To receive monthly updates on Keela's travels to Kenya and fundraising efforts in the US, as well as the growth and development of Jambo Jipya School, please email Keela at keela@reason2smile.org. She would be happy to add you to her update list!

 

About Us

The American Volunteer

Keela Dates journeyed to Kenya with hopes of having a life-changing experience.   She planned to return to the United States with an experience that would diversify her teaching and make her more appreciative of her middle-class American life.   Keela graduated in May 2006 from Wells College with elementary education certification and after taking a year off to work and volunteer abroad, she planned to secure a teaching job in upstate New York and continue her career down that path.   Life had different plans for her. The children of Jambo Jipya School touched her heart and changed her life in ways she could never dream of.   Her plan now is to return to the children of Jambo Jipya and create a safe, healthy, and happy living and learning environment for them.   These children are her passion and her life.   Their smiles and laughter echo in her heart and mind.   She is not willing to leave them behind.  

Keela is the founder of this website and non-profit organization.   She hopes to link the people of America with the children of Kenya.   Her goal is to help people recognize that it is a far greater tragedy to be rich and not realize it (as she was, and in some ways still is) than it is to be poor and not realize it (as the children of Jambo Jipya are).   She hopes people will reach out in support of these Kenyan school children and in return, see the difference…in a smile.

Keela's main goal for 2008 is to raise the money necessary to purchase 10 acres of land for Jambo Jipya School (about $50,000 USD) and then return to the school in September 2008 to begin work on the construction of a new school.

 

The School and its Founder

Laughter and singing can be heard pouring from the Jambo Jipya School grounds thanks to the love and dedication of one woman – Christine Mwende.   Jambo Jipya (meaning "Something New" in Kenya's native language of Swahili) was founded in 2004 by this Kenyan woman. She recognized the lack of care and attention being paid to many of the poor and orphaned children of her community – Mtwapa (located about 30 kilometers north of the coastal city of Mombasa) – and decided to act.   A nurse by profession, this woman decided to devote the rest of her life to seeing her dream (of building a primary and secondary school where every child can feel safe, healthy, and happy) become a reality. In 2004, the school started with Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades.  Each year Christine's goal is to add on a grade level so the students continue to have a place to learn and enjoy life.

Christine is the heart and soul behind Jambo Jipya School. Without her it would not exist and many of its students would probably not exist right now either if it wasn't for the kind heart of this woman. (Christine found new and safer homes for many of the children but still many of the families can't afford to feed them so the only food they receive is what the school can provide.)   Christine loves each and every one of the children with her whole being. She has literally given, and will continue to give, the food from her plate and the clothes off her back. For the first two years that the school was open, Christine worked 24 hours a day – days at the school and nights at the hospital – to meet the needs of her students as well as the needs of her own family. She receives no funding from the government. The political climate in Kenya makes that virtually impossible. All her funding comes from her own pocket as well as fundraising efforts by the volunteers. However, so much more is needed.

 

 

Information about the growth of Jambo Jipya School:

 

February 2007 (all pictures located above):

-6 mud hut classrooms (each about 12 feet by 12 feet) with dirt floors (three Kindergarten classes, and classes 1-4)

-no kitchen - the cook does all cooking, preparation and cleanup, outside

-two toilets (holes in the cement)

-one cement office room

-85 students (ages 3-17)

- 0 boarders (students who spend 24/7 at the school - school is their home)

-4 teachers and 1 staff member (the cook)

-students are squeezed into broken benches and use broken tables to write on

-supplies are extremely minimal (5 chalkboards, extremely few books and other school supplies)

-the population is quickly outgrowing the school grounds (about 70 feet by 55 feet - which includes all the buildings and the outdoor play space) - no space for expansion

 

February 2008 (all pictures located below):

-9 cement classrooms (each about 12 feet by 12 feet) with cement floors (three Kindergarten classes, and classes 1-6)

-a large kitchen with plenty of space to store extra food and charcoal

-four toilets (porcelain bowls cemented into the floor) and two shower rooms

-a dormitory room with 5 sets of bunkbeds (which can sleep 20 children) and floor space for more children to lay down their matresses

-one cement office room

-185+ students (ages 3-18)

-45 boarders (students who spend 24/7 at the school - school is their home)

-10 teachers and 7 staff members (cooks, builders, a cleaner, a secretary, and a security guard)

-classroom space is incredibly cramped (students are squeezed into broken benches and chairs)

-supplies are still relatively minimal though each classroom has a chalkboard

-a library with 200+ picture books

-although the outdoor play area was increased a little bit, the space for all the buildings (classrooms, kitchen, office, toilets, dormitory, outdoor play space, etc) is only 70 feet by 70 feet - there is no space for expansion

 

The school population has grown immensely during the past year and although the building facilities have greatly improved, more space is needed. The school needs space to build larger, and more, classrooms; a larger and more comfortable dormitory space; a large soccer field and other outdoor play facilities; farm land to grow their own food; and space to teach the older children a trade (farming, building, sewing, etc).

 

Boarders (Students who live at the school):

In March 2007, 30 children began spending weeknights at the school. As of February 2008, 45 children were spending 24 hours a day and 7 days a week at the school.

Children were carefully selected based on:

                      -distance they walk to school (some as long as 1 1/2 hours)

                      -extreme circumstances they are experiencing at home

Ideally, nearly all 185+ students should be living at school, but on the present school grounds there isn't the space to safely house them all.   An overwhelming majority of the guardians of these children fully support and welcome the children living at the school — that means one less mouth to feed and a weight lifted off their shoulders.   Therefore, the construction of a dormitory building/orphanage is a future goal of the school.