STRIVE-Kenya 2018 Service Review and Budget

August, 2018

Dear STRIVE-Kenya students, interns, parents, and supporters,

First off, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU from all of us at STRIVE and from all the people to whom you helped provide support this summer in Iten. Between the fundraising that  was done before and the hard work done on the ground in Kenya, we were able to have a positive, lasting, and sustainable impact on the community. So, thank you and congratulations on a job well done!

As you know, informed philanthropy is a cornerstone of the STRIVE philosophy, so we want to give a clear breakdown of how our groups spent both our person-hours and funds on projects this year. Below we’ve outlined the projects we worked on with the total cost of each and attached a spreadsheet with a budget for the service work completed.

Before our first group of high-schoolers arrived, STRIVE staff and college interns hit the ground running. Our group of interns began by learning about service ethics and philosophy, reaching out to local organizations to see where we were qualified and needed, and planning the work to be done the rest of the summer.

In communicating our availability to a local primary school, Kiptabus, we were informed that three of their classrooms have not been used for the past two years. We learned that painting of a second coat that had been done in two of the rooms was applied too quickly and thus would never dry thoroughly enough. We also learned that one of the rooms would be needed to house a class set of tablets that was provided by the government that had software for learning the main class subjects in the national curriculum. Our biggest task, then, would be to scrape and paint one of the rooms so that it would be ready for students. We were also asked to help in math and english classes in both Kiptabus and an additional local school, Kamirany. Lastly, before we departed, we would be asked to help cut and fix plastic book covering on many new books that were to be used at Kiptabus.

By the second week of the program, the high school participants had begun a regular schedule of the manual labor involved in the painting of a classroom that would be the future tablet lab at Kiptabus Primary School. Funds for community service were spent to purchase windows, paint, painting tools, and transportation of these products. In total the amount spent towards the painting effort was $764.25.  An additional $60.00 in funds was used for local labor to complete the scraping which helped us begin the painting as quickly as possible. Towards the end of the service project, we were happy to see that the local carpenters hired were able to finish the table and chairs needed for the tablet lab, which we funded for $750.00. A minimal amount, $42.00, was needed to assist us in cutting and st

apling the plastic for book c

overing.

In total, STRIVE spent $1615.25 on the ground towards the projects worked on by the high school participants alongside the college interns.

All in all, it was an incredibly successful summer with a ton of great work put in by everyone. We will continue monitoring all of our projects via our contacts in Iten and keep everyone updated on how things are going. We can’t wait to get back to Iten and continue trying to help the community grow and learn from them.

Please feel free to read over the budget below which gives a detailed breakdown of all of our fundraising expenditure over the course of the program. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions or comments; we’re happy to answer anything.

Best,

Nic, Tyler, and Rob

2018 STRIVE-Kenya Service Project Budget