Waitua Primary School
Waitua Primary School is located near Kaha-ini Shopping Centre in Kandara Sub-County, Murangá County of Kenya. The school started in 1972 as an Early Childhood Centre and was later expanded to a public primary school in 1985. Currently, the school has an enrollment of 550 pupils predominantly from the neighboring villages. Majority of the children in the school come from needy families who cannot afford three meals.
Currently, the school principal is Mr. Modesto Mungai, who runs the school with the support of the school management committee, comprised of parents. Fifteen teachers in Waitua work hard to bring success to the school. The current chairperson of the Board of Management is Consolata Ngoiri. She comes from the local community and ensures a good relationship between the residents and the school's management.
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Peter Kamau introduced us to Waitua. He is one of the directors of the Kila Mtoto Afaidike Programme (KMAP), which partners with us to implement our programs in the schools in Kenya. He was born and raised in the neighborhood of Waitua. He attended the school for his primary education between 1987 to 1995. Peter, therefore, understands the community in Waitua and is well known, especially by people of his generation who are the majority of parents in the school. Waitua is special to Peter's family because his mother taught in the school for twenty years before she retired in 2001. As an alumnus of the school, Peter is always engaged with the school and keeps himself updated on its happenings.
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“In December 2018, ECC directors Bindu and Samir met KMAP directors in Kenya for the first time. Bindu and Samir explained to the KMAP team that the mission of ECC was to improve the lives of needy schoolchildren. They were clear that ECC is a non-religious organization that does not push any religious agenda or impose any religious belief. They emphasized that it was a non-political organization and that support for schools must not be used to make any political agenda. This meeting began a journey of spiritual learning and growth for all KMAP directors. The meeting marked the beginning of interactions with the Kenyan team. Our presence in Kenya has impacted thousands of children from poor backgrounds. The last five years have been a journey of self-discovery for us. “ - Peter Kamau
Basic Needs
Traditionally, children in rural primary schools carry lunch to school. In Waitua, not all children can afford lunch because their parents are too poor to afford more than one meal a day for their children. When we first visited Waitua in 2018, the school principal told us that some children would go hungry the whole day because they did not carry lunch. The feeding program at Waitua Primary School began on 16th September 2019.
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"Hello, Every Child Counts; we are delighted to inform you that the school feeding program kicked off today, 16th September 2019, which saw the targeted group of most vulnerable children receive lunch at school. There was so much joy and relief for the children, thus giving them an equal footing with the others. God Bless Every Child Counts." - Mr. Mungai, 16th September 2019.
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Mr. Mungai attached photos of children lining up for food on that day. That day, they opened a new chapter in Waitua. Needy school children are provided with porridge and an egg during the 10 am break each school day. Children are given a plate of rice with beans or peas, vegetables and fruit during lunch.
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In 2019, 100 students enrolled in the feeding program; this number rose to 118 in 2023 due to an increase in the number of students in Waitua and the loss of jobs among parents in the school, especially during COVID-19.
The Daily Lunch Programme
Scholarship Program
When we committed in August 2022 to support the scholarship program in Kenya, the principal in Waitua broke the news to the school. The most needy students who perform well will receive scholarships. This news forced the students to work hard.
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In Waitua, twenty students out of a class of 50 students expressed interest in the ECC scholarship. The cost of admitting a student for one term ranged from $ 400-450. This amount was not affordable to most parents. KMAP volunteer Director Peter and the school management went door to door at students' homes to do background checks on students and ascertain their level of need. From the list of 20 students, 11 neediest students were selected; these students had yet to receive other scholarships.
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That year, Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results showed Waitua as the leading school in the zone. The school recorded its best performance in 20 years. The scholarship and feeding program, which began in 2019, led to record academic performance in the school. Since we began partnering with the Waitua school in 2018, the school has been improving in all aspects, from academic performance to declining absenteeism and reduced illnesses and malnutrition.
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The school organized a cheque-issuing day; it was overwhelming. Teachers, parents, and students were overcome with joy, while others cried- tears of joy.
Eleven students from Waitua benefited from the first year of the ECC Scholarship program. All the students are working hard to maintain the scholarship in the next school year.
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“I want to thank ECC on behalf of the children benefiting from the scholarship program. The scholarship program has ensured that our children work hard because they see light at the end of the tunnel. In turn, their hard work has improved the performance of the school. The other thing is about the feeding program. The enrollment rate has continued to rise partly due to the feeding program. The retention rate is also high. Because most of the children are from humble backgrounds, they were dropping out of school because of a lack of basic needs like food. They now come to school because they are assured of a cup of breakfast, a snack, and lunch every day. The feeding program has ensured that these children are doing well in school, just like the other children, which has continued to improve the school's performance.”
- Principal Modesto Mungai
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​Every Child Counts plans to offer scholarships to 36 students as they move to high school, Waitua Primary School receives ten of these scholarships.
Infrastructure Improvements
​The schools needed a kitchen to prepare meals. So, together with the school committee, we planned to construct a modern kitchen. Energy-efficient cooking systems called jikos conserve heat and use much less fuel wood to prepare meals for large groups. The school's newly built kitchen was fitted with jikos. The local team completed the kitchen project in Waitua Primary School in February 2020. The kitchen has become a model for other schools in the area.
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Every Child Counts has constructed these kicthens at:
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Waitua Primary School
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Kanjeru Primary School
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Senior Chief Mutunkei Primary School
Construction of a Modern Kitchen
Classroom Construction​
Most of the rural public schools in Kenya receive little funding from the government. Education in Kenya is a function of the National Government. Recently, the Kenya government introduced the Constituency Development Fund. However, the funds allocated to each constituency are inadequate to address development needs in rural areas created by many years of neglect. When we started visiting schools in Kenya, we realized the schools had many infrastructural needs.
In Waitua, we found old and broken desks in classrooms. Almost all classroom floors in the school had holes and cracks; it was evidence of disrepair since their original construction thirty years earlier. Most glass panes were also broken, exposing the children to wind and chilly weather, and the iron sheet roofs in all the buildings in the school were rusty.
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We supported Waitua with 100 modern desks with metallic frames so that they last longer. We also partnered with the schools to replace all broken glass panes and repair the classroom floors. Painting the roofs of all the buildings gave the school a new look. The purchase of desks, kitchen construction, cooking system installation, and renovations cost about $18,000.
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​ECC completed building a new classroom in July 2024. There was a shortage of classrooms. The available classrooms were over crowded.
Community Empowerment
Construction of Rain Water Harvesting Tanks
During the COVID-19 pandemic 2020, the Kenyan government required all schools to have running water for hand washing and cleaning to slow the spread of coronavirus. St Anne School needed to have adequate water supply. The school requested that ECC provide plastic tanks so that they could harvest water from the rooftops of buildings in the school and increase their water storage capacity. Every Child Counts provided five plastic tanks to Waitua. This support came in handy. The school was able to cope with the challenges of the pandemic.​​
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Every Child Counts has build these tanks at:
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Waitua Primary School
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Kanjeru Primary School
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St. Anne- Kenol Primary School
