Destiny Garden School Volunteers

Destiny Garden School was  founded by Jacob Boaz Muoga and provides education for 200 needy and orphaned children from the ages of 2½ to13 years in Mtongwe, Likoni Division, one of the poorest suburbs of Mombasa on Kenya's coast.  The school has seven classes in seven rented classrooms: Baby Class, Kindergarden1 - 3 and Classes 1-3

With the help of German volunteers, the school bought a plot of land 122 by 22 metres but, at the moment, the classrooms are rented in a building nearby.  Trees have been planted on this land and it is used for growing crops to help feed the children.  There is a nearby borehole and  water is pulled up from this on a 60 metre rope for irrigation.

Teaching the children
The children are taught in classes of less than 30 pupils by 8 fully qualified teachers.  As many of the children have not had education previously, they are streamed according to their needs and so each class can have a wide range of ages.  The school aims for pupils to attain the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education

The children
Over 50% of the children are orphans and many are HIV positive.  Many of the families are very poor as there is little work in the area.  The school will not refuse any child because of poverty but it covers the additional costs of the child out of the school funds.  Every day the children are given a cooked lunch which is prepared at the school.  Often this is the only proper meal they receive that day. 

Not only does providing these children with education improve their future but it also keeps them off the streets where they could become involved in gang culture, drugs and prostitution. 

In the immediate future Destiny Garden School needs more funds to -

• provide better quality food at lunchtimes and fruit for the children at break times.

• provide much needed stationery and books as well as more desks, chairs and tables.

• buy more essential equipment for education, as well as toys for the nursery classes.

• provide further sports equipment and to build a suitable pitch for Basketball, Volleyball, Netball and Tennis. 

• build another classroom for Class 5 next year.

• establish an irrigation system to water the garden which has now been established in the school grounds. The garden grows both fruit and vegetables to help feed the children, ensuring they have fresh food. 

• install an electricity generator – this would be invaluable as it would enable the school to install a few computers to give the older children an insight into modern technology. Most of the children have had no experience of computers. Once the generator is in place we would like more funds to buy 4 computers.

In the longer term Destiny Garden School wants to -

• educate children up to the age of 18. To do this it will need to build extra classrooms. There are still many children in the area who are unable to go to school and we would like to open ourselves to more pupils than we can currently afford to cater for. To construct the 8 extra classrooms will cost GBP £10,000 (US$ 15,000). To run the school at this level, we would need all the children to be sponsored.

• to purchase a minibus to take the children on trips, as many have not been outside their villages and have never seen the beach. This mini bus would also be used to transport the volunteers to and from their accommodation and school

• to start a sports school for talented kids – this is ambitious and we will need sport experts and donors to achieve this.

• to provide a homely and comfortable place for the orphans, on the school premises – again ambitious and we would need a new building with dormitories, bathrooms, kitchen etc.

• to build a nurse’s room for giving vaccinations and HIV treatment, provide a sick room., to test eyes and ears etc.

Cooking lunch

Queuing at the kitchen

Outside the school