St. John’s Parish Day School Partners with the Mbaikini School in Wamunyu, Kenya

Jambo friend, is the greeting many of St. John’s students receive when a letter arrives from their Pen Pal at the Mbaikini School in Wamunyu, Kenya.  Last spring, St. John’s partnered with Maryland-based, Kenya Connect, a non-profit organization that matches schools in the United States with schools in Wamunyu, Kenya.  In addition to developing friends abroad, St. John’s students raised over $1,000 for a new fence for the school.

In September, Rev. Rosemary Beales, the Day School Chaplain and Associate Rector of St. John’s and Sharon Runge, a Day School Parent and Director of Development traveled to Wamunyu to meet the teachers, children, and parents of the Mbaikini Primary School.  They spent several wonderful days at the school and even taught the children how to play Bingo with a game that St. John’s 5^th graders had made.  Upon return, they shared the needs of the Mbaikini School with the church and Day School community.  The list included a new water tank, uniforms for AIDs orphans and other impoverished children, a new roof and classroom renovations, sports equipment and the dream of a resource center complete with a solar panel so they could generate enough electricity to power a computer.

As a result, the Student Council began “Change for Change” a program to collect change to support the school’s needs.  They collected over $3,000, which coupled with a $10,000 donation from the Church, a $4,500 grant from the MD Diocese Global Initiative Committee, $700 from the sale of African items by the students, and $400 from the Sunday School provided over $18,000 to fully meet all their needs.

Throughout the year, the St. John’s community has received updates from Kenya with pictures of the improvements and letters from their pen pals.  Our partnership with the Mbaikini School has not only transformed their school and helped make primary education accessible for all (a U.N. Millennium Development Goal), it has transformed St. John’s students to think as global citizens in the world.

For more information about the program, contact Sharon Runge, srunge@stjohnsec.org

To learn more about how your school can partner with Kenya Connect, contact Tim Gregory at kenyaconnect@comcast.net