be tough next year, keep up the good work!

We would like to thank everyone who has helped make 2009 a great success and look forward to Standing Together in 2010! Xx Glyn & Jane

RainMan Fire Fighting

This week we have been really blessed to receive a donation of Fire Fighting equipment to the school. Thanks to Cheryl Robinson from Nebraska, USA who asked Marc & Alex from RainMan to make all the arrangements. This realeased funds that had been set aside for this to be used for other needs. The excitement mounted as we could see the water pumping through the red fire hose, then suddenly water shot out under amazing pressure. The RainMan will pump 300 ltrs of water per minute, that's a lot of water! Certainly enough to give a few hundred kids a good soaking! We certainly had a lot of fun learning how to use our new pump, if you would like to see some more photos and see if it's possible to knock a coconut out of a tree follow the link
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/timbwani/RainmanOctober2009?feat=directlink

On a more serious note we are really thankful to all those that have helped us to bring some security and piece of mind to Timbwani as there is no Fire Engine in our area! Xx Glyn & Jane

Home at last!

Thank you so much to everyone that visited me and prayed for me while I was in hospital. Last Thursday I was admitted to Mombasa Hospital with a Rotator Cuff Tear, which means that somehow I tore tendons in my left shoulder and in the process broke off a piece of bone that was then floating around in my shoulder joint. I'm pleased to say the operation was a success, the tendons are repaired and the bone removed. I'm back home and resting but have to go for physiotherapy for the next 10 days and then have the stitches removed, but at least I'm able to use my arm now. The hospital staff were amazing and really looked after me, I think they were a little surprised at the amount of visitors I received, especially on Sunday. As you can see I had a room with a view, if you have to be sick it's certainly a good place to be! Thanks once again Xx Glyn & Jane

Need a hair cut sir?

We have managed to set up another small business, the Swahili word "Kinyozi" means barbers. With the help of Second Chance in Sleaford we have set Joel up with a small kinyozi. He is now able to "shave heads" with his new Wahl Shaver. So far business is good, Joel charges 30p for an Adult and 20p for a Student. This is a great start and we know Joel will do well. Thanks Xx Glyn & Jane

New Term New Taps!

We have just started Term III of our academic year, this is a very important term as our students have only a few weeks before their National Exams, Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). The good news is that we managed to finish installing our new automated fresh water drinking system. The tank holds 1,000 litres and fills automatically from our underground storage tank. Thanks for your continued support allowing us to improve the service we give. Xx Glyn & Jane

New Water Taps

Hi, just in case you thought we had a relaxed time during the school holidays! Thanks to a generous donation we have been able to undertake some much needed maintenance work. Our previous fresh water bowser had completely rusted through and was leaking very badly so our Fundis (maintenance team) came up with this ingenious idea. Drinking water is now automatically pumped from an underground tank into the new 1,000 litre tank with 4 new taps. This should provide a much more hygienic way for children to get a drink. Kai and Omar are busy building another larger tank for the feeding programme to make it easier for the ladies to get water. The project is still underway as the finished base for the water tank will be clad with Galana Stone and the water tap surround will be tiled. Thanks Xx Glyn & Jane

Marking Day!

At the beginning of July George planted his Sukuma Wiki (Curly Kale) seedlings, he has cared for his crop each day with regluar watering and weeding, until it was ready to harvest. Jane cooked up a wonderful mix of Sukuma Wiki and vegetables to have with our meal, it was a real treat. We now have to wait for the examiners to give their grades for all our Agriculture students, but if the taste test is anything to go by they should all get Grade "A". Well done! Xx Glyn & Jane

National Music Festival

This year the Final of the Annual National Music Festival was held at the Aga Khan School in Mombasa, out of the hundreds of schools that entered, 14 qualified for the finals. Tumaini Primary Boys Choir qualified for the final, singing a set piece about riding on a donkey in Quebec, most of our students have never seen a donkey or know where Quebec is! They practiced and practiced until even we knew all the words to the song. On the day they gave an outstanding performance and scored 87%, which gave them 3rd place overall. We are really proud of them, Tumaini Primary Boys Choir is officially one of the best choirs in the country, especially as 2nd place scored 88% and 1st place scored 89%. Well done boys and especially Joel our Choir Master who put so much effort in. Lets make it 1st place next year! Thanks Xx Glyn & Jane

New Business Start Up

Vivian is one of our "Tumaini Kids" who finished High School last year, to date she has been unable to find work, but thanks to a generous donation from Second Chance in Sleaford we have been able to set Vivian up in a small business. Vivian wakes early to make the mixture for a Kenyan favourite, Mandazi, it's a kind of doughnut. They are fried fresh each morning and sold to staff and students at break time, they are very tasty, not sure how many calories but it's worth it!. As you can see they are very popular. Vivian plans to introduce chips and other small items next term. Well done Vivian, with a bit of help from Mary our house mother! Not forgetting Second Chance for making it all possible. Xx Glyn & Jane

Agriculture Field Trip

Our Form IV Agriculture students had a chance to learn first hand about dairy farming at the coast. Our local farm has around 45 Jersey cows producing very creamy milk! It's an amazing place, different grasses are grown as feed to produce high quality milk. Nothing goes to waste as Bio Gas is produced to make electricity and to pasturise the milk. I think the tasting session at the end of the tour gave our students a taste of heaven. Xx Glyn & Jane.

Joseph & His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat

Wow! What a performance, on Saturday Tumaini students and staff put on a fantastic performance of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Maureen and our music teacher Joel worked really hard to bring an idea to reality. Peter Juma one of our Tumaini Kids gave an outstanding performance as Joseph, it was great to see staff and students working together to tell this memorable story in a way never seen before by many. Thanks to all those that worked so hard, God bless. Xx Glyn & Jane

Sports & Fun Day

What an amazing day! We are due to start end of term exams next week so to give children and staff a time to relax we have just had our sports and fun day. What was even more exciting was the fact that it was on our new plot of land. We had to clear a lot of bush but what a great day was had by all, once again staff won basketball and netball while high school boys won the football match. As you can see it's serious stuff for a fun day! So until next time, thanks Xx Glyn & Jane

Seedling to Nursery!

It's the time of year that our Form 4 Agriculture students prepare for their end of year project, this year we are growing Sukuma Wiki (Curly Kale). George carefully plants his seedlings, he will record its progress in his journal and submit his findings as part of his final Agriculture exam. The seedlings are doing well as you can see from the nursery photo below. Now we can bring our own fresh water to the school projects like this are a lot more affordable and successful. Thanks once again for helping our students excel. Xx Glyn & Jane

Time 4 a Game!

Our football pitch is now in a playable form, thanks everybody for all your hard work clearing the land. As you can see lower primary boys are having a great time in a safe and secure environment, can you spot the ball? There is still some work to do to level the land but as least it's now usable. Thanks for following our progress. Xx Glyn & Jane

An Exciting Day

It really was a day full of anticipation and excitement as Standard 5 Primary Class set off to Moi International Airport, Mombasa. None of the children had ever been to an airport or ever seen an aeroplane close up. They all did really well and enjoyed completing their questionnaires. All in all a great day was had by all. Thanks Xx Glyn & Jane

Breakthrough!

It's not quite the Berlin Wall but it's a major breakthrough for all of us at Tumaini. We completed the boundary wall and as you can see are well on the way to joining the new land with the existing school plot. There was a mighty cheer as our guys pushed over the wall and the two plots became one! We plan on using the reclaimed blocks to build a half way house for people in need of a home, watch this space! Our task now is to clear the land and make it into a sports field fit for an international team! Thanks again for all your support. Xx Glyn & Jane

Building at Last!

We have had a long wait but finally we have started to build. Today we managed to join our new wall to the existing school compound, there was a lot of rejoicing!

We worked fast and everyone played a part, Rebekah carried blocks for Mr Ben to lay while Maureen was a Wendy (you'll know what I mean if you are a Bob the Builder fan!). Once the wall is complete we will start to clear the land in preparation for a much needed playing field.

Once again inflation is eating away at our budget, if you are able to help in any way please drop me an email. Thanks Xx Glyn & Jane

Thanks Greg & Nicola

Last Sunday was a great day for Greg and for Education for Life. Greg ran the Reading Half Marathon in an impressive time of 1 hr 43 mins and raised £280 for Ed 4 Life, you can see him in the white T-Shirt crossing the finish line.

Nicola was due to run with Greg but had to withdraw under doctor's orders, sorry for that, there's always next year! This year's event saw 17,000 people out running on the streets of Reading with the finish line at the Madjeski Stadium, home of Reading Football Club just in case you are not a fan!

Everybody here in Mombasa would like to thank you guys, we are facing a tough time and your fundraising will help feed many children during the Easter Holiday. Asante Sana Xx Glyn & Jane.

New Land

We have some really exciting news. Last week we received the Title Deeds to a new plot of land, the land is adjacent to our new High School plot and is approximately 1 acre. The land was given to the school by a local business man, Asante Sana. We have put a gate in our existing wall while we wait for planning permission to build a wall around the new plot.
We plan to use most of the land for a sports field for both Primary and High School. If you would like to know more or could help with the cost of building the wall we would really appreciate you dropping us an email. Thanks again Xx Glyn & Janey

BBC News!

Hi, it's certainly been an interesting week! On Tuesday I was contacted by the BBC in London as a follow up to the piece they wrote last November. I was interviewed on the phone about how the weak pound is affecting our work.

If you would like to read the article you can click on this link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7905879.stm

Thanks Xx Glyn & Janey

Sports & Fun Day

It's that time again, mid term exams! So the Friday before we get down to the serious stuff we have a sports and fun day, everyone from Nursery to High School and Staff are involved. This year we have egg and spoon, sack races and some very close relay races. The competition between staff and students was very hot! Dr. Winston was called upon on more than one occasion, this time it was Omar who needed help as his staff team lost 2-1 to High School in the Football Final. Staff managed to redeem themselves winning Netball and Basketball, while the students finished ahead on aggregate winning both the running races and volleyball.
A great day was had by all, and I'm sure there are some aching limbs this morning. Thanks Xx Glyn & Jane

New Classes

It's taken some time but at last we have Home Economics or Cooking Classes, boys and girls alike had a great time making chapati and beef stew. The smell was amazing and apparently it tasted fantastic as well, I think our cooks were secretly impressed! This year we are hoping to introduce more practical classes both to Primary and High School.
Aaron seems quite at home pounding the flour to make his chapati, washing up time was fun aswell!
Thanks to all our loyal followers, sorry the updates have been a bit sparse lately but I'm back on the job now. Xx Glyn & Janey

Asia comes to Africa

This week our children were treated to a taste of Asia, as a team from Youth with a Mission arrived from Korea. Our children were amazed to see such fantastic national dress and dance. Our visitors performed traditional songs and dramas. The girls loved the fan dances, while the boys loved the magic show. It was a wonderful day, thanks to all. Xx Glyn, Jane and Maureen

Happy New Year & Congratulations

Happy New Year from us all at Tumaini. We would like to say a massive thanks to our sponsors who have been with us through out 2008. Our K.C.P.E results are now in and we can congratulate our top 3 students Emily Auma achieved Grade B+, Hassan Seif achieved Grade B and Peter Juma and Feisal Shibe achieved Grade B-. As a class the mean grade was C, so congratulations to all. We are now looking forward to enrolling students into Tumaini High School. Xx Glyn & Jane