AirLST Charity: For a better future

As promised, we are here to report on our Christmas campaign for the Lovely Ones Educational Center in Kayole, Kenya. 



Together with customers and partners, we have collected donations for school children. One of our employees drew our attention to the association Lovely Ones e.V., which is active in Kayole. Here, in one of the poorest districts of Nairobi, is the Lovely Ones Educational Center, which currently teaches over 50 children. The school has several classrooms, a schoolyard, fenced area and a concrete foundation, which ensures dry feet in class even during the rainy season. This school was founded as a joint initiative of Kenyan and German teachers during a teacher training seminar in Nairobi.

Educational opportunities in Kenya

Kenya has continuously invested in the education system over the past decades. Since 2003, there have been free primary schools that children can attend for eight years until they graduate with a Certificate of Primary Education. Since then, the school enrollment rate has increased by 40 percent. Yet many schools remain underfinanced. The classes are large, funds for building maintenance, teachers' salaries and teaching materials are constantly lacking. Families must also finance school uniforms, notebooks and pens. This is not possible for many without the help of NGOs, private initiatives or churches. In poor areas in particular, just 10 percent of students complete primary school. The illiteracy rate is currently still 24 percent.


The Lovely Ones Initiative

One of the private initiatives that is remedying this situation is the Lovely Ones Association. In 2010, German and Kenyan teachers got to know each other at a seminar in Nairobi and discussed the education systems of their countries, teaching methods and social influences that affect children's educational attainment. Solomon, one of the prospective teachers and current director of the Educational Center, reported on the situation in Kayole, where he grew up himself. Free access to education is essential here, poverty determines the lives of families, and it is often not possible to finance school visits over a period of eight years and for several children. 
 Solomon has experienced for himself the difference education makes and wants to pass this opportunity on to the children in his neighborhood. Together, the group decided to get involved here. As late as 2010, premises could be rented in which three classrooms were built. After several moves and a growing number of students, the Lovely Ones Educational Center has arrived at its current premises and is now run by seven teachers. Children are taught here, get a meal and can stay all day: The Lovely Ones Center is their safe haven.

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Our Christmas campaign


In December, we asked customers, partners and friends if we could send a donation to Lovely Ones on their behalf. We were allowed to. Through one of our employees, we have personal contact with the local association and can ensure that all donations go right there. We invited Thomas from Lovely Ones to our virtual Christmas party, who describes us

has how the school was set up, what the current situation is and how the school is financed. With our Christmas campaign, we have helped to support running costs for teachers' salaries, building maintenance, security and the meal program. We were able to raise €3,750.00 for the Lovely Ones Educational Center and are pleased to support a project that is committed to educational equality and a better future for children in Kayole. We would like to thank our customers and partners who were immediately ready to get involved and wanted to know more about the project. 


Further background information and pictures from Kayole are available on the website of Lovely Ones e.V.

sources:
Anja Dilk: Education in the Nairobi slum (19.07.2017), in education and science 07-08/2017: https://www.gew.de/fileadmin/media/publikationen/hv/Zeitschriften/Erziehung_und_Wissenschaft/ 2017/EW_07-08_2017_web.pdf



https://lovelyones.de


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