Dear Friends and Family,
As many of you know, I taught at an elementary school in Kenya for three years, from 1996-1999. The school where I lived and worked, The Rudolf Steiner School, Mbagathi, Nairobi, is currently experiencing a financial crisis due to inflation and my friend and former colleague, Judith Brown, asked me to help. Steiner Schools are run communally by the faculty or a college of teacher. There is no principal. I was on the College of Teachers when I was there, thus I still feel very connected to this school. It educates students from all backgrounds – wealthy, poor, middle class, Kenyan, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Expatriates and Europeans, and gives many scholarships to needy children. When I was there, the children with the most unusual background in my opinion was a family of two brothers and a sister adopted by American Christian Missionaries, a young couple with children of their own. The children came from a remote town in Northern Kenya and did not even speak Kiswahili, Kenya’s national language. I recently reconnected with one of these students on Facebook and heard that he still visits the school from time to time.
It is a very special place. The school sits on 20 acres of land on the Kitengela Plains to the North of Nairobi National Game Park. Occasionally, giraffe stray past the wire fence that circles the property. Inside the school is a garden which grows corn, beans and other vegetables for the boarding children. There are also cows and chickens, providing milk and eggs. The students work on the garden every morning before classes begin.
Students receive not only a solid liberal arts education, learning science, math and English, but a secondary school preparation rich in art, music, dance and theater. Each class performs a play every year. Watercolor painting and recorder playing are all part of the curriculum.
The website: http://rudolfsteiner.co.ke/ can give you a fuller picture of the school and also provides a recent newsletter.
To donate ONLINE go to: http://rsfsocialfinance.org/services/giving/donate-now/
Under where to donate: click on “Freude der Erziehungskunst” on the drop down menu.
On the following page: in the box “Special Notes and Instructions”
type: “Mbagathi School Kenya.”
If you wish to sponsor a child, details can be found on the website.
All donors will automatically receive a tax acknowledgement letter.
This is Tikun Olam, the Jewish principal of repairing the world, in action. It is a major mitzvah to help educate a child, and in this case, 100% will go toward achieving this goal. Thank you and please contact me or the school if you have questions.
Sincerely, Deborah Fletcher Blum
As many of you know, I taught at an elementary school in Kenya for three years, from 1996-1999. The school where I lived and worked, The Rudolf Steiner School, Mbagathi, Nairobi, is currently experiencing a financial crisis due to inflation and my friend and former colleague, Judith Brown, asked me to help. Steiner Schools are run communally by the faculty or a college of teacher. There is no principal. I was on the College of Teachers when I was there, thus I still feel very connected to this school. It educates students from all backgrounds – wealthy, poor, middle class, Kenyan, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Expatriates and Europeans, and gives many scholarships to needy children. When I was there, the children with the most unusual background in my opinion was a family of two brothers and a sister adopted by American Christian Missionaries, a young couple with children of their own. The children came from a remote town in Northern Kenya and did not even speak Kiswahili, Kenya’s national language. I recently reconnected with one of these students on Facebook and heard that he still visits the school from time to time.
It is a very special place. The school sits on 20 acres of land on the Kitengela Plains to the North of Nairobi National Game Park. Occasionally, giraffe stray past the wire fence that circles the property. Inside the school is a garden which grows corn, beans and other vegetables for the boarding children. There are also cows and chickens, providing milk and eggs. The students work on the garden every morning before classes begin.
Students receive not only a solid liberal arts education, learning science, math and English, but a secondary school preparation rich in art, music, dance and theater. Each class performs a play every year. Watercolor painting and recorder playing are all part of the curriculum.
The website: http://rudolfsteiner.co.ke/ can give you a fuller picture of the school and also provides a recent newsletter.
To donate ONLINE go to: http://rsfsocialfinance.org/services/giving/donate-now/
Under where to donate: click on “Freude der Erziehungskunst” on the drop down menu.
On the following page: in the box “Special Notes and Instructions”
type: “Mbagathi School Kenya.”
For checks, print out the attached letter, fill it out and
mail it with the check to the address on the letter in San Francisco. Checks should
be made to: RSF SOCIAL FINANCE with: MBAGATHI SCHOOL KENYA in the memo line.
Please give what you can: $18, $36 or $72 dollars or more. If you wish to sponsor a child, details can be found on the website.
All donors will automatically receive a tax acknowledgement letter.
This is Tikun Olam, the Jewish principal of repairing the world, in action. It is a major mitzvah to help educate a child, and in this case, 100% will go toward achieving this goal. Thank you and please contact me or the school if you have questions.
Sincerely, Deborah Fletcher Blum
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