In the past two years over 700 school desks, chairs and tables have been donated by LDS Charities (the humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in various areas of Kenya. As one of the missionaries responsible for the desk donations stated, “We have seen the desks lift the morale of the students and teachers in every institution we have worked in.”
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
LDS Charities had been looking at doing latrine projects at the schools, when they noticed the great need for desks. Some of the need was due to overcrowding as 3-4 students were trying to sit together at one desk that was originally made for one student. They found the desks in poor condition, with some of the larger older students trying to sit in desks that were too small for them.
In Kenya, the law requires that each student needs to be sitting at their own desk when they take the National Exams, therefore LDS Charities felt it best to invest in a desk they call “chairs and lockers”. The locker part of the desk is where the top lifts up for the students to store their materials in and each student has their own chair and own locker.
The Church tries to help people learn to become self-reliant. This means they learn skills that will help themselves and not rely on the government or others to help them. Education is the hope of Kenya. When students in these schools have new desks, they are able to receive a better education. With a better education they will make a better Kenya.
With students sitting more comfortably in a desk, one teacher said, “The environment is so much better for learning and the moral of the students goes up.” The life span of these wooden desks may be as much as a minimum of 10 years. Therefore, the 700 desks donated will impact the lives of some 7000 young students before the desks are out of use.
An additional need was seen by missionaries to teach young girls a skill. 12 Sewing machines were donated to sew hygiene kits, which will have a huge impact on a better daily life for these young girls. The girls will be able to learn the skill of using a sewing machine, which will help them find a job that will help them become self-reliant for their entire life. One of the school principals said, “When you are at the bottom of life and think you are going to have to close the school, the Lord sends angels, and He sent you to us.” The humanitarian missionaries saw a need for the young people of Africa to have a better life. They found a way to help build a “Better Kenya” through the donation of desks, lockers, tables and sewing machines.
Over 50 double decker beds have also been donated during the last year.