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Kenya’s Pathfinder
Academy:
Amistad Building Classrooms,
Library and Kitchen
Amistad International is exceptionally pleased to have been able to fulfill the
request from Pathfinder Academy in Kitale, Kenya for assistance in building 7
classrooms, a library, and a learning center for the 360 students, many of whom
are orphaned.
Through the generous donation of an anonymous family, the construction of the
L-shaped two-story building got underway following the post-election violence
which brought a flood of displaced refugees to Pathfinder Academy located in
the Rift Valley. Funds were also sufficient enough to help complete the roof
for the kitchen and dining hall.
Thanks to the generous help of the Foundation for Global Community in Palo Alto,
California, Pathfinder Academy purchased the following items for the new kitchen:
window glass, plumbing, sinks, wall board, stove, pots, two water tanks and an
upgrade to 16Y rebar for the new second story library (a safety requirement by
Dept. of Education engineering inspectors.)
Founded in 2002, the seventeen teachers at Pathfinder Academy seek to transform
the lives of desperate and often abandoned children by providing them with an
education, in hopes that one day they will return to their communities to serve
as agents of change.
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Despite previously cramped spaces and
insufficient supplies, Pathfinder Academy currently has the fifth highest
academic rating of the 302 primary schools in the district.
In an environment where hunger and illiteracy are the norm for the impoverished,
Pathfinder Academy and its charity, methods, and success of its academic program
are a shining example of dedication and love.
“Each day children face abuse and are at risk,” writes Machinga. “Yet,
children at Pathfinder Academy are reaching toward their dreams, with opportunities
available for them. [They] recognize that goals can be set and reached, and [they]
dare to have hope for tomorrow. There is joy on their faces as they prepare lessons
and learn skills needed to build a transforming future.”
—By Heidi Brenner Hayatgheyb
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