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OUR STORY
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Geoff and Rita Fowler
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When Rita and Geoff married, Rita was a nurse and Geoff a Civil Engineer. After
a pause in her working life to bring up their two daughters Rita embarked upon a
new career as a teacher. Geoff meanwhile continued his career in civil engineering
and was a director of a large construction company before becoming a business consultant
working with charities and not-for-profit organisations. He is also a trustee of
several local charities, with experience of bid writing and fund raising.
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In 2006 Rita retired from teaching, Geoff was self-employed
and they decided that it
was time to see the world. In September 2008, after two exciting years exploring
they went to Kenya on Safari.
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They loved Kenya and its warm, friendly people and on their return from Safari decided
to see as much of the local community as possible. On the final day of their holiday
they visited an informal school in Mgongeni, a poor suburb of Mombasa.
Two young Kenyan men were trying to run a school for poor children in the most appalling
conditions. Two small rooms with mould on the walls, makeshift furniture some exercise
books and pencils and a blackboard were their only resources. But the children were
happy and focused.
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They listened as the two young men explained the current situation along with their
dream. They said that education in Kenya had been free for primary school children
since 2002 but unfortunately this was only available to people
who could pay for uniform and books and who had already completed privately KG1 - 3
(our Key Stage 1). People with sufficient money paid for private education with
small classes but this was not open to poor children. Added to this the
government had not built additional schools and so children who were at school
were in classes of between 80 and 150.
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Rita and Geoff looked at these two young men who were sharing what little they had
and knew that they couldn’t walk away. They didn't know what they were going
to do at this time but they did know that they had skills to help and turning away
was not an option.
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40p per day will provide all educational costs and porridge for a needy child.
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A gift of £4 will provide a 10 hour startup training course.
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£100 could provide a business startup loan.
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