2020 Updates from TRLF

Dear Friends

Warm greetings from the Tana Delta in Kenya. I hope this message finds you and your families safe. It is a challenging time for all, and from here in Tana, we continue to be united with you in prayers. Kenya started reporting cases of Covid-19 recently, with closures and curfews nationwide, although there are no cases reported here in Tana Delta to date.

I was to leave for Asia by mid-April, but have postponed my trip indefinitely. As such, we will NOT be having a Mitumba collection this year. However, if we are able to travel later this year, we hope to proceed with our collection of school furniture and study aids.

Grade 6 pupils from Onwardei Primary School gladly transporting classroom chairs from Singapore to their school across the River Tana using a traditional dugout canoe.

Since we are not likely to meet anytime soon, I have prepared two reports to give an insight into what we were able to do with your support last year.
 
Please click here for the 2019 Tana River Life Foundation Annual Report. 
If you are reading this on a mobile phone or on any low bandwidth platform, you may access the compressed version here.
 
For details on the 2019 Tana River Life Foundation Activities and Achievements, please click here. 
If you are reading this on a mobile phone or on any low bandwidth platform, you may access the compressed version here.
 
On behalf of the many young people and their families, and entire communities here in Tana Delta, that have benefited in one way or another from your assistance last year, we thank you very much.

We hope you will continue to journey with us in 2020, as we strive to build lives of greater dignity, freedom and integrity for many.

May God bless and protect you and your families.

Gabriel Teo Kian Chong
15^th April 2020

P/S : Please add gabrielteo@tanariverlifefoundation.org to your address book so that our emails will not be blocked by your Spam filter.

If you received this email from a friend who is a supporter of our foundation, and would like to receive emails directly from us, please sign up here.

Rebuilding after the conflict : Mobile Library in the Tana Delta

From August 2012 to January 2013, the Tana Delta Sub-County was rocked by intense ethnic violence, which resulted in destroyed roads, disrupted education, and affected farming and livestock breeding. However, the local community in and around Idsowe (the base of the foundation) chose peace over violence throughout this period of unrest.

In the last half a year TRLF has been part of the Tana Delta Peace Forum set up by the office of the Deputy County Commissioner to address issues of Peace and Development in the Tana Delta. Being a major education stakeholder in area, TRLF is extending its programs to these communities. These programs are designed to mitigate the risks of future reccurrences of the senseless violence. Setting up a mobile library is the first of a series of programs designed to improve access to quality education. The library will service schools with the least developed education infrastructure and that were most affected by the conflict in 2012/2013.

The first session of the mobile library was kicked off on Friday 21 February at Buyani High School which was vandalized and forced to close during the conflict. Students will now be able to a access a library for the first time in their lives. The foundation will transport books to Buyani High School and Gardeni Secondary School twice a month. More schools will be added to the program in the coming months.

Here are photos of the first library session at Buyani High School.

Setting up the mobile library

Collecting membership dues and giving out the membership cards

Students from Buyani High School experiencing a llibrary for the first time in their lives. Thank you one and all for your books. You’ve helped open up their world !

Students from Buyani High School checking books out from the library they’ve ever experienced. Did you contribute these book ? We thank you !

They love their books !

Students from Buyani High School posing with the TRLF bus which transports the books to the school

We are starting to use online crowsourcing as a means of expanding our fundraising base. The funds raised there will pay for the cost of running the library for 1 year. Help us pay for this by giving generously on http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/mobile-library-tana-delta/