OASIS OF HOPE

Latest news

OoH-news September and October 2024

Calm and stable school days are reported. There were also no big news before pictures and film clips from Graduation started to trickle in. On October 31. the big party of the year was arranged. Graduation is, as is well known, a party for the pre-school children who will start first grade in January. All the pupils take part in the celebration, parents and special guests are invited and the teachers and the board are of course also present. This day was full of activities, speeches, singing, dancing, cakes and lots of fun. We are very grateful that our board in Kenya organizes this day together with the teachers.

At the end of August, the message came that we would get access to electricity on the plot, and a few weeks later we received pictures of a power pole being set up inside the plot. Now there is only the actual installation left before we have electricity in the school building and can run a school both in the gray light in the morning and in the dusk in the evening. So it is not copiers, PCs and dishwashers that they will use the electricity for, but something as simple as work lights in the classrooms. So obvious for us, but so long-awaited for them.

In Norway, there is not much new to tell. We are looking forward to the Action Day at Hovedgården secondary school, which this year will be held in December, and the Christmas market at Vettre school.

OoH-news July and August 2024

It has been a quiet summer in both Kenya and Norway. Nevertheless, we have two very positive pieces of news to share.

One is that we have received a larger corporate gift, which gives us some breathing room. Now we can start making good plans for the future, which we look forward to with excitement.

The other good news concerns electricity. Our board in Kenya received a very good offer for connection to the power grid, which we accepted. This does not mean that, as of today, we have installed electricity in the school, but that we have access to electricity, and the possibility of installing this in the school building. This will give us new and exciting opportunities in the future.

In Kenya, it is common that the authorities "deworm" pupils a couple of times a year. They are simply dewormed, which is both common and necessary. We are grateful that the authorities are contributing to this.

In mid-July, our school participated in a sports day, and our boys' volleyball team was ranked the best in the entire district. Congratulations!

OoH-News May and June 2024

Not even in May and June have big things happened in Kenya. School started again after the holidays two weeks after the planned time, due to the floods that affected parts of the country. After that, school operations have gone on steadily, without the big headlines.

Facebook announced that from June 2024 it will no longer be possible to organize fundraisers through them. Oasis of Hope has made use of such actions many times and finds this sad. Although the response to our collections has decreased in recent years, it is still challenging to find other forms of fundraising.

Nevertheless, we have some good news. Here in Norway, we have had income both from church offerings in Østenstad and Heggedal and birthday celebrations during the month of May. On Wednesday 19 June, Run for Food was organized, this year only digitally. The response wasn't all that great this year, so maybe we have to come up with something completely new?

Pupils form grade three show results from their pottery classes.

OoH News March-April 2024

March and April have passed without the really big news. After our trip to Mbita in February, two short but nice and informative films were made from the school. Per Øystein Funderud was behind these, and we are grateful and excited about the result. The films can be seen on our website and on Facebook.

The last three weeks of April were school holidays in Kenya. We therefore used the time while there were no classes to finish painting the outside of the school building. The building is now nearing completion. Painting the inside of the classrooms, glass panes in some windows and a new fence around the entire school grounds will be done as we can afford it.

Schools in Kenya were supposed to start up again with the second term on 29 April. Due to heavy rainfall and flooding in several parts of the country, the start of school was postponed for two weeks. Mbita town was spared this time, and the school was not affected.

OoH News January-February 2024

On Monday 8 January, the Oasis of Hope school started up again after the Christmas break. And with the start, there were also a number of new desks and books for the students. This was a gift from Rotary in Moss, and we are very grateful for this contribution.

In addition, we had bought worktables for all the teachers, which they greatly appreciated.