our progress: what has been achieved
The school began as a primary school, and added the beginning levels of secondary education in 2006. Classrooms are crowded, and often there is a lack of desk space, but the students are determined to learn despite the less-than-ideal environment at the school. Fourteen staff are employed at the school, both Kenyan and Sudanese teachers. The school has done well academically when challenging other school in it’s district. There are strong sports teams for both male and female players. There is an active debate club, and some students attend practical lab lessons at a neighbouring school.
It’s not the certainty that everything will turn out well but the absolute conviction that something is worth doing regardless of how it turns out.
Vaclav Havel
The student population has increased since our involvement. This growth has occurred as more young people are leaving the refugee camps to look for a better life in Nairobi. As well, more families are wanting to send their children to Sud Academy because students there excel academically. This leads to overcrowded conditions, but the staff at the school do not want to turn away any child who is looking for an education, so the student population continues to increase.
During this period of growth various improvements have been made to the school, including better salaries for the staff, more food for school lunches, and facility upgrades.
What kind of education is provided?
Advantages of Sud Academy:
- I gain more knowledge here because teaching is better than the school I came from.
- I observe better feeding.
- Sud Academy is also good in terms of a conducive environment.
- There is moderate weather conditions.
- Good administration set-up.
- There are Continuous Assessment Tests which always keep me in touch with my learning.
Akuol Akol Ngotstudent
Students are taught according to the Kenyan national curriculum. The school began as a primary school, but in 2006 the beginning level of secondary education was started as well. Christian values are taught as part of the curriculum, but students from all faiths are accepted.
What progress has been made in implementing projects to improve the learning environment?
Trisa Haak travelled to Nairobi in September 2009 after the school received a grant from the Sea-to-Sea organization (see "our partners").
The funds were used on purchasing a good supply of textbooks for all grade levels (535 books), educational supplies such as geometry sets, calculators, exercise books and pens. We also tried to prevent to problem of flooding in the classrooms by installing culverts and digging the ditches deeper so that when it rains heavily, the rainwater and sewage is diverted. A good number of extra chairs and desks were purchased, and we also provided some funds to help cover the cost of exam fees for the needy students.
Kellee Jacobs has taken on the challenge of ensuring students have access to clean drinking water at Sud Academy. The school's water pipe is often not functioning properly, forcing thirsty students to look for water outside the school compound, which interrupts their learning. The school is also forced to purchase it's water for cooking, which uses up precious funds that could be used elsewhere for school expenses.
To address this problem, Kellee and her mom Susan Jacobs have been actively fundraising to install water tanks at Sud Academy. See the video that shows the happy day that the tanks were installed!
Phase 2 of this project will be implementing SODIS, or solar water disinfection. Kellee and a few other volunteers have received training in London, ON from Bob Dell of the Water School on how to train others to use this simple but effective method to disinfect water.