Kindergarten and School for Children

Despite a remarkable development in recent years, Kenya is still characterised by a high level of corruption, crime and violence. In Mombasa, the most important port city in East Africa, both the proximity to Somalia and the pirates, as well as the influence of Islamic terrorists, have a significant impact on the main source of income for the coastal population, tourism. With the loss of tourists, the already high unemployment rate in the region increases considerably. In addition, diseases such as malaria and AIDS weaken the continuous improvement of living conditions there.

Almost half of Kenya’s population are children and young people. And although primary education up to grade eight is actually free of charge, many of them drop out of school before that because their families cannot afford school uniforms, books, pens and notebooks. Moreover, instead of attending school, children often have to go to work or beg to support their families. A school-leaving certificate offers the prospect of better career prospects and sustainable education is therefore the first prerequisite for escaping the cycle of poverty and unemployment. The public schools are also characterised by overcrowded classrooms, poor equipment and poorly trained teaching staff. A central state examination after the eight years of primary school decides who is allowed to attend a secondary school. This is only a very small percentage of the children. Pupils in public schools perform significantly worse and therefore have less chance of gaining access to secondary education.

To help the children of Mtwapa, teacher Grace Mutunga founded the Blue Bell Kindergarten in May 2005. The help alliance has supported the project since 2006.
The former kindergarten has since grown into a private, all-day educational and childcare facility. In particular, the construction of a second floor helped to open up the educational program to a larger target group. In the meantime, 270 children, many of whom are half-orphans and orphans, are cared for and taught up to eighth grade in five kindergarten and preschool groups as well as five primary school classes. In addition to reading and writing, the children learn very good English and social skills. Thanks to the extensive educational program, they are ideally prepared for the exams to enter secondary school. The success of the project is demonstrated by the fact that the children do well in the national tests.
But even children who decide not to continue their schooling in secondary school benefit from their 8 years of quality education for the rest of their lives.

Another component of the project’s success is the swimming lessons for students and teachers. Since many Kenyans have not learned to swim, the nearby sea is a death trap. Year after year, many Kenyans drown. Therefore, Blue Bell is the only educational institution in the region that offers swimming lessons. Some of the children could even be trained as lifeguards.

However, we still support many other projects in the region.
To the projects