PCV in Kenya: Week 24
PDM Training (Kisii & Friends)
This week we had PDM (Project Design & Management) training in Kisii. Kisii is a city located in Kisii County, close to the border of Homa Bay County. On Monday, I traveled to Kisii with Savannah, Marissa, Sophie, and Laura. After dropping off our belongings at Nyakoe Hotel, we headed into Kisii town. Savannah found rainboots while Sophie and Laura found beaded sandals, so it was already a good start to our day in town. We ate lunch at Choma Choma Lounge. This place was so cute! They also had some great food and drinks and we all enjoyed our time here. After a quick stop at Naivis for snacks for the week, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. Everyone else had arrived at this time, so it was fun to see each other and our counterparts after a month apart.
On Tuesday – Friday from 8AM – 4PM, we had PDM training. During these trainings, we worked on finalizing a lot of our grant proposal details. My counterpart, Peter, and I wrote 14 pages detailing required information for our grant proposal. We will be able to finalize the details of our budget when we return to school next week. Scroll down for information about our proposal and how you can get involved. On Saturday, we all headed back to our sites. Our counterparts organized a matatu to take a lot of us into Kisumu. This was so nice because this meant the matatu didn’t have to stop until we got to Kisumu, saving us almost three hours of travel time. I picked up my groceries I had left in the Peace Corps office before heading on another matatu to my site. At home, I moved Nala’s things back into my house then organized and cleaned my house. It was a popcorn for dinner kind of night 😊 On Sunday, I was able to get some laundry done before working on some things for the upcoming week of school. I also made tortillas and food for the next few nights. I ended my night catching up with my bestie Andy 😊
PCPP Grant Proposal Introduction
Ruma Secondary School is a mixed day school in the North Uyoma Ward of Siaya County, Rarieda sub-county, in western Kenya. The idea of starting Ruma Secondary School came out of a 2014 Ruma Primary School Management Committee meeting, and classes at Ruma Secondary School began the following year, 2015. The secondary school began running fully on community support and was later registered by the government after proof of its sustainability and quality education practices. Since its opening, eight students have gone to university and Ruma Secondary School was the most improved school based on performance in the Rarieda sub-county for the 2024 academic year.
While community investment and support of Ruma Secondary School is unmatched, the region of which our students come from is ranked amongst the poorest in Kenya. The income of our student’s parents and guardians largely comes from peasant farming and fishing on Lake Victoria. This makes the school dependent on outside funding rather than parent fundraising to finance infrastructure development at the school. While this poses a challenge, Ruma Secondary School and its Board of Management have been active each year in seeking outside funding from various sources to further progress the development of their school. In 2018, after receiving funding from the Chinese Embassy, the school was able to construct the bones of a science laboratory (see picture below). This science laboratory was not fitted with a gas system, a water system, electricity, or a fume chamber. A science laboratory is a prerequisite for effective learning and teaching of the science subjects of biology, chemistry, physics, and agriculture as prescribed in their curriculums and as promoted with the new Kenyan Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
The school’s motto states that “education is Light”. The vision is “to be a model school in the region”. The school’s mission is “to provide a firm foundation in the education of a child”. Ruma Secondary school is hoping to continue implementing these ideals with the refurbishment and equipping of the school laboratory. The work of the Peace Corps Volunteer at Ruma Secondary School is to help mitigate teacher shortages in math/science, support technology-integration efforts, and promote STEM education, including development of teaching and learning materials. This aligns with the goal of the school and the purpose of this proposal, as the refurbishment and equipping of the school laboratory will help promote STEM education, including development of teaching and learning materials.
What is PCPP?
PCPP stands for the Peace Corps Partnership Program. This connects Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and the communities they work in with the private sector in the U.S. and around the world. These connections help fund community-initiated and led projects where PCVs are at site. The entire donation goes to the PCPP and the PCV project. All donations are tax-deductible as charitable contributions and after a donation is made, a thank you letter detailing the amount of donation will be sent to be used as a tax receipt. More information can be found on the Peace Corps website.
How can others participate?
By the end of October 2024, I will be submitting a grant proposal to the PCPP to obtain funding to support the refurbishment and equipping of our school’s science laboratory (see above for the introduction to this proposal). After the Peace Corps reviews our proposal to ensure it meets the qualifications, they will post our project proposal online to raise the approved amount of funds we have requested. This is where you come in! Part of the proposal asks for me to include a list of referrals. Referrals are the name and email of individuals that would like to be notified when our proposal has been reviewed and posted so they can donate to help raise the amount of funds. If you, or someone you know, is interested in being a referral, please fill out this form. This is not a donation commitment. It will simply ensure you receive an email once our grant has been reviewed and posted, giving you an opportunity to then review our completed proposal and make a donation if you wish.
The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.
