Things are moving again...

Little Hands Big Steps babies graduated yesterday! They each received a certificate, a super T  shirt, and 2 books! I now have the old bags to wash, repairs to make to the books, and replacements to find if repair not possible! THEN we can start LHBS round two at Kawangware!!

Kawangware also received 5 new shelves courtesy of a donation from the Altmann family; for Mum and Dad combined birthdays! We have been able to give some new stock to fill the new shelves' Kawangware will now have a Young Adults collection for the first time, also new picture books, first readers and more Adults fiction MANY thanks Altmann family!!! Will be sending you photos when the books go onto the shelves!

Sipili Library meanwhile is sooo nearly ready! Painting is done inside (sorry! photo didnt work!), water tank and gutters are in now for rain harvesting, just waiting for our solar power.. Joseph is champing at the bit wanting to move shelves and books down to new building... SOON!!! We are also working on a water project with Coca Cola Africa to help the environment here, and to help the local girls.

Gacharageini. Well, we start painting on monday... at last! There will be two walls we cannot paint right now as the plaster is not dry, but we will paint all the rest. We hope to receive our extra funding via BookAid International to put electrical wiring in, and our super carpet! Still hope to open 14th August!! 














I think I should explain about the photos of the building! The top half of the building is owned by the local Catholic church: it is their church hall, and they never finished building it. The bottom half (BEAUTIFULLY built by our builder Zack!) is the library! The photo below is the back of the building, and the photo to the left shows the corner to the front.

 

That is it for this week!!! I am doing storytelling training with the trainees at Gacharageini on Monday, then helping with painting as of Wednesday. Patrick is as always pushing builders, helping motivate and rushing around finding materials!


Talk next week!!






Anne

 

Watching plaster dry so we can watch paint dry afterwards!

Very quiet at the minute! At Gacharageini the trainees are still making their way through the adults non fiction, and discovering the delights (yawn!) of classification! The building is plastered, and we are waiting for it to dry before we can paint... with the weather being so wet (either rain or solid mist) this is getting to be a worry... lastest estimate is 4 months!!!! We need to apply some HEAT...



Sipili: well gutters went on on Thursday, and painting is under way. Just solar power to install.. New library sign is organised too.

Little Hands Big Steps: Kawangware children 'graduate' on saturday next week! So will have photos for you then!

Talk next week!

Anne

Imagine this painted white with a blue carpet....

    Gacharageini library floor... as smoothe as a baby's bottom! Wonderful straight pillars too!!! painting is next (white), then a blue - or possibly green?- carpet, then move shelving in!

We have a donation now of FOUR desktop computers from the Phillips family. Two of these will go in to Gacharageini library, to support the computer programme we will be given by Biovision. This deals with agriculture and environment. The other two will probably go to Sipili library with the same computer programme, as well as for use by the public.

We had a visitor from the UK over the weekend from Holy Trinity and St Peters church in UK, who donated us funding for Little Hands Big Steps. Liz Holder met the LHBS mum's at Kawangware library They filled all the floor space in the library looking at and sharing books. Jon Hargreaves and his daughter Bella also came along.


AFK books have arrived, and we go to collect them tomorrow from Nairobi. 29 boxes of books and cassettes. GREAT!


Talk soon!!!




Anne and Patrick

Gacharageini no longer floor-less!!!! (sorry!)

Gacharageini library now has a floor! it is still not quite finished, but will be this week! Plastering of walls- and those wonderful pillars!- starts this week with second consignment of Bookaid donation!

Trainees have completed all kids stock as of Yesterday (friday) and will start adults stock on Monday!

Talk soon!!!

Anne

Little Hands continue to THRILL ME!!!

Little Hands at Kawangware!. All Mums turned up for week three! The comments are now amazing about how their children are reacting to the bags of books! Many kids call them 'their books'. and ask for the bag of books as they wake. The tactile books are proving to be very popular, and several of the children are maknig animals noises to the animals in the books- and when seeing them outside!

Many are asking for books for their older children, because the older siblings want to read the younger siblings books! Some of them do read together. 

                                                                                                                     Faline and Bella reading together.

                                                                                                           

A group of Mums reading to their kids at Kawangware.









Gacharageini library now has windows!!! Floor should go in this coming week!

   

the building looks wonderful and full of light. Floor should go in this week, then plastering, painting, ramp to main doors etc. Bookcases are being made - some already completed- so then we move in and continue training in the library proper! 2 weeks maybe..

EXCITING TIMES!!!!

I talk to the trees... well, we all will be able to at Sipil library soon!

 Just a quickie! Rosslyn River Garden Centre in Nairobi has donated 20 native trees and 80 (yes, 80!) shrubs for our Sipili library compound! Patrick collected them on friday friday and drove up with them on Saturday! Joseph will get help planting them on Monday. His plan is that a child will adopt a tree or a shrub, and learn how to take care of it..! Cunning!!!



Will post photos later after planting!

Where to begin?!!!! So much to tell!!!

Hello! 

Well this week has been crazy! On Saturday we launched Little Hands Big Steps at Kawangware library.. 15 parents turned up!!! We only asked for 10!
Patrick and I both talked about the project, and Peggy (now chair person of LHBS) spoke about how it went in Mathare North last year (Peggy was a member of the first LHBS group of parents in Mathare North). Peggy is going back this week, and Patrick and I will return in two weeks to see how it is going! As always a big thank you to our donor from Holy Trinity and St Peter Legacy group in Wimbledon, UK. Hope to launch Little Hands Big Steps in Sipili after they have moved into their new building.... 

 

Sipili library next!
Anne and Patrick went to visit the new building this week. It is still not quite finished.. hopefully by the end of next week! There is some painting and tidying to do.. also our sign has to be completed, stating that Safaricom Foundation are the donor and that it is a KLT library!

the loos!

                                     

And now for Gacharageini! We are hoping that the walls will be completed by the end of next week, and the windows in. We then need to wait for the second installment of funding from BookAid International to do floor, reinforce sustaining wall, plaster and paint inside.. then move in! Very exciting! This library has taken us on the builders adventure.. to some very unexpected places.. for example finding crop gum trees to cut down to make scaffolding... assessing types of cement.. 

Training is coming on well. The seven trainess have nearly completed the childrens' fiction, and will start on Adults fiction next week.. the delights of classification will wait a wee bit longer!! 

Will talk again in a week or two! Enjoy photos!!!

Anne