With School4Life, the two sisters Agnes and Astrid are building schools and facilities for Kenyan children in one of the poorest parts of the world. Their efforts are bearing fruit.
Education is the cornerstone of a good life. The fact that schools in Kenya are often little more than a mud hut and have to make do without toilets, electricity, water and teaching materials prompted the sisters Agnes and Astrid to take action. In 2011, the volunteer project School4Life was born. His first action: the construction of a school in Kimilili. An eight-hour bumpy ride from Nairobi, thanks to donations, volunteer work and a lot of sweat, a school with a well has now been built in which the schoolchildren are also provided with drinking water and a hot meal a day – the latter being an important argument for Kenyan parents to actually send their children to study instead of to work in the fields. What Agnes and Astrid have achieved so far is impressive: to date, they have been able to distribute three million free school meals, build two orphanages, support 100 school leavers, teach 1,000 children, create 100 jobs and build two kindergartens and three schools with 2.5 million Swiss francs in donations. Every franc donated goes directly to the children and the teachers employed on site. But the two sisters are far from finished with their work, as a sustainable supply system that supports the local people in Kenya in their everyday lives is currently on their agenda. This includes not only the cultivation of native plants, but also the establishment of a chicken farm and a sustainable water supply.
Agnes and Astrid prove that one decision can change lives. Various examples of successful school leavers and life plans in Kenya can be seen on their website school4life.org/en/. So: help out, get stuck in and change lives!
Would you like to do even more good? The Swiss label Poplin Project supports traditional African craftsmanship with its collections.
Teaser photo & photos: © School4Life