FRIENDS OF NAMBALE INC
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : a*************h@g***l.c*m
Mission Statement
Our mission is to support the long-term development and sustainability of the community of Nambale, Kenya in a variety of ways, focusing on but not limited to: 1) educational advancement primarily through operational support of the Nambale Magnet School (NMS) and scholarship assistance for its students; 2) community economic development efforts, such as vocational, agricultural, and technology training and micro-finance support of local entrepreneurial business initiatives and; 3) community services, including the development of buildings and programming targeted at encouraging local residents and enhancing community life.
About This Cause
Friends of Nambale is dedicated to improving the lives of Kenyans in the rural western part of the state. Although parts of Kenya are quite sophisticated and urban, this part of the country has not had consistently good access to quality schools, vocational training, agricultural best practices and comprehensive health care. Our organization partners with local leaders, including Nambale Magnet School and its founder, Evalyn Wakhusama, as we seek to support self-sustaining initiatives in the community and create positive long-term outcomes for children and families in the region. A core belief is that change must start with access to quality education, and currently our efforts are focused on supporting Nambale Magnet School, which serves as a beacon of hope for the vulnerable children in the region and provides over 60 adults with employment opportunities. Nambale Magnet School: A Sustainable, Community-based Model for Education in One of Kenya’s Poorest Counties Founded in 2009 by the Rev. Evalyn Wakhusama and an all-female Governing Board of fellow visionary leaders, the Nambale Magnet School (NMS) aims to create a learning revolution to transform the lives and futures of these vulnerable children, as well as those of other students and the Nambale community at large. NMS’ approach is based on strong evidence that improving access to quality education has a direct impact on the social and economic impact of both the individual and their community, not merely its poorest members . Studies show that every additional year of schooling: ● Increases GDP growth rate by 0.4 percentage points ● Increases average individual earnings by 10% ● Empowers children, particularly girls, to be healthier, more socially tolerant and empowered to make their own positive choices regarding their future and that of their society. What most sets NMS’ educational model apart, however, is how it seeks to achieve results. Dedicated to promoting educational, environmental, social and economic sustainability in all aspects of its operations, NMS’ approach to educating every child: ● Provides a nurturing educational experience that builds strong learning foundations as early in life as possible, to increase children’s chances of successfully transitioning to secondary education ● Offers inclusive education and support to the community’s large number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), who attend tuition-free in an educational and social environment that aims to eliminate stigma caused by poverty and HIV/AIDS ● Seeks to eliminate socio-economic and gender inequality in its approach to students’ education, as well as its own governing policies, practices and operations ● Supports children’s improved health, wellbeing and ability to learn via its ecologically sustainable infrastructure . This enables the school to provide its own fresh food as well as clean water, sanitation and electricity – all of which are rare in a community where more than 1/3 of children are malnourished, less than 35% have access to improved water and sanitation and less than 50% have access to main grid electricity ● Features environmental education and activities that are carefully situated within the local ecological context, which is highly stressed and prone to floods, drought and other natural hazards due to deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices ● Offers employment training and various pathways to sustainable livelihoods within the community context, including tailoring and garment manufacturing, ICT/computer science skills and digital literacy, and improved agricultural management practices NMS also serves as a vital revenue-generating center by offering employment training and opportunities to community members as well as its students, thus promoting access to lifelong learning and improved economic outcomes for the entire Nambale community. Benefits and Potential Replicability of NMS’ Community-based Education Model Progress is measured and tracked for each component of the School’s activities and operations as well as for each individual student, using both qualitative and quantitative measures that meet/exceed all county-specific, regional and national standards. These measures include, for example: Quantitative: ● improved annual test scores for Grades K - 8, as well as ongoing assessments of students’ knowledge, assimilation and demonstrated use of relevant curricular information in practical settings ● For Grade 8: key goals include 1) exam scores for entrance to secondary education within highest quartile in comparison to public-school peers; and 2) achievement of 100% transition by each graduating class to leading secondary institutions Qualitative/Other: ● Positive enhancement of students’ individual and group social interactions, improved confidence ● Improved indicators of students’ health that reflect significant positive transformation, e.g., weight (i.e., progress to reverse/mitigate previous malnourishment, stunting), growth/development, overall appearance ● Development of students’ character and leadership capacities, life skills, positive attitudes and ability to make informed decisions The results and benefits of NMS’ community-based approach are exponential, making the school a potential model for achieving inclusive, high-quality education for children in low-resource areas of the country, especially the poorest and most marginalized. It is well-established that OVC and other children in the lowest socio-economic quartile are among the hardest to reach with quality education and services. NMS’ approach, therefore, may have important implications for helping to achieve Kenya’s regional and national goals of “inclusive quality education for all” under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4) and Kenya’s own Vision 2030 and National Education Sector Strategic Plan (NESSP) for 2018-2022, both of which aim to ensure that 100% of children transit from primary to secondary levels of education as a basic right. ● NMS’ student population has grown year over year since its initial class of 35 preschoolers; it now serves over 425 students in Grades K – 8, employs over 95 full- and part-time teachers and staff, and is ranked among the top boarding schools in the nation in terms of its academic performance, sustainable infrastructure and care of its children. o 250 of NMS’ students are recruited from the local community’s large OVC population, who attend the school tuition-free and are selected on the basis of need with the help of local social workers. ● Since its first Grade 8 cohort in 2016, each successive NMS graduating class has achieved 100% transition to leading secondary institutions regardless of their socio-economic background or other barriers, in comparison with a nationwide transition rate of 88% as of 2018. ● All school activities, operations and organizational plans are undertaken according to appropriate goals and principles for maintaining the highest level of ecological sustainability, educational achievement, and long-term financial stability/predictability. ● On-site farm and agricultural school has become a model for other schools in Kenya; additional self-sustaining activities, e.g., NMS’ ability to generate its own electricity via solar power as well as clean water, etc., makes it a potential hub for additional local entrepreneurial activities and community empowerment. ● NMS’ ability to provide pathways to improved livelihoods offers freedom from the cycle of poverty to its students and members of the wider community, including school employees, families of OVC and other vulnerable populations, and; local businesses and institutions also benefit directly or indirectly from training and activities provided by NMS. NMS’ Response to the COVID-19 Crisis As of early May 2020, devastating health and economic impact of coronavirus and COVID-19 has now come to Western Kenya, dramatically escalating the area’s already high burdens due to poverty, drought, and the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic. All schools, including NMS, have been forced to officially close due to the strong uptick in Kenya’s number of COVID-19 cases - including in NMS’ home county of Busia, which is a potential hotspot for coronavirus thanks to its location on the Ugandan border. At this time, NMS continues to provide remote education and distance learning opportunities for its students, as well as vital resources for to the Nambale community at large, including producing PPE masks and other essential COVID-19 supplies via its on-site workshops. Despite the school’s intention to continue its services to its students and community at large both during and after the crisis, COVID-19 has placed extreme stress on the school’s immediate and longer-term resources. Without immediate support, NMS will be unable to resume full operations when Kenya’s schools reopen, including retention of its teaching staff. This threatens to erase the substantial educational, economic and social contributions of the past 11 years, putting an end to the school’s potential for replicability and scale-up as a leading community-based model of quality inclusive education for children in Kenya.