July Updates

--
It's been hectic the last few weeks at Tenderfeet.

In Kibera, Teacher Karen is on leave after having a baby girl. This means the school is getting by with volunteers (teachers in training), but the drawback is they are not always as reliable or hardworking as a wonderful teacher like Karen. Last week, the volunteer didn't show up for school one day, which makes it hard on the staff.

Good news in Kibera is that children like Wickliff and Arian are getting some help. Wickliff and 3 other children have been sharing a bed with no mattress, instead using empty sacks for padding. He also had no boots to wear in the muddy conditions, so a special donation was used to purchase a mattress for Wickliff (see right) and a pair of boots (called "gumboots" in Kenya).

Another child that received assistance was Arian Ogo, who was having trouble seeing the chalkboard in school. Thanks to a special donation, she is going to be able to get glasses.

In Riruta, the school was kicked out of their previous location (where it's been located since February 2008) by the Ministry of Education. A policy exists that school classrooms cannot be located in a residential compound. The idea behind the policy is to prevent young children from accidentally wandering into the wrong door and end up in a potentially dangerous person's room instead of class. Since the Riruta school was in a residential compound, Tenderfeet was given notice that it had to leave by the end of June.

Now the school has moved to a church. The rent is more expensive, and it will be a challenge to cover this in the budget -- as well as all the school expenses, which have been going up this year. So we are more grateful than ever for our friends and sponsors throughout the world who keep the school running strong.