Provision of desk/seating units to Ngala School Kilifi, Kenya.

9th September 2024

Kalifi Desks Project update: ‘I am glad to inform you that we delivered the first batch of 40 desks to Ngala primary school this afternoon.

The school management and learners were happy and are looking forward to get the next batch soon so that all the students can learn comfortably’. Shiro Karigo …President 2024-25 Kilifi Rotary Club.

Kilifi Rotary Club is acting as our Rotary partner for the oversight and delivery of the 80 school desks to Ngala primary school funded by Northampton Rotary Club D1070 and D1070 Rotary Foundation Grant. The wooden desks were made locally by the Kalifi prison service. Funds for the final batch of 40 desks has been transferred to Kilifi Rotary Club. 

Northampton Rotary Club applied for and was pleased to be awarded £1,000 2023-24 Foundation grant funding. This was matched by a £1,000 Club donation, to fund the purchase of 80 seating and desks (sets) for Ngala primary school in Kilifi Kenya. Three children occupy one bench seat at a time, to be able to share text books.

Previously children had to sit on the ground or on blocks and suffered from jiggers in their feet. Jiggers is a species of flea, a parasite insect found in tropical/sub-tropical climates. Our partner Rotary Club Kilifi identified that seating sets can be supplied by the National Government for Correctional Services: Kenya Prison Service at a cost of £25/set and within an acceptable time frame.

Rosemary Good, Northampton's Foundation Officer travelled to Kilifi in February 2024, and visited local schools and the proposed manufacturer with Kilifi Rotarians.

Our project covered Rotary areas of focus 1) Disease prevention 2) Education

The desk sets were to be made of muembe timber by apprentice carpenters undergoing training at the Kenya Prisons Service, Kilifi. Rosemary on her visit to the correctional facility observed that the standard of carpentry work was impressive and the range of furniture offered extensive. Every man is given a tool-box at the end of their stay to increase their job prospects which has shown to reduce re-offending.

Kilifi has committed to the ongoing maintenance of the desk sets funded by RC Northampton and pledged to place a Rotary sticker on every desk as can be seen in the photograph.