KCEA COVID-19 Student Update
Thank you to all of our donors for your support. Because of your support we have been able to provide students with workbooks that include all of their lessons and assignments while they learn from home, as well as essential food and hygiene items to assist the students and their families during these incredibly difficult times. We are so grateful for your ongoing support of KCEA students!
HEARTBREAKING IMPACT OF COVID-19
As Covid-19 progresses the devastation continues. One of our sponsored students, Karen, recently lost her mother to the virus. Sadly, Karsis, was a single mother and Karen’s only family. Karen is completely devastated by the loss of her mother. John and Peris Keshe have taken Karen into their home and are providing for her at this time. As always, we have great concerns for the health of our students and their families which is why continuing to provide education as well as masks, sanitizer and soap is so very important.
HOW ARE KCEA STUDENTS DOING?
As we shared previously, COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on our students in Kenya due to many of the same
restrictions that we experienced in the US. Kenya closed all of its schools in March shifting to E-learning. Unfortunately, due to the location of KCEA students in the rural Maasai Mara students do not have access to the internet or a computer. In addition to the closing of the schools, many other hardships occurred at the same time that impacted our students and their families. The food supply in Kenya became affected due to food prices that were driven up as a result of limited supply, locust swarms and viruses that affected livestock.
John Keshe, founder of KCEA, partnered with local health care workers, school and church leaders to create a plan that provided both food and a way for students to complete school assignments. The plan provided staples such as maize, rice, legumes and cooking oil to families that have been able to feed a family of 5 for approximately three months. Assignments were printed into booklets and delivered to each student at their home. Hand sanitizer, masks
and education on COVID-19 was given to all the students, their families and members of their villages. This project was a joint effort of KCEA with additional donations from many individual supporters, Connection Pointe Christian Church in Indiana and Crossroads Church in California.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?
Kenya has still not determined when they will be able to re-open schools but have continued to let the students work from home and send in assignments. The students can advance in their grades at this if they can pass exams. John has begun traveling to each student's village each week with a secondary school teacher to help the students with their lessons, review assignments, correct their work and facilitate their exams. This is time intensive but necessary in order to allow the students to continue to learn and advance in their studies. If school does not resume this fall KCEA will need to continue to provide the assignment workbooks, teacher assistance and funds for the frequent travel to various villages.
Donate to Covid-19 Response Plan
The impacts of COVID-19 will continue for the foreseeable future. In May we established the Covid-19 Response Plan which covered the essential items mentioned throughout this newsletter for students and their families through August which has been hugely successful, thanks to Johns tremendous effort and partnerships. KCEA plans to provide the same type of support for students going into the next semester. A critical component of this support plan is the monthly tuition funds that you donate for your student. The funds will be used to copy the necessary assignments, cover the cost of fuel to travel to the villages, items for health and safety (hand sanitizer, soap, masks, sanitary pads) and the most desperately needed food to ensure the survival of our students and their families throughout this ongoing crisis.
If you have any questions or concerns with your donations being allocated for students in the manner described above reach out to us directly.
To learn more about how Covid-19 is impacting Kenya, please read the Washington Post article.