The lifting of COVID restrictions and re-opening of schools has meant that we’ve been able to open our second cycling club in Kenya.
This latest project is for pupils at St Stephen’s Namasoli School near to Martha’s Guest House in Mundeku village. It’s the school where our very first sponsored children attended school, so the school that we’ve had the longest relationship with.
The club is seen as being key to help students develop personal and vocational skills. As before our aim is to encourage children to develop new skills so they can maintain and repair the bikes, learn to cycle, and take part in rides in the local area. They will develop our ‘anything is possible … if you put your mind to it’ attitude, as well as problem solving and team working.
This new club is in a rural village, so will operate slightly differently from the first project in Kibera.
We have a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the school Board of Management and the day-to-day club will be managed by a schoolteacher under the direction and authority of the school Principal.
RRBF has initially provided ten mountain bikes and Kinjah spent a week at the school in September to provide training in mechanics and maintenance. He was greeted by over 100 pupils eager to become members of the club.
Kinjah reported:
There was too much excitement, everyone wants to join the cycling club 😅, over a hundred students. I had to set them up into task groups. We had 11 of them each with between 10-15 students. Then each group had to assemble the bike with the help of the head teacher. I was running around and instructing 😃
In time we hope to provide the students with helmets and clothing, and tools so the club becomes self-sufficient. And Kinjah will return later in the term to continue their training.
