Rowley Projects

Trip to Nyandiwa January 2012

alison — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:08:36 +0000

You can read all about our latest trip to Nyandiwa by clicking the link to download the PDF report below.

Trip to Nyandiwa January 2012

Official opening of Oogo Pre School

alison — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:57:27 +0000

The offical opening of Oogo Pre School took place during Angela and Stephen’s recent visit. The school block was funded by the Bramhall Methodist Church Rainbow Appeal. The children are all thrilled and can be seen waving proudly to their friends in Bramhall.

During the opening ceremony Angela and Stephen were presented with 3 live chickens.

Trip to Nyandiwa October 2011

alison — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:01:13 +0000

You can read all about our latest trip to Nyandiwa by clicking the link to download the PDF report below.

Trip to Nyandiwa October 2011

Bramhall Methodist Pre School Partner Oogo Primary School

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:23:59 +0000

In Autumn 2010 Bramhall Methodist Pre School was partnered with Oogo Primary School in rural Kenya. The Pre School have sent out uniform, books and educational equipment to the children in Africa.

Oogo School is in a very poor area, it’s so remote it can only be reached by foot. It is the first time the children have ever received gifts and they have been thrilled.
Sweatshirts were the first items sent in October 2010 and there were exactly the right number of sweatshirts for every child in the three classes. A greeting card and photo sent from the Bramhall Pre School children added to the excitement. News spread at lunchtime and some of the parents came down to school to express their thanks. “Somebody is thinking of us,” was the essence of their gratitude.

The first batch of books and educational equipment was delivered in February half term along with more greetings from the boys and girls of Bramhall. In May 2011 Duplo was sent which the children and their teachers loved! Pencils, stationery and toileteries will be deliverd to the children in October.

Local Choir sing for Rowley Projects

alison — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 13:01:03 +0000

Eccles Singers Community Choir is a mixed-gender choir of amateur
singers, currently with around 45 members. It has been performing together
since 2003, and became an independent choir in September 2010. The choir is
open to anyone who enjoys singing – no audition is needed, nor is any musical
knowledge. All you need is the desire to sing and have fun! In 2010 we won the
choir section of the Buxton Music Festival – photo to prove it.

The choir performs concerts throughout the year and any profits from
refreshments or donations support Rowley Projects. ESCC currently sponsors two students
at Kolweny Kingsway High School, Hezborn Ojwang Dete and Patrick Ogutu. Our
next concert is at Bramhall URC on October 15^th.

Dave Pilkington Sky Dives for Rowley Projects

alison — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 16:49:02 +0000

: Waiting to Jump – Dave, Matthew, Robert, Nicholas Pilkington, Elizabeth Gladwin.

My lads decided that they wanted to mark my 60th by doing something different
and jumping out of a plane at 10,000ft seemed to press the buttons. They also
decided to ensure that I didn’t chicken out by jumping with me. So on the 9th of
July 2011 we all arrived at Tilstock airfield, just outside Whitchurch, feeling
somewhat nervous only to find that cloud cover during the day had delayed
events. Waiting around, if anything calmed the nerves, seeing the exilerated
faces of those who jumped before us.
Eventually it was out turn. A 15 minute briefing, the donning of a less than flattering jump suit and we were
off. We clambered into a minute plane, sat on the floor and were attached to our
tandem skydiver who then proceeded to give us a running commentary on the
amazing views that slowly emerged as we climbed somewhat laborously to 10,000ft.
Suddenly we were given a 3 minute warning, crawled to the open door and sat with
legs and feet dangling out over the side of the plane looking down onto the
patchwork quilt of fields below. And then we fell, all senses were bombarded as
I struggled to get in the correct position. Falling 5,000ft in seconds is a
unique experience, the noise of the rush of air, the speed and then the sudden

: An elegant decent

jerk as the parachute opens. The second half of the fall was a total contrast. A quiet gentle decent as we slowly manovered the parachute to enable us glide sedately over the Shropshire countryside. And then we were down, all too quickly all of us wanting to do it again, what an experience!

Thank you to everyone who contribued to the Just Giving site for Rowley Projects. We set ourselves a target of £750, with gift aid supplement
we have managed to double our target.

£1,000 raised for Rowley Projects by Kili Climb

alison — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:51:32 +0000

Walking with the Lord- Our Kili Experience

By Rosemarie Birch.

I would like to share briefly with you, a little of our
experiences whilst climbing Mount Kilimanjaro last September.

We were gently ‘nudged’ into the trip by our daughter’s
plans to visit her friend teaching in Tanzania and climb Kili while she was
there. With a love of walking, but totally unaware of the enormity of the
venture and especially ignorant of Kilimanjaro’s height, (19,340ft/5895m, 2000ft
higher than Everest Base Camp!) I jokingly said we would join her! Sponsorship
on the attempt was her next idea and before we knew it, everything was arranged
and booked and we were committed!

It was with great reluctance and trepidation, that I
set off on the climb, having read some horrendous accounts of other people’s
experiences, but it proved to be one of the most rewarding and memorable things
I have ever done.

Starting walking on the Lemosho route, in the
rainforest, with its dangling ‘curtains’ of lichens and all its lush beauty and
then climbing up through giant heathers into moorland, alpine desert and then
finally reaching the icecap and glaciers at the top, left us marvelling at the
wonders of God’s creation.

I felt a very special closeness to the Lord, especially
when the going got tough and the effects of altitude and exhaustion kicked in!
The ‘Footprints’ text became very real in my thoughts and along with the
encouragement of our very kindly and attentive guide, in the darkness, on the
final stretch to reach the top, never doubted we would get there in the
end!

It has proved a real inspiration for future
‘adventures’ and we have just had an awesome time, in the High Atlas Mountains
of Morocco, climbing Mount Toubkal, North Africa’s highest mountain! I still
have plans for a return trip to Kili for my 60^th birthday (2014!!), time to save up and get in
training to join us?!!

We were amazed to raise over £1000 for Rowley Projects
and our daughter Laura, over £400 for World Vision. Please pray for all those
people we meet on our travels and who assist our efforts, without whom we could
never hope to venture into such remote places.

May 2011

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:27:54 +0000

This trip seemed to come hard on the heels of the last one and was short and packed. There were some
tremendous rainstorms in the evenings which were good for the crops. However, food prices have more than
doubled since February and people are noticeably thinner. Our tank filled up quite
well. We took the two teachers from The Kingsway, Cheadle, with us again to finish
off what they began in February. We flew this time from Nairobi to Kisumu. Jetlink
had offered us 10Kg extra each and we were to pay for the rest. Prayers answered
when the awkward customer at the next desk took up everyone’s attention and our
bags were just sent through! We arrived early Friday morning and after bank,
shopping and hardware business in Kisumu we drove to Nyandiwa so that work could
begin in the afternoon at the school.

Water
Monday and Tuesday Steve and I visited five of our feeder primary
schools, Nyandolo, Abuoye, Ponge, Omuga and Alaro. At three we
have built gutters and tanks to collect rain water for drinking. “It’s
wonderful that the children will no longer need to go to the river to
collect water.” These have been funded by Luton Rotary. On the
following day we drove to Maseno, on the equator, to check out the water project started
since February. We were met by James and Zac, committee members of Maseno Rotary.
This project is in partnership with Hazel Grove Rotary. Zac owns a hardware store and bar
in a small roadside town called Luanda and he intends having a filter outside his shop to
give cups of clean, fresh, cold water to customers as an incentive to buy a filter. It really
does taste wonderful and when you know it’s pure, that’s even better.

The lack of rain over recent months has meant crop failure plus the cost of fuel has
given opportunity to hike food prices. One evening a local lady who makes baskets
called to ask if we would like to buy any. We have already brought lots back on
previous visits and saturated our market but Chris and Helen bought one each and
ordered three more. As she only asked for the equivalent of 80p they gave her
double. When I asked Everline if Rizpah was pleased she said, “Very pleased. She
used the money to buy some beans because she had nothing in the house to eat.”

Education

We again took with us hundreds of pens and pencils etc donated from a variety of sources.
Thankyou. I’ve already mentioned Helen and Chris. They did an amazing job enthusing both
staff and students and encouraging them to use new revision and exam strategies. Chris
worked hard initiating databases for results so that progress can be monitored and
remedial work targeted. Kolweny Kingsway is well in the top third of the region’s high
schools and has amazing facilities for a community school.
Queensgate Primary School in Bramhall again donated uniform which is the same as
Kolweny Kingsway Primary. It was ideal for the pre-school pupils.

Things don’t always run smoothly and we had some very difficult discussions about
payment of exam fees and the uniforms we buy as things have not been as clear as they
might be since a group from Australia began sponsoring a few students through a
different person who is not as straightforward as Ayugi. We have made everything crystal clear to staff and
students alike and, hopefully, there shouldn’t be any misunderstandings in the future. We were out on our travels one day when we were met by two of last year’s Form 4 boys. The one
on the right, Robert, will be going to university to study Banking and
Finance. He got a pair of glasses from the dispensary just before his
exams and they must have helped! We have had our first graduate. Helen
Alosi graduated in Teaching in March and Ayugi attended the ceremony.
Her life prospects have been radically altered through your donations to
Projects. She would otherwise be married by now with probably a couple of children and no
hope for the future.

We had to make some difficult decisions about the Hope beyond Form 4 candidates as we have too many! We can only
sponsor 8 per year so we have had to draw up a set of criteria for choosing. It isn’t easy when these opportunities
change people’s lives but we can only do what we have the finance for.
We asked in the last report for suggestions on sourcing tents for the scouts. We have had
donations to buy at least two tents, available at the hypermarket, Nakumatt, at £50. Our
primary school scouts are through to the regional finals of their competition as is the troupe
from Oogo Primary, where we are building a new classroom for the pre-school, thanks to a very
generous donation from Bramhall Methodist Building Fund. We took them lots of goodies again
this time including Duplo which was greeted with utter delight.
A primary school here in Denton has raised enough money to also
complete a classroom at Oogo begun by the government in 2007 and to buy 80 desks at another
primary school, Ponge. This involvement in seemingly forgotten schools has really encouraged
the parents to send their children to school and motivated both pupils and
staff.
We had the sad duty of visiting the family of one of our students, Jackline
Atieno, who died suddenly earlier in May. We don’t know the cause of death as you don’t pay
for a doctor when the patient is dead. She is buried at the back of the house. The picture shows
her family round the grave with her younger brother who also studies at our school.

Health

We again took out with us the usual thousands of paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin and
cocodamol capsules/tablets, bandages, plasters, needles, small
instruments, spectacles and the requested laxatives and
multivitamins. We were donated literally tens of thousands of pairs
of latex gloves which actually weigh quite a lot but we did manage
to take a several thousand. We took some to the dentists who
trained at the dispensary last year. We shared in February about the twins born during our
visit named Steve and Angela, well sadly they died at two weeks old from a preventable problem, not Edwin’s fault at
all. We visited their tiny graves at the back of their parents’ house.
The dispensary was being used during our visit as the distribution
centre for a consignment of 800 mosquito nets given free by the
government. Households had been visited and members were
allowed one between two so 1,600 more people will now have
nets.

Small Businesses

There’s not a lot to report on the small businesses. The donkey cart is doing well and the cow is in calf again so the
first calf will be sold soon and the group can then repay some of the loan. One of the goats gave birth to twins!

Karowley We are still plagued with the bat(s). We think the only thing is to be philosophical about it. We went
to collect our new toilet only to find the shop closed as it was Madaraka Day – Independence Day. Ironic!

Thankyou yet again for making this work possible by your donations, interest, prayer and insights. Thankyou
from everyone in Nyandiwa and indeed many miles afield. We attempt to be culturally sensitive in everything we
do and our watchword is sustainability. Whilst we admire many of the Luo traditions concerning care for the family
and community spirit, you could pray that the community will be more open to see the folly of a few of its
traditions which are causing more problems than they solve.

Please, if you are receiving this by post and have an email address, just send me a message to let me know the address
angelarowley@ntlworld.com and we can save on postage. If you no longer want to receive the report please let me know that too.

Feb 11

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:07:12 +0000

We’ve been back from Kenya just over a week now but life caught up with us so the report’s a little later than usual. (I’m writing this in Milan on a weekend visit to our first grandson, William.) The weather was unusually dry this time with just a couple of late night rains with some magnificent lightening storms. Out tank was almost empty so water was being brought up from the river by donkey. We’re so grateful for the filters which mean our drinking water is safe. We took two teachers from The Kingsway, Cheadle, who majored on teacher training and policy-writing for the High School. They worked so hard and were absolute stars as well as being fun company! We drove up from Nairobi again so that they could see the rift valley, tea plantations at Kericho and go round the wildlife park at Lake Nakuru. We had several starry nights when we gazed in awe at what John Simpson calls ‘the low-slung skies of Africa’. On the return journey we drove through smoke from fires in the park at Nakuru due to the ground being parched. What a coincidence to bump into friends from England (read later) at the stalls in Nakuru!

Water

We arrived late Friday afternoon and early Saturday were off to do bank and book-buying business in Kisumu. We then drove to Maseno, on the equator, to introduce members of the Rotary Club there to the idea of a water filter workshop to be funded by Hazel Grove Rotary Club. They were so delighted that they drove the almost 3 hour journey to Nyandiwa later in the week to confirm the arrangements.

One of our feeder primaries has had gutters and a tank fitted since October and we have funding for another two. Thanks to Luton Rotary Club. Sarah, the tank lady, visited us to sort out costings.

The school well is still providing some water, enough to fill the tank on the girls’ latrines.

Steve visited Nyakach – on the top of the hillside across the Sondu valley but a long drive round – with Joseph our water project manager. A water project has been in operation there for a year or so but again marketing is the problem. Steve took the opportunity to speak with the local school PTA which just happened to be meeting at the school at the time. They’ll also be using market days.

Education

Our Form 4s’ final exam results came out this week. They improve year on year but we can still only fund 8 of the successful for scholarships to college and university. They should have been published whilst we were there but the government was in debate about a new Minister of Justice and results were delayed!

We again took with us hundreds of toothbrushes, pens and pencils and pencil cases sewn in the textile class at The Kingsway Cheadle.

We photographed the 22 new sponsored students in Form 1 and Angela had a ‘chat’ with all the girls in the school, handing out mooncups to the new students. More sponsors are still needed for some of the new Form 1s. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please get them to check out our website or contact us.

We took a set of Kingsway games T shirts to the primary school which proved ideal for the girls’ scout troupe. There are a boys’ and a girls’ troupe at the primary and two boys’ troupes at the High School. We still haven’t found a source for tents for them. Any suggestions?

Chris Reveley and Helen Underhill established excellent email links between the two schools, Nyandiwa and Cheadle, and shared good practice with the staff who were very keen to implement the suggestions in their lessons. They also helped the School Management to write policies for all sorts from Punctuality to Student Pregnancy.

We handed over a large bag of trainers for needy pupils at the primary school. Helen, a member of staff, identifies those pupils who are in need of a school uniform but can’t afford one and passes on details to our sewing workshop. We photographed the Form 3 girls at the High school receiving their new uniforms (All Form 3 and Form 1 get a new uniform, not just sponsored students.) and we watched the form 1 girls being measured for theirs.

Some of our 24 students from KKHS at University or Teacher Training College through the Hope beyond Form 4 Scholarship Scheme will finish their courses this summer but we anticipate another 8 starting from last year’s Form 4. One still wants to be a pilot and is applying to Kenya Airways. HbF4 is always our main outlay but the least glamorous when it comes to people donating. You may like to know that Elijah, the student who had a complete breakdown during his teaching practice 2 years ago, went back to college last September and is doing his practice again this term, so far successfully. Mme Diana is initiating an alumni system called ‘The Kings’ Fellowship’. There will be an annual get-together for past students and they have been encouraged to keep in touch with us. A gathering of sponsored students already takes place during Christmas week so we are looking to combine the two. Whilst at the bank in Kisumu we got chatting with one of the managers and asked if he would come up to Nyandiwa to give a talk to our students about careers in banking. He jumped at the opportunity to help and suggested the bank might sponsor him to do it. We are looking to arrange a ‘Careers day’ for Form 3 and 4 students with people from other fields to help our students widen their horizons.

We visited Nyandolo, Abuoye, Ponge and Alaro primary schools to exchange letters and poems and drawings from the pupils there and those at schools in England which we have partnered with them. We also visited Oogo pre-school to deliver jigsaws and books donated by Bramhall Methodist pre-school. All the new classrooms have lovely big notice boards for display and the latrine blocks are completed and in use.

We visited Lwanda High School which is twinned with Moorside High School Swinton, to check out the building of the new science block being funded by Moorside. The roads to these schools are quite appalling and to get to Ponge we had to leave the vehicle in someone’s compound and walk the rest of the way! At Abuoye we had an amazing experience when the vehicle wouldn’t start! What do you do at the back of the back of beyond surrounded by curious pupils? Well, we prayed and Steve opened the bonnet! Not recognising very much, he jiggled what leads and connections he could see, got back in and the engine started and gave us no more trouble at all!

The girls are always proud to show us round the hostel where they can sleep during the week and this occasion was no different. They were just washing up after dinner when we arrived. After dinner they return to school to study using the solar lighting and a deadline of 11 o’ clock has had to be imposed! They each have a bed (bunks), and a suitcase to keep their belongings in. It’s a huge contrast with their home surroundings and they love it. Many thanks to Carnforth Soroptomists.

The dissemination day held by APHRC (African Population & Health Research Centre) in Nairobi in November was a huge success. I sent them a Powerpoint presentation about the use of mooncups in our school and Mme Diana went down to speak about it. She took with her the attendance registers from the last 3 years and girls simply no longer miss school. Ample evidence for their effectiveness. Providing mooncups for our school students will be an ongoing cost but is an unrealistic outlay for the whole community so we are setting up another sewing workshop to make washable sanitary wear. For information about these check out www.clayforearth.com and click on days for girls. Diana was so excited that our small school in rural Kenya is leading the way in this field. We have suggested that mooncups might be manufactured in Kenya-we’ll see.

In Kisumu we bought a large box of text books for the primary school and started on the list of equipment for the Science department at the High school.

Health

We again took out with us the usual thousands of paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin and cocodamol capsules/tablets, bandages, plasters, needles, gloves, small instruments, spectacles and the requested laxatives and multivitamins. We must have taken well over 1,000 pairs of glasses by now, all of which have been used. Apparently people travel from as far away as Sondu – 20 miles- to pay just the 100 shillings Edwin charges. (Some are given them free of charge.) This is about 90p and the money goes to dispensary costs. Our friends working with Open Arms in Eldoret have made several visits to Nyandiwa to deliver spare dressings etc to the dispensary which are very useful and for which we’re very grateful. They have also brought some baby clothes which Edwin uses as an incentive to new mothers to bring their babies back for immunisation when he gives them an item as a gift. We had the thrill of filming two mamas and a woman bringing 2 day old twins back for vaccinations only to discover when we asked that the children had been named Steve and Angela!

The Family Planning Clinic is well used as are the HIV testing facilities. Edwin will finish his counselling training soon and the dispensary will then be given antiretrovirals. We had a lovely visit from our friends Dave and Linda from Eldoret who brought with them a couple of doctors, and their two teenaged daughters, from our church who were out visiting them. They were very impressed with the facilities and Edwin’s expertise and Gordon would like to teach Edwin to perform minor operations. We think ‘dispensary’ gives the wrong impression and it should be called at the very least a ‘clinic’!,

Small Businesses

The bad weather has meant that the small businesses are struggling. The vegetables are a dead loss and the group has opted for two cows. There’s no grass for the cows so they aren’t producing much milk. The chickens aren’t laying well either! Steve had to be quite harsh about repayments as we don’t intend starting any new businesses until the existing ones are functioning properly. The sewing business will be started hopefully during our summer visit as the product is required urgently by the girls and women. There is a distinct possibility of fish ponds. Whilst at Nyakach Steve met the government official in charge of fisheries and they will send someone to help with the starting up and teaching free of charge. Earlier in the week we had been visited by the fisheries man from Kisii but he was charging a good deal to come up and train our folk. The donkey cart business is doing very well.

Karowley We think we have just one lonely bat in the roof now but it doesn’t half make a noise at night! The new bedroom is completed but the toilet is not quite what was asked for! No further explanation but we will sort it during our next visit. The bedroom was really useful with only one snag – the drain in the bathroom allowed in the resident frog which managed to frighten the life out of Chris one night!

Thankyou yet again for making this work possible by your donations, interest, prayer and insights. Thankyou from everyone in Nyandiwa and indeed many miles afield. We attempt to be culturally sensitive in everything we do and our watchword is sustainability. Sometimes we discover aspects of local culture which take us aback but which we have to deal with as sensitively as possible.

Please, if you are receiving this by post and have an email address, just send me a message to let me know the address angelarowley@ntlworld.com and we can save on postage.

Rowley Projects

Trip to Nyandiwa January 2012

Sponsored 5 Km run raises over £1,000.00

Official opening of Oogo Pre School

Trip to Nyandiwa October 2011

Bramhall Methodist Pre School Partner Oogo Primary School

Local Choir sing for Rowley Projects

Dave Pilkington Sky Dives for Rowley Projects

£1,000 raised for Rowley Projects by Kili Climb

May 2011

Education

Health

Small Businesses

Feb 11