OASIS OF HOPE

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Graduation 2023

On Thursday 2 November, Graduation was organized at our school. This is a celebration where the pre-school children who are about to start 1st grade are celebrated. This really is the most important happening of the year. In addition to the pre-school children and their guardians, all other pupils with guardians are also invited. The teachers and the board are of course involved and important people from the Government are also represented.

This year there were more people than previous years, because there are many at Mbita who have a relationship with the Oasis of Hope school. We are very excited about this! Nothing is better than having a good reputation and positive reviews locally.

This time was also special as it is the first time we celebrate Graduation with a new school building. We are very excited about this! In addition to serving food and cake, there were speeches, greetings and entertainment by the students themselves. The school has a Taekwondo group, which had a demonstration.

Some had a dance performance, and several performed poems. Role-plays highlighting themes such as how to prevent teenage pregnancy and challenges related to Aids were also on the programme.

We have seen that several of the girls like to go "on the catwalk", as models. They put on their finest clothes from home, and strut around and show off.😊 Entertainment for everyone. At this celebration, gifts are also an important element and the graduationg pupils of course receive both gifts and a diploma.

This year, a tree was also planted on the school ground, in memory of this day. An important and beautiful statement.

OoH News September-October 2023

It is with great gratitude we see pictures of our new, beautiful school building. Something still remains. Painting of the walls and molding of the sole around the entire building, preventing rainwater from seeping into the wall, are the most important things. But we are happy to see that the classrooms are now in use and both students and teachers are happy with us.

Graduation is planned for 2 November at the school, and we are very much looking forward to getting photos from this day. This will be the first Graduation in the new building. A great day for all!

Here in Norway, we have a brand-new brochure to show off. You can see it here. We are very satisfied with the result and once again send a big thank you to Anne Cecilie at Hagen Design for a great job with the brochure.

In November we can also look forward to the annual Action Day at Hovedgården, and at the beginning of December we will receive the income from the Christmas market at Vettre school. We are looking forward to this with anticipation.

OoH News July- August 2023

The summer has passed without the big news. In Norway, we are under a lot of pressure to get more regular donors, so we can transfer more money for food. This turns out to be very difficult. We notice that here in Norway too, the cost of living gives challenges.

In Kenya, the school days run as usual. During August, the pupils had a three-week holiday. We hoped to have the school completed, and to put in place, among other things, a pavement around the school building, painting and electricity works, but once again this must be postponed due to lack of necessary funds. Maybe we will reach the finish line during the autumn?

In July, an activity day/planning day was organized for ECD- teachers at our school. About 40 teachers came from the Mbita area. They made posters and other learning materials for use in the classrooms. It is great to see that the Oasis of Hope school is being included, and that our teachers are part of a larger collegium.

For a few days in August, our school gave accommodation in connection with several events in the area. The board in Kenya is very keen that we should also help the local community in more ways than just school. It was therefore nice to be able to contribute with this. Another time we might see this as a way of getting some income, if we rent out to people who can afford to pay for it?

OoH News May-June 2023

In May, we received a dramatic message from Kenya. With the food prices in the country, we can't really afford to give pupils two meals a day at school anymore. This is dramatic, since food for the pupils is one of the most important things we contribute and for many of the pupils this food is the only thing they get to eat. We have many good donors, but still not enough income to keep up with food prices in Kenya. We have received messages from the school that they are still giving the pupils the two meals, but that they are shopping for food on credit and have reduced the portions, which the oldest pupils are naturally not happy about. Our job going forward will therefore be to obtain new permanent donors. We must have predictability in what we do. It is important!

Although we are once again experiencing adversity at school, it is also important to highlight the positive. This time it is the completion of the last classrooms and the office department. Floors in the last rooms, classrooms and offices and not least glass in the windows and doors in all rooms. It will be very nice! Here, the workers put in a fantastic effort.

On 7 June we organized Run for Food again, with Kristin UJ in the lead. We sat down at the bathing area at Semsvann, but the turnout there was poor. Nevertheless, many people contributed financially, and we received well over 15,000, - at this event. We are very happy with the result but must consider whether we should have any physical event at all with such a low turnout.

In June, we worked a little extra to get new permanent donors, and so far, we have received a total of seven who want to contribute to our project. We are very grateful for this. Nevertheless, we must insist on obtaining more. We must ensure that pupils can still get food at school.

OoH News March-April 2023

It was with great expectation that we visited the school at the end of March.

It was a real "pinch in the arm" experience! Is this really our project? It’s like an adventure to be a part of this! The activity inside the school, with teaching and food, works very well and exactly as we want it to be. At the same time, we gained an insight into major challenges, and there were primarily three things that the teachers and the board highlighted; Sky-high food prices, which lead to less food for the children, students who come to the school without applying, and who thus fill up already full classes and a temporary operating agreement, which means that we have to do everything we can for the school building to be completed, including those last four classrooms.

We clearly see that most of the challenges we have are linked to a lack of money, so the board agreed to give private loans to OoH, so that the last classrooms can be completed as quickly as possible. If we're lucky, we'll get enough glass in the windows too.

In April, we also agreed to transfer NOK 500 more for food per month to meet some of the price increase for food.

For several years Barkey has done invaluable work with OoH. He is our contact person, and he follows up the school's operations closely and visits the school almost daily. We have for a long time been thinking that he should get something in return for all his efforts, but since all board activities in OoH are voluntary work, we could not give him benefits. We were therefore very excited when the chairman himself brought this topic up. He and the rest of the board intended to offer Barkey remuneration for the wonderful job he is doing. Since he does not have a permanent job, they would offer him this, if we agreed. Since the proposal came from the Kenyan board, we found this easy to support. Finally, Barkey can get some payback for the amazing work he does for OoH!

We have got good supporters in Rotary Moss, and they want to support us both through their local club and through an international program. In April, they transferred a good chunk of money, which is earmarked for new desks and schoolbooks. We are looking forward to further cooperation.

OoH News January-February 2023

January has been a month characterized by anticipation. Imagine that the authorities finally gave us the go-ahead to reopen! But we could not settle for this. After our visit to the school in November, we found out that even if we could reopen, there were parts that had to be done in order for the school to have the capacity to receive all the students. We had to finish three more classrooms, with floors and the final finishing touches to the walls and ceiling. In addition, the ramp and stairs to the second floor had to be completed. All this had to be finished by the reopening. To get this in place, this time we had to resort to loans, but we managed it, and on Monday 23 January 70 expectant pupils turned up at their school. The teachers were also of course there to welcome them. During the first week, the number of students increased, and now we can once again provide education and food to more than 200 children at Mbita.

The rainy season is coming closer, and we need to put glass in the windows so that it does not rain into the classrooms. With the rainy season comes mud, and we also hope to be able to cast a sole along the house walls to direct the water away from there and reduce mud around the building. In addition, we will try to fit doors and windows in the four remaining classrooms. We hope to have all this in place during the next school holiday at the end of April. We know that our board in Kenya is doing a formidable job of following up on everything that is happening. They are also very careful to follow all requirements and expectations from the authorities, so that we do not risk more challenges than we have already had. But Kenya got a new government last autumn, and you never know what this may entail in terms of requirements and regulations, so here it is best to be on the safe side.