ECP Phase 1 Construction in progress

Construction of Phase 1 comprising a two-storey school building started on Monday, November 26th, 2012 after a two month delay due to clashes that affected some parts of Tana River District in August and September 2012.

Thank you for your support and prayers.

ECP Construction – Day 1

ECP Construction – Phase 1 Day 2

ECP Phase 1 Construction – Day 3

ECP Construction – Phase 1 Day 4

ECP Phase 1 Construction – Involving the local community in and around Idsowe

Phase 1 Construction in progress

Thanks for supporting our Book Drives

Thanks for your generous contributions of books, time and energy. Over the last 3 years, we have shipped almost 15,000 books to the libraries built and supported by Tana River Life Foundation. Inspired by a single photo of empty shelves in a school library, we embarked on this project, which has since brought the joy of books to the community.

The photo that inspired the project to fill the libraries in the community

Students and teachers unpacking books shipped from Singapore. Book Drive 2009

Children of the community supported by Tana River Life Foundation enjoying the books shipped from Singapore. Book Drive 2010

The library shelves are no longer bare. Thanks to your support of the Tana River Life Foundation Book Drives, the students are able to enjoy libraries within their schools and communities

Thanks to one and all who supported us over the last 2 weekends.

Tana River Life Foundation Jumble Sale 2012

Thanks for supporting the Tana River Life Foundation Bake Sale and Jumble Sale. The bake sale raised over $7,000 for the Education Centre Project, where every dollar raised will be matched by Joneron Trust, making that a total of $14,000. The Jumble Sale raised over $8000 which will pay for the shipment of the used items collected for the Mitumba Project.

Special thanks to Siewfan Wong of Gallery Helios for allowing us to setup stall at their Open House, Gina Choong of Kitchen Capers for supplying our packaging and Esther Wee of Halia Restaurant for sponsoring the ingredients !

Here are a few photos of the yummy cakes and cookies

Our youngest supporter who loved her find, a gorgeous pink backpack :

Gabriel Teo on Channel News Asia

Gabriel Teo, founder of Tana River Life Foundation was featured on Channel News Asia this morning.

He together with the architects of the Education Centre Project, Alen Nikolovski and Jason Wang of AEDAS were interviewed on the project. If you missed the segment this morning, here it is :

AM LIVE! on WEDNESDAY

Works Of Heart :
He acted on his instincts… giving up a well-paying job to serve the unfortunate. But Gabriel Teo isn’t stopping at simply raising funds or awareness about his cause – he is bringing his aspiration to a rural area in far-away Kenya. His vision? To build a school and other educational facilities such as a library and computer centre for the needy. We meet the man and learn why he is convinced it is a worthwhile project he’s embarking on.

http://www1.channelnewsasia.com/amlive/2012/03/14/interviews-charity-work/

CNA Interview with Gabriel Teo, founder of Tana River Life Foundation

Here’s the artist’s impression of the school as shown on the segment :

Artist's Impression of the Reception Area of the Education Centre Project

Credits : Channel News Asia, Mediacorp

Gabriel Teo and Tana River Life Foundation have been featured in more press articles

In the last couple of months, Gabriel Teo and Tana River Life Foundation have been featured in press articles both here in Singapore and in Africa. Check out these articles to understand a little more about his work, what drives him and how he has touched the lives to thousands in Kenya.

Article on Gabriel Teo and Tana River Life Foundation – ST Feb 18 2012

Airline Magazine Article featuring Gabriel Teo and Tana River Life Foundation

Helping hands across the seas – ST 3 July 2011 from SP

Watch up for an upcoming TV interview of Gabriel and the architects of the Education Centre Project as they talk about the work that has gone into the building of a school and community facilities in the Tana River Delta. Tune in to AM Live ! on 12th March on Channel News Asia.

Tana River Life Foundation Bake Sale 2012 in conjunction with Gallery Helios

Thank you for supporting Tana River Life Foundation. The 2012 Bake Sale aims to raise funds for the Education Centre Project the foundation is embarking on. When completed the centre will provide affordable quality education to the communities in the Tana River Delta. Facilities include a kindergarten, primary school, community centre with library, computer lab, seminar rooms, meeting areas, designated areas to house income generating projects for the foundation and offices. The buildings which are oriented to benefit from natural ventilation and lightning have been designed to be environmentally sustainable incorporating solar power and rainwater harvesting. This 3 year project with a built up area of over 40,000 sq ft will cost S$2,000,000.

We’re targeting to raise $4500 which will be matched dollar for dollar by Jonaron Trust, based in Malaysia. $9000 will cover about 40% the cost of a classroom. 10 classrooms will be built. Thanks to the generous support of Ms Esther Wee from Halia Restaurant and Ms Gina Choong from Kitchen Capers, all proceeds from this sale will go to the building fund. Thanks to Gallery Helios ,we will be holding the sale over 2 weekends, 11th March ( Sunday ) and 17th & 18th March. All proceeds from this sale will go to the foundation. It’ll be great if you could order a box or 2 and support our efforts to help educate the young in Kenya.

The following are available :
• Giant Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies – $35 per dozen
• Traditional Eurasian Sugee Cake- $40 per loaf
• Zesty Lemon Loaf – $30 per loaf
• Nutty Banana Bread – $30 per loaf

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies, Traditional Eurasian Sugee Cake, Lemon Loaf and Nutty Banana Bread

They will be available for collection from :
a) 10am – 7pm on 11th March during the Gallery Helios Open House at 38 Petain Road. Click here for location map
b) 17th & 18th March during the Tana River Life Foundation Jumble Sale at Nativity Church, off Upper Serangoon Road. Click here for location map.Collection schedule at Nativity Church : 4pm – 8pm on 17th March, 9am – 8pm 18th March

Please email your orders to tanariverbakesale@gmail.com by March 4th if you wish to collect at Gallery Helios and by March 11th if you wish to collect at the Tana River Life Foundation Jumble Sale and you will be provided with payment instructions. Please also indicate whether you would like to collect them on 11th, 17th or 18th of March.
This bake sale is made possible by the mother-daughter baking team of Norliza Jalil and Maria
Chung.

Thanks so much for your generosity.

Gallery Helios Logo

A space to kick off your designer shoes, walk barefoot on timber floors, smell the coffee, and unmask…. so that you can prepare to be at the highest expression of who you are… The Gallery Helios, Center for the Art of Mind-Body Wellness is a boutique shared services facility in a conservation Peranakan-style shophouse in a quiet area near the Farrer Park MRT. The interiors were specifically designed to exude an ambience of beauty, nature and healing, with features like sky lights above an air-well lush with tropical plants and a water feature. It offers clients beautiful, discrete and serene spaces to come back to themselves.

Education Centre Project

Tana River Life Foundation ( TRLF ) is embarking on a project to provide affordable quality education to the communities in the Tana River Delta.  Facilities include a kindergarten, a primary school, a community centre with library, computer lab, seminar rooms, meeting areas, designated areas to house income generating projects (e.g. cafeteria) for the foundation, hostel for staff and visiting donor partners and offices. Oriented to benefit from natural ventilation and lighting, the buildings have been designed to be environmentally sustainable incorporating solar power and rainwater harvesting.

First Floor Plan of Education Centre Project

Artist Impression of Education Centre Project

For more information on the project, watch the interview of Gabriel Teo and the architects from AEDAS on Channel News Asia. http://www1.channelnewsasia.com/amlive/2012/03/14/interviews-charity-work/

Frequently Asked Questions :

Q : When will construction begin ?

A : Construction will begin by mid-2012

Q : How many children will benefit from the project?

A : When fully operational, the school will benefit over 450 children annually while the community centre will benefit over 3,000 people.

Q : Will the community be able to afford the school fees ?

A : The school fees will be set based on prevailing market rates. Children from economically disadvantaged families will be eligible for bursary assistance from TRLF.

Q : How much does the project cost ?

A : Sitting on a 12 acre site with a built up area of 40,000 sq ft,  the school, the community centre and office for the foundation will cost S$2,000,000 to build to 3 years from 2012 to 2015.  This includes the construction cost,  utilities including wells, solar panels as well as professional fees.  Jonarons Trust, a private charitable trust has committed to match dollar for dollar for all funds raised by TRLF for this project.

Q : How can I help ?

A : Contribute to our building fund. You can choose to

•Sponsor the computer lab at $90,000

•Sponsor the library / seminar room / outdoor meeting area at $85,000

•Sponsor a classroom at S$22,000 per classroom ( 10 classrooms )

•Sponsor access road and culvert drainage at entrance at S$12,000

•Sponsor an office at $10,800 per office ( 6 offices )

•Sponsor a student bathroom at $2,200 per cubicle ( 14 cubicles )

•Sponsor a second well at $2,000

•Sponsor a solar facility in modules of S$1,000

•Sponsor a window at $200 per window

•Sponsor a door at $100 per door

•Buy a brick at $50 per brick

Contact Gabriel Teo gabrielteo@yahoo.com +65-9232-0222 +254-723-521774

Click here to download a copy of the Tana River Life Foundation Education Centre Project factsheet.

This design of the centre was made possible by Aedas Pte Ltd and Arup Singapore.

Gabriel Teo and Tana River Life Foundation were featured in the press

Great News ! The Sunday Times ran an article on 3rd July 2011 on folks who started charities and foundations overseas.

Gabriel was the lead story. The journalist called him in Kenya for a phone interview 2 days before the article was published.

For those of you who missed the story, here are 2 copies of the article for your reading pleasure.

One of it is scanned copy and the other is a text extract from Factiva. Enjoy !

Scanned Straits Times article on Gabriel Teo and Tana River Life Foundation – 3 July 2011

Straits Times article on Gabriel Teo and Tana River Life Foundation – 3 July 2011, no photos

Incidentally we have collected 10,000 books for the libraries supported by the foundation. Thank you one and all.

I will be closing the collection and have started fundraising for the cost of shipping the container load of books, the required books shelves and school furniture. We have raised $3050 to date and are still looking for $950. Please let me know if you would like to contribute to this worthy cause.

More Details on TRLF Book Drive 2011

Thanks for your support of Tana River Life Foundation in the past couple of years.

It is that time of the year again to dig into our book collections to help fill the libraries at the schools supported by Tana River Life Foundation in Kenya. This year the books will be filling up the empty libraries at the new nursery & primary school that Gabriel is building and the schools that the foundation supports. As with the previous year, we will be leveraging the annual Book Exchange that the NLB is organizing.

Here’s a few ways you can help us :

1. Set aside books from your collection for contribution to the TRLF libraries directly. To do this, you would need to have books that meet the TRLF collection requirements. Please download this document : Tana River Life Foundation Book Drive 2011 – info to view the types of books needed. You have up to the end of May to hand the books to me.
2. If your books don’t meet the collection requirements ( eg. books not in English, are too old, pulp fiction, romantic novels, cook books etc ) you can take your books down to the nearest library between now and the 15th of April and exchange them for a Book Exchange voucher per book ( please check http://w16.nlb.gov.sg/page/corporate_page_visitus_AllLibraries for the full list of libraries, their addresses and opening hours. ). The library accepts up to 30 books each time. You can then pass the vouchers back to me before the 16th of April.
3. Volunteer to help us ‘shop’ for books during the exchange on Saturday 16th April. We’ll roster volunteers on 4 hour shifts between 8.30am and 6pm, and provide you with the vouchers and a list of our book requirements. You’ll then “shop” through the books available, check-out using the vouchers and bring the books to our collection table. You may have to do this a couple of times during the 4 hour period.
4. Help us collect A4-sized photocopy-paper boxes. This is the best size for packing, storing and transporting the books to Kenya.

Thanks so much

Updates from Gabriel

Gabriel is back in town and has provided an update on his progress in the past year as well as some pictures.

Here are the documents.

TRLF 2010 report : 2010 report by Gabriel Teo

TRLF SLIDES (JAN 2011) : Pictures of some of the initiatives this year

TRLF SHB SLIDES (JAN 2011) : Pictures of the sustainable agriculture project

TRLF GHS SLIDES (JAN 2011) : Pictures of projects completed at Garsen High School