Overview

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Edmond Oloo founded Grapesyard School in 1999. He's the current executive director for Grapesyard Organization, a nonprofit that works with orphans and vulnerable children. The school has 1465 students, but only 22 classrooms which are built with iron sheets and stone walls. There is no electricity.

Some classrooms have no ceiling, while others have floors that need repair. Without electricity, lighting and ventilation are poor.

Each desk is used by four children, and many younger kids have to use desks meant for older students. This makes writing, eating, and colouring harder for these children.

There isn't a proper space for eating and playing, and the school doesn't have enough toilets for everyone.

The library is quite dusty. A senior teacher manages it, when in reality this should be done by a school librarian.

What about the community?

Most men in the community work as labourers, while women wash clothes and sell vegetables. Some resort to selling illegal substances to make ends meet. These efforts aren't enough to sustain their families.

While the roads in the community are passable, the ones leading in and out are full of potholes.

There is piped water, but it's for water vendors to sell. Unable to access it on their own, most families rely on buying water and illegal electricity. Direct assistance from the government is hard to come by.

The area is adjacent to a garbage dumping site, so it's severely polluted from all the toxic waste.

Houses are temporary and made of recycled materials and mud. Most of them have pit latrines, but some of those aren't even in use.

The residents go without a functioning drainage or sewage system, and many students and their families can't afford food. They lack pens and backpacks for school, with COVID-19 complicating their lives even further.

Students often must miss school to head to garbage dumping sites, where they scavenge discarded plastic and metal to sell to recyclers for money. Girls often miss class because they can't afford sanitary products during their menstrual periods.

What does Chalice do?

The school has a feeding program that provides hot lunches to school children, helping keep them in school and boosting academic performance. Parents offer their support in the kitchen. For some students, this is likely their only meal in a day. Class attendance and completion has improved, and the program has attracted students to the school.

How have Canadian schools helped Grapesyard Education Centre?

In the last years that Grapesyard Education Centre participated in the School Connections Program, the grants they received went to books and learning materials. Prior, up to four students shared a textbook, inhibiting learning.

The school is also working towards a fully equipped library, and thanks to the grant, will buy chairs and desks for it! The library is now bursting with young readers, eager to read storybooks.

With the grant, the school partnered with Story Moja Publishers, a publishing company in Nairobi, Kenya. Between curriculum and storybooks, they purchased more than 200 at discounted prices!

With extra space and chairs, students will feel more encouraged to visit the library. The hope is that students involved with the program will succeed and inspire younger children in the community.

• St. Michael's School, Pincher Creek, AB
• Mons. Fee Otterson Elementary/Junior High School, Edmonton, AB
• Sister Annata Brockman, Edmonton, AB
• Star of the Sea School, Surrey, BC

What does the school need most?

The school wants to raise $1,500 for textbooks.