Current/Future Projects

Above: The boys new toilet and shower block kindly funded by the Dartmoor Vale Rotary Club in Devon.

• The government has introduced a new curriculum which is working its way through the education system and will arrive at Imprezza to be implemented in January 2024. This is not as far away as it looks at first glance when we consider all that needs to be done. The top two years of primary school will become the first two years of secondary, making the system quite similar to here in the UK whereas currently secondary education only has 4 years at secondary which equates to UK GCSE and A level years. This will require more classrooms, dormitories and more capacity everywhere including our agriculture to feed the additional students and teachers. The other major change is at the top two years (UK A level years) where instead of just an academic curriculum which everyone takes, the school can either specialise or split into three streams to meet the needs. This is the route Imprezza has taken.  As we are dealing with the poorest who cannot afford secondary education it would be totally impractical to throw two thirds out of education.  The 3 streams are academic, humanities and vocational.
• As we now have our own borehole, some drought problems have been removed. A bonus is that the water is pure and no filtering is required. In addition as part of a rural electricity scheme, of which Imprezza is the solar source, we now have as much electricity as we need. The combination of the two opens up new possibilities for the school.
• All our plans are of course driven by available funds, whether from grants or our own fundraising efforts - we can only go at the speed that finance allows. As a policy we have never borrowed money since we had an initial interest free loan that was repaid on time. This was to allow us to purchase the first 6 1/2 acres of land in 2008 to get Imprezza started after its traumatic move from the slums of Nairobi, during the post election fighting.

Our current work and future plans are as follows:

• We have professional drawn plans for the site to allow planning permission for future developments.
• Continue to upgrade our current wooden beds with 50 metal bunk beds and replace bedding. (Long term, termites eat the wood. Metal is more expensive but is termite-proof.)
• To meet new regulations our current shower and toilets for the girls have to be separated into different blocks and fitted with non-slip floors.  In addition, new spacing regulations have been introduced which reduces the capacity of all our dormitories.  For example, the boys dormitory was licensed for 96 but has to be reduced to 68. The increases in spacing required reduces capacity, therefore more dorms will be needed in addition to plans for 2024.
• Increase the number and types of fire extinguishers.
• Stabilise the foundations of the current girls dorms and replace current temporary structure with a permanent one.
• To meet the new curriculum and new regulations we will require at least two additional girls dormitories and one boys, together with shower and toilet facilities and of course all the bunks and bedding.
• Build a two storey block containing ground floor Library/IT suite. (Now we have electricity this is a government priority). The first floor will be classrooms.  Also computers and books for the IT suite and library
• Build a two storey block for vocational training containing workshops on ground floor and textiles & home science on the first floor.
• Add toilet blocks to all existing classroom blocks to meet new requirements. New builds will have these blocks already incorporated.
• Build a single storey classroom block for the "Junior" intake
• Build quarters for the teachers who stay on site, an essential requirement when boarding.
• Purchase more agricultural land as the increase in school size will require more food to be produced it will also be needed for vocational studies in the new curriculum. In addition more land will allow us to to grow and store using freezers (now that we have electricity) and also to have surplus to be able to sell for school funds. 
  
• Purchase a further four acres of land for our sports field. We have one acre currently which is in use but to meet the requirements we need five acres to allow us to comply with all that is required.
• Develop a poultry project and examine the possibility of introducing dairy cattle and dairy goats to supply the school with milk and dairy produce and sell surplus to increase school income.  This depends on purchasing more agricultural land that is in addition to that needed for food production.
  This will have the added benefit of widening the scope of practical experience we can offer on the agricultural lessons taught at both compulsory and vocational education stages.
  

This is our priority list.  It will of course be approached flexibly depending on grants, and other donations which might select to support one particular project and of course our fundraising efforts, currently frustrated because of the corona virus pandemic.

In addition, the house in which Catherine and Daron currently live will be brought into full school use once they have moved into their own house a short distance away from the school. This will be a further huge asset to the school. This house was built by Daron at his own expense and for the the school to have use of this free of charge is extremely generous.
The plans for it include guest bedrooms, so that visitors to Imprezza can stay on site, Catherine also sees that as a source of income for the school, along with other initiatives currently under discussion. These include space for sanitary pad production and, until the other blocks are ready, the library, IT suite and teachers accommodation. 
All these measures will move the school ultimately towards self sufficiency.