Michogomone Primary is a public school in Meru County, Kenya. Started in 1958 with the support of the local Methodist church.
Every day, about 190 students come for classes, ranging from ECD (pre-primary one and two) to grade seven. They also have a class for children with disabilities with a teacher who specializes in running educational programming for them. There are 12 teachers for all grades.
What’s the Chalice connection?
Chalice’s Meru sponsor site is in the rural villages and urban slum environments of Meru County, Kenya. Chalice has partnered with the Good Shepherd Sisters to run our sponsorship program here since 1999. Michogomone has a vibrant farming program supported by Chalice through our African School Farms and Food Security Project. The staff love that their vegetable garden enhances their school meals. The farm together with parents’ contribution supports the school feeding program. Parents contribute food and labor in the school farm to ensure that the children have enough food while at school.
Michogomone’s biggest challenge:
The students’ parents’ main source of livelihood is small-holder farming. The main crops they grow are maize, beans, Irish potatoes, cabbages and carrots. But unpredictable weather patterns are diminishing food production, causing food insecurity.
This has a twofold impact on Michogomone’s students. First, because their parents struggle with their livelihoods, they cannot afford to support their children’s school, except with what crops they can share for lunch. This means the school must provide all books and learning materials, leaving little budget for more costly projects, like renovations. Secondly, food insecure students cannot focus in class. It makes them vulnerable to dropping out. When their classes are in poor condition and the school lacks resources, there are fewer incentives to attend their lessons, and they drop out.
How you can help
By becoming Michogomone’s sister school, you can help them with:
