Wavizi administrator Mike Karabu made a trip to Uganda to meet up with other East African Christian Relief Fund (CRF) administrators for their annual meeting. After this meeting, CRF's Vice-President of Global Operations Bobby Moore and board member Rick Chandler made a visit to Wavizi in Malindi. CRF has sponsorship of over 300 students all around Malindi under the direction of Mike Karabu and his Wavizi team. Their time on the Kenyan coast was short, but they managed to check in on a few pieces of CRF's work through Wavizi.
One of their stops was to Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre (MMEC). Discussions were begun to direct their students from other schools to Mahenzo when they reach the secondary level. This will benefit Wavizi, CRF, and MMEC as well as the students they serve. Malindi's CRF/Wavizi students who have completed primary school and achieved an adequate score on the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination will be offered the opportunity to attend MMEC through their CRF sponsorships.
Mike Karabu (center) travels to Uganda for annual meeting with other CRF directors.
Christian Relief Fund's Vice-President Bobby Moore visited Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre (MMEC) this summer and suggested that it become a designated CRF school. In order to discuss that possibility and understand more of what that would involve, Jim and Phyllis Beck took a trip from Lubbock to Amarillo, Texas, in December to present Wavizi's and Mahenzo's questions. They met with Milton Jones, the President/CEO of CRF as well as Emily Bell, who is in charge of Child Placement for Kenya.
The main detail that Milton and Emily explained was concerning secondary students. CRF will offer any of Wavizi's students who successfully complete the KCPE (Kenya Ceritificate of Primary Education) Examination the opportunity to take CRF sponsorship to MMEC. Wavizi's students are spread out among various schools in the Malindi subcounty area. Combining more Wavizi secondary students at one location will allow them to work with these students more closely. This arrangement shows CRF's shared values with MMEC as well as confidence in their competence in education.
In front of CRF's model structure representing the type of home many of their sponsored students live in across the globe is Kenya's sponsorship child-placement administrator Emily Bell.
Information for potential CRF sponsors who would like to sponsor a student at MMEC:
Emily works with students all over Kenya. She coordinates sponsorships through local Kenyan directors. She has come up with a system on CRF's website, https://christianrelieffund.org/location/africa, to help a potential sponsor recognize students from Malindi and even, specifically, MMEC (Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre). Pictures and a few details for each child are available on this site.
Note these letters at the beginning of their CRF identification number ("K" represents Kenya.):
KMZ indicates a primary student who is at Mahenzo.
KMZS indicates a secondary student at Mahenzo.
KMD currently indicates a child in Malindi in any other school.
All of the new students appearing with these letters in their identification number are to be under the administration of Wavizi in Malindi once a sponsor is in place.
Sponsoring students' education is said to be one of the most effective ways to contribute to their potential success in overcoming poverty. Its effects reach beyond the individuals to their families and into their communities in the present and into future generations.
Wavizi has been driving a van all over the Malindi area checking on community projects or visiting schools, sponsored students and their guardians for several years now. The van had been many kilometres and always had some limits on reaching areas when the roads were in bad shape. In recent months it had become unreliable and in frequent need of repair. However, 2018 brought an opportunity to replace the van with a strong and dependable 4-wheel drive.
Now Mike Karabu can be seen driving around to Wavizi projects or schools and homes with the Wavizi team in a dependable Toyota Prado. Christian Relief Fund (CRF) and the Wavizi staff made this purchase possible. Students and schools are still spread over a large area but are now more accessible, thanks to this new addition to the Wavizi team.
