EAST AFRICA CHILDREN'S PROJECT
"Registered Charity in England and Wales 1136340"
ABOUT US
We are a drop in the ocean but every drop helps.
We are a small registered charity in Brighton. We support local projects that target the needs of disadvantaged children in East Africa. We support small projects in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda that make a real difference. We are helping Children's Centres, education programmes, individual pupils and projects for communities struggling to take care of their children. We are staffed by unpaid volunteers and 95% of your donation goes directly to our projects in East Africa.
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“Feeding minds to nurture change”
"Registered Charity in England and Wales 1136340"
NEWS
DISCOVER HOW YOUR DONATION WOULD MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE.
Download our latest newsletters here.
March 2023 . IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE.
EACP wish to note that our partners Bulogo Primary School and Bulogo Women’s Group, which are both located in Eastern Uganda, have not met EACP reporting criteria. The Trustees have been unable to obtain satisfactory evidence that grants made to these organisations have been properly applied, and all funding for these two organisations has ceased. Relevant third parties, including the Charity Commission, have been informed.
April 2022. A new borehole at Kimenyulo Primary School, Kamuli, Uganda.
With your generous donations we helped Kimenyulo Primary School, Kamuli, Uganda install a borehole,
giving the school access to fresh water.
November 2021
The new dormitory block with bunk beds for 60 young girls aged 4-13 living at Joy Children’s Centre (Nairobi, Kenya) is now fully completed. Joy is a community-funded primary school for 300 deprived children, and also home to around 80-90 orphaned, abandoned, or abused children. In the new dorm girls are much happier, and their learning and school attainment has improved. More importantly, these girls are safe and not at risk of abuse, domestic violence or living on the streets. The girls’ washroom block, linked to the new dorm, was also completed. This comprises 6 functional shower-toilet cubicles, and a clothes washing area. Joy has been an EACP partner since 2010 and EACP Trustees regularly inspect the Centre. On our last visit in June 2019 we were again highly impressed with the provision, and the care and support provided to children living there, despite very limited resources.
Bologo Primary School (650 pupils), our long-term partner, based in a poor district in eastern Uganda, have 40 new, well- designed 3-seater desks that are vital for child learning. Classrooms are now filled with amazing, bright, child friendly desks. “Sitting on the brick floor always made my uniform dirty and gave me cramped legs. My handwriting was poor because writing while squatting was not easy. I love my new comfortable bench. It even has storage where I keep my books during the break and lunch time,” Sarah Ataliba, Primary 4. “Giving our students these wonderful desks, where they can easily write and learn, is a big achievement helping eager young students in our school,’’ Moses Kirunda, teacher.
New 4-classroom school block - With partner Faith Primary School in Busia, rural Uganda, a major renovation of a 4-classroom block to improve children’s learning and their future, is near completion. This new block represents a major improvement on their old poorly-built rooms with earth floors, often infested with dust mites and infectious 'jigger' fleas, and no doors or window protection to keep out wind and rain. Eco-brick toilet – A large London school is now a partner supporting Bulogo School to build a new eco- brick toilet block. Eco-bricks are made from recycled local plastic waste, including bottles. This process helps deal with plastic waste in villages while providing essential new toilets and better washing facilities which improve hygiene, child health and wellbeing.
School Attendance and Street Children – School tuition costs are state supported in East Africa, but families still have to pay for additional school fees, uniforms, stationery and books. For example it costs around £75 to equip a child for secondary school. This can be a real challenge for very deprived families. In January 2021 we assisted 88 deprived orphan children living in the community with uniforms to attend primary school and 9 children to take up hard won places at secondary school by purchasing school uniforms and textbooks including maths, English, and science. These children have been monitored and mentored from a very early age by HRCO, our community development partner since 2013, based in Musoma, Tanzania.
June 2020
At The Hope Revival Centre We have recently delivered much needed mosquito nets for the children and their families.
Solar lamps £10-£30. Families in East Africa spend up to a quarter of their weekly earnings on kerosene. Kerosene lamps are dangerous, expensive, and have serious adverse health and environmental effects (WHO, 2020). £10 will buy a study lamp for a child while a larger lamp (£30) will light a whole family room. Solar lighting brings people together and makes them feel safe after the sun sets. We are looking to raise around £500 to provide essential lighting for deprived children and families
New 4-classroom school block - £1,700. With our long-term partner school in Busia, rural Uganda, we hope to support them to build a new 4-classroom block to improve children’s learning and their future. This block represents a major improvement on their current poorly built rooms with earth floors, often infested with dust mites, and no doors to keep out wind and rain.
Getting street kids into school - £75. The real cost of clothing, stationery and books means that very deprived families are often unable to afford to send their children to school, even if tuition is free. These costs can also overshadow the benefits of getting a hard won place at Secondary School - especially for girls. £75 will get a child from a derived family into school.
Each of our current projects cost between £75 and £1,700 and offer a high benefit to cost ratio. A financial contribution from The Belacqua Charitable Trust would help us deliver sustained change. Donations may be made by cheque or via a secure link (Virgin Money Giving) here on our website - Simply click on any donate button
SUSTAINABILITY
We help people help themselves wherever possible. We try to implement projects that are both beneficial and sustainable. We fund solar lights to replace deadly Kerosene lamps and help create biogas cooking facilities. We raise money for the building of sanitation facilities and rain harvesting systems. We help fund water filters to deliver homes with cleaner water. We fund sewing projects to enable families to make and mend their own clothes.
TWIN YOUR SCHOOL
By twinning our projects with schools we can create long lasting relationships between different cultures and encourage friendship and understanding.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
East Africa Children's Project offers Volunteer Opportunities. Helping out in East Africa or fundraising here in Brighton. See how you can make a real difference by contacting us. We are small, friendly and always in need of extra hands!
EDUCATION
We help equip local schools with books, laptops, bedding and school uniforms to help with their education. We fund sanitary towel supplies to keep girls in school.
OUR PROJECTS
We currently support small, manageable projects in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda that produce tangible outcomes for children in need. Working together with local partners produces the best results, and our work depends on local initiatives and participation.
In addition to supporting projects directly aimed at children, we also help families and communities. Through vocational training and projects, we assist them in generating the income needed to provide for their children.
Our projects aim to provide sustainable livelihoods to their participants. By cultivating a sense of ownership as well as promoting accountability and responsibility our projects in turn stimulate local development.
JOY CHILDREN'S CENTRE
Near Nairobi in Kenya
The Joy children’s Centre was created and is run by Sarah and Jimnah, volunteers who are confirmed believers in the power of education to transform the lives of children. The Centre offers primary education to over 300 children and is home to 69 vulnerable or orphaned children, with 16 more returning in the holidays from High School.
The increase in numbers has put a strain on the infrastructure at the Centre. The toilet block that EACP built now needs to be emptied monthly. It would be great to build a bigger toilet block in the future.
This increase in numbers has led us to create a new project, the Girls’ Dormitory Build. When complete, the girls who live at Joy will have less crowded and more hygenic sleeping quarters, with proper storage for their belongings.
The old dormitories will be converted to classrooms for the very young, releasing the store rooms they are currently taught in. The storerooms will then be used to extend the library and the Women’s Empowerment Tailoring unit.
EACP planned with Joy, a Bio-Gas system, to turn animal slurry into gas for cooking. This gas replaced wood, reducing the cost of cooking and the kitchen environment. It also reduced the risk of fire. The system is now up and running, after a lot of hard work, and with huge support from the Rotarians here (Brighton Rotary Club and the Soirée Club) and in Kenya (Thika and Ruiri Rotary Clubs), funding this alongside EACP.
To get the full benefit from the bio-gas project, Joy needed more slurry and their own water supply.
To these ends, EACP has help Jimnah set up a pig unit, to supply slurry and a small income from selling pigs. The slurry from the pigs and the small herd of cows is more than enough to supply all the gas that Joy needs for daily cooking. This allows for a fluctuation in the number of animals.
Joy had spent a long time digging a well, in stages, as money became available. An EACP donor raised the money to complete digging and lining the well, and to provide a pump, tank and piping. Joy now has all the water it needs for the Bio-Gas system and all their domestic needs.
In the past, EACP and the Brighton Rotary Club built a 2nd storey extension on the existing classrooms, to create 3 new, and much-needed, classrooms. The school had grown since then, and further classrooms are needed. Hence the urgent need to build the girls’ dormitory.
We have funded a sewing project for women and school leavers who cannot go on to further education. This has been a great success, with at least 4 groups now trained, and several women able to earn their own living through these skills.
There is a large library, but we would like to see it grow.
EACP also funds 3 teachers at the school, they are extremely dedicated and work hard to get the children to achieve their potential.
Joy has included children with special educational and physical needs into the school for at least 4 years. We met Alan on our visit over 3 years ago (2013) and have seen how he has thrived (2016). The numbers have grown and Joy would love to employ specialist teachers, and provide special equipment and transport.
HOPE REVIVAL CHILDREN’S CENTRE
Musoma Mara Region, Tanzania
HRCO (Hope Revival Children’s Organisation) works with disadvantaged young people in the town of Musoma, and surrounding rural villages in the Mara region of Tanzania. Their mission is to empower local individuals and communities to sustain themselves through small businesses. HRCO is well respected by local and regional government officials for their outreach work in the rural area surrounding Musoma.
They have established successful training courses in both urban and rural areas, including:
- Shoemaking - Selling these shoes help HRCO keep their vital transport on the road and also provide school shoes for local orphans.
- Tailoring - This project has enabled young women to move from already on the streets to supporting themselves with a trade.
- Production of interlocking bricks - The process does not involve the cutting and burning of wood fire the bricks, as they are pressed and air dried.
- Bio-sand water filters - These filters clear the dirty lake and river water of the parasites and bacteria that cause such devastating illnesses as cholera and dysentery. They are built using locally sourced filtering particles, from small stones down to fine grit.
- Outreach Work - HRCO has helped local villages form co-operatives to make and sell peanut butter, bar soap, pickles and fruit wine.
ST VIANNEY JUNIOR SCHOOL
Gayaza, near Kampala, Tanzania
St Vianney Junior School is run from a training centre, set up for agricultural courses. The building was donated for use by the school. There are enough buildings for 5 small classrooms, all in need of refurbishment. The pupils, though, cover 10 levels, from Kindergarten to Primary 7, so 10 classrooms would be the ideal. There are currently 380 pupils, though this number is expected to grow.
In 2015, EACP funded a VIP latrine – a ventilated improved pit latrine. The project was to construct a VIP latrine with 12 stances, 6 for girls and 6 for boys, for the 380 pupils. The previous latrine had only 3 stances which was used by pupils from Kindergarten section up to primary seven (age 15). It was a big health threat to the school community to have such young children line-up in congestion to use the latrine. The walls of the latrine were cracked and the tank was already nearly full.
Practical Action charity (http://practicalaction.org) says “The ventilated improved pit “V.I.P” latrine offers improved sanitation by eliminating flies and smell, through air circulation. The addition of a chimney draws air currents into the structure and through squat hole. Odours rise through the chimney and disperse. The structure of the toilet means that any flies attracted to the pit through the squat hole will try to escape by heading towards the strongest light source, which comes from the chimney. The flies exit is blocked by a wire mesh so the flies eventually die and fall back into the pit. The spiral structure prevents too much light entering the toilet while allowing a free flow of air.”
The 5 existing classrooms are well used but in a poor state of repair. Some are quite dark. The floor are in need of repair.
A new 3 classroom block has been started, including walls and roof, but not completed. Doors, windows and flooring are still needed, as are desks and chairs. In September, our chairman, Piet Lagaay, is aiming to do a sponsored triathlon to raise funds to complete at least one of the 3 new classrooms.
The school takes both day pupils and boarders, so a girls’ and a boys’ dormitory are provided. These are also in need of refurbishment, with metal desks instead of wood, which deteriorates quite quickly, and new bedding. After our visit in May 2016, EACP send funds for the replacement of some of the mattresses, bedding and mosquito nets.
During the visit in May 2016, we planted 3 trees, a lemon, a mango and one for shade. On a future visit, we hope to see both them and the school flourishing.
BULOGO PRIMARY SCHOOL
Kamuli District, Uganda
EACP has successfully twinned this school with Hyde Park School, a leading pre-prep & prep school in London. We are extremely grateful to the Headmistress Mrs Hilary Wyatt and the Staff And Parents' Association of Hyde Park School, who have taken the very generous step to support this school.
Bulogo is a rural public, mixed primary school with 824 pupils, located in a poor village in Kamuli district, Uganda East Africa.
Hyde Park School held and evening auction of children's art, a bake sale, a Christmas jumper day and provided educational equipment and porridge for a feeding scheme. They have enabled our small charity and to set up a garden project, a sewing project and a dairy project. The generous support from Hyde park School and its friends have also provided solar lamps for the higher classes, so they can study in safety, away from the dangers of kerosene lamps.
The two schools will now undertake a letter exchange between students of similar ages, helping both schools get a greater understanding of each other’s lives. Going forward more funding is needed. Bulogo School badly needs extra buildings to provide for a Kindergarten class and a dormitory for older girls.
POPP EDUCATIONAL CENTRE
Near Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Moses Vincent runs the Popp Educational Centre, which is in a rural, disadvantaged area outside of Dar es Salaam. The Centre is currently being run as a Community Nursery School. There are 100 students, of which 40% pay a greatly reduced fee.
The Tanzanian Government has brought in new regulations that Moses must comply with. These have been relaxed for Moses, as the school is such a community asset.
A class cannot hold more than 45 children, so Moses needs 3 classrooms. These are physically there but in need of some refurbishment and lighting. He also needs school indoor and outdoor equipment.
The monthly income and expenditure for the Nursery shows a small profit, making the project viable for the future, but there isn’t enough profit to make their required additions to the school quickly. EACP has provided funding for the refurbishment and lighting of the classrooms and is seeking funds from donors for educational and play equipment.
Our Trustees And Volunteers
We are a small organisation run entirely by volunteers without renumeration. Our aim is to give disadvantaged children and the communities they live in a fair chance in life. We try to achieve this by supporting locally managed projects that care directly or indirectly for their education, health and well being.
Pieter Lagaay founded the East Africa Children’s Project with the help of a few friends. It began as a small, local initiative by a few enthusiastic volunteers. Because of their dedication, it has now attracted the support of a broader platform within Brighton, from individuals to schools and entrepreneurs. Their contributions have enabled us in reaching out to make a difference to communities on the other side of the world.
PIETER LAGAAY
Trustee And Chairman
Pieter is the founder and chief fundraiser for the charity. Through a lifelong career teaching children with special needs, he is passionate about improving their lives. After volunteering for other charities that work in Kenya and Tanzania, he decided his work could be more effective by founding his own charity.
Pieter has lived in Brighton for many years. His hobbies include photography, golf, fishing and managing an allotment where he grows his own vegetables. He is married with four adult children.
JENNIE LAWES
Trustee And Secretary
Jennie is the charity’s secretary. Apart from organising our monthly meetings, she also assists in tackling daily issues and producing our quarterly newsletter. With professional experience in blue chip companies, charities and public sector (most recently in the NHS), Jennie brings years of experience in business analysis to the charity.
ROS STOW
Trustee And Treasurer
Ros has been the treasurer for the charity since it was founded. She looks after the finances and takes an active role in the decision making and planning. Ros is an accountant by profession, currently working in audit regulation. She has lived in Brighton since 1996 and has two grown up children. Ros is a keen runner and loves to travel (when possible).
MARTIN SADOFSKI
Trustee - Marketing and communications
Martin is originally from Bradford and has lived in Brighton since 2009 with his wife Nicky and his two young daughters and crazy dog. He joined the charity to mainly manage their social media, online marketing and run the website. When not busy with a hectic family life he likes to sing and write songs for his band Fever Hut.
Barry Harper
Secretary to the Trustees
Barry is secretary to the Trustees and supports the charity on day-to-day operations, fundraising and project management. He is an academic economist and has held teaching, research, and management posts in UK and US universities. Barry has lived in Brighton since 1992 with his wife Jo, and they have two grown-up boys. Barry is a keen tennis player and hill-walker, and likes to cook for friends.
CONTACT US
Get in touch with East Africa Children's Project to discover more about our work and how to donate. We thank you for your support.
2 Eastfield Crescent Brighton United Kingdom BN1 8EL
01273 541582