We are very aware of the future employment opportunities for our children at The Good Life Orphanage and pupils from St Bernadette Mary School, its going to be a battle for them but with a good solid education they will leave our gates well armed to face life outside. With this in mind we quickly realised that whilst some of our children are academic, many having starting school late struggle with core subject such as Mathematics, English, Science and Geography. A vocational career is more suited to these children, no matter where you are in Kenya people need the services of a seamstress, a joiner, a welder etc, if we can provide training in these fields we are completing our final phase in what we believe is giving our orphaned/abandoned & vunerable children the best start in their adult life outside the GLO as possible.
The answer was to build a new block between the orphanage and school,here we will have a state-of the arts IT Lab for cutting-edge technology, a sewing room complete with up to twenty sewing machines where the local girls along with our own children can learn dressmaking and finally a large room which will accommodate facilities for learning bicycle repairs, welding & joinery along with two offices and a toilet block. Following many discussions, draft plans and ideas, we started work on our new block on 15th May 2015, as you can imagine we are all very excited!!
Firstly the area has been cleared to make way for the block, we have managed to keep many of the existing trees but sadly had to remove one large mango tree which was an arduous job for the workmen. Next the building was lined out using a strange but proven method for getting the correct levels followed by the introduction of a small bobcat to level the surface, this is the first time we have ever saw one of these machines on-site in Kenya.
As soon as the site was cleared, our GLO/SBM “A Team” said a prayer over the area before breaking the soil to mark the official start of the actual building, after seeing their brave attempt at digging we believe our team of workmen have very little to worry about. Our Builder is very experienced and has given us a detailed timescale of his schedule of works, we are hoping that the current rainy season will not slow the work as it is currently raining for very long periods.
We are very grateful to our very generous sponsor family who have donated the funds to build this wonderful training block, it will give so many children the chance to further their education and will also provide an alternative for the young local girls to get work instead of being forced into underage marriages by their families.
That’s such fantastic news Mary. We were only talking with Peter this week about our plans to and spend a few months at the GLO. But of course not for another couple of years. As you know Peter is a welder and has previously also taught welding at various colleges. I know my way round a sewing machine and used to make all our girls’ clothes, back in the day when they were little. Anyway, we will defo go there in a couple of years to help out for 6 months or so. Keep the good work going, this is really exciting stuff. Love to all at the GLO and God bless this generous family who has funded this part of the project
This is an absolute wonderful idea and development made available by such a generous donation. You really have the long term care of these children at heart. May the Lord bless all your work love to all