Giving Back : Iruri Primary School - Sharing a Vision
A message from Catherine:
I taught school in Kenya at the International School for three years and fell in love with Africa, its people, wildlife and culture. After a 40 year career in education I wanted to be able to give back in some way. I have been leading groups on safari since 1993 and the company I work with put me in touch with the Head Teacher, Geoffrey Kerigu, at the Iruri Primary School. The school sits at the base of Mt Kenya in the Karatina area of Kenya. It is a rural community, very lush and green but the people are, as so many in the country, poor by our standards and lead a simple life with no electricity or running water. The school is a primary school, Pre school to Grade 8 that houses about 400 students. In 2010 I sat down with Geoffrey, the Head Teacher, and he created a list of his priorities and we began our work. We sponsored our first scholarship student in 2012, and we were not yet a public 501 3 c. That process began later that year. Many of the students could not realize their dreams about a higher education because it does cost and the families do not put the money aside to send their children on to secondary school, but rather bring them home to help on the farm. There were no incentives to prepare for the Government National Exam given to all 8th graders. In 2012 only 5 students out of over 40 students in Grade 8 even qualified to go on. In 2012 Martin became our first recipient of a scholarship. Since then our scholarship program has grown to over 138 students placed in secondary schools by 2024! Currently we have graduated 64 students and 6 of them have graduated from University. In 2022 year we have established a University scholarship program and awarded 9 scholarships my mid August 2022 and 12 more in 2023. In 2024 we awarded 25 University scholarships. 4 students will graduate by the end of 2024. The organization has also raised funds for important physical improvements to the school, such as cementing all the classroom floors 9, now tiled, repairing all the windows and installing doors. In 2016 we installed electricity and lighting throughout the entire school. We have a Keep Girls in School Project providing sanitary napkins annually, a Wildlife Day for top performing students and a reforestation project. In 2024 we just opened up a Computer Lab The C.A.T. Lab. We also put on an annual Feast in early December to honor our graduates. Over 500 people in the community attend this joyous event. Academic achievement has soared with every grade in the past 14 years. In 2017 we built flushing toilets for the students with a Rotary International Grant and donations from our Non profit. From a meager $500 donation in 2012 to annually $80,000 in total donations by 2024 our non profit has boomed with generous people who are committed to our goals to help this small rural community by helping their children achieve their dreams through higher education. 99.6 % of our donations go directly to our projects for Iruri. Thank you!
To find out more about this endeavor that is so close to my heart, please visit our website at:
www.IruriKurota.org and IPSKids.org
We also have a Facebook page at Iruri Primary School