Dorcas and Julia have been on a whirlwind tour of almost all of our partner schools since mid October, when schools reopened to class 8 – the top primary school year and the one we support.
We promised to match one for one any lights they collected in, and to replace any lights that were broken, so all schools now have double the number of lights they had at the end of lockdown.
We have given out 1176 new lights, replaced 293 and given lights to a further 10 new schools. Replacing and repairing lights is very important for the Mwezi Foundation. We always maintain a relationship with our partner schools to ensure that no lights are wasted or thrown away, by visiting regularly and taking broken lights back to the Likoni workshop for John to repair in order to re-donate. We have literally doubled the number of Mwezi lights in circulation, and have increased the number of schools we support from 50 to 60. We are actively seeking new schools to support in the clusters where we already operate.
We have been delighted to hear that almost all pupils have returned to school since the lockdown. They will take their KCPE end of primary school exams in March 2021, instead of November 2020. The current class 7s will take their KCPE next November, so schools will have the challenge of preparing two top years simultaneously. The Mwezi Foundation will help by providing extra lights to the younger year as well as the current class 8 (we usually just support the top year). However, John will be very busy as we now just have a few hundred left in stock. He spent all of lockdown manufacturing the lights currently in schools, and has now got components to make several hundred more.
The schools are very grateful for the lights. They enable their students to study at night and help light up the house for the whole family, as otherwise they would rely on expensive and unhealthy kerosene. They really do make a difference.