NewsFebruary 2023 - News Update
We are delighted to say the girls taken in from the school which was closing have integrated well and are already showing signs of doing well both emotionally and educationally thanks to their resilience and the help of other students and staff. All are to be commended
January 2023 - News from KenyaAt the school the New School Year has started, welcoming back our existing students plus new first year students for the first “normal” year since the Covid pandemic. Imprezza Academy and Catherine’s reputation is country-wide in Kenya. Catherine got a phone call from a teacher in Northern Kenya whose school was closing. They asked her if we could take in 7 vulnerable teenage girls who were just about to start their second year. They are all orphans, destitute and the teachers had been supporting them at the school. They are especially vulnerable to FGM, early marriage or being forced into other ways to survive, which is why Imprezza was approached to help. The girls from a pastoralist tribe have nothing. It was a big decision for us as we had no facilities or equipment to accommodate them. After about 24 hours of discussion between Catherine and the Trustees, we decided we would take them in and put out an appeal for the additional equipment needed, totalling £950. We are delighted to say that beds, mattresses and sheets have already been covered, so the £950 total required has shrunk significantly - a big thank you to the donors. However, more items still need to be purchased. Blankets £70 Skirts £85 Sweaters £60 Shirts and school ties £55 Shoes and socks £130 Underwear £35 Please consider making a donation to help these children using the CAF Donate button at the top of this page. Thank you January 2023 - THE NEED FOR MORE FUNDSAs we celebrate our 20th Year we are launching an appeal to run for the whole of 2023 to raise funds to provide additional classrooms and dorms. Whilst we are extremely proud that well over 2000 students have passed through Imprezza with the vast majority going on to lead very successful lives with employment in over 50 fields we are mindful that due to government changes in 2024 the school has to take an additional 120 students, the equivalent of years 7,8,9 in our system. Even with those transferring from other primary schools due to the changes we still have a waiting list of over 500! These additional students are well able to benefit from attending Imprezza but currently we do not have the facilities to accommodate them, hence our appeal.
October 2022 - Operation Imprezza wins £1,000 Movement for Good Award
Operation Imprezza has won a £1,000 Movement for Good Award from Benefact Group thanks to nominations from the public. Operation Imprezza has been selected to receive a £1,000 donation as part of Benefact Group's Movement for Good Awards, which is giving over £1million to charities. The £1,000 will be spent on additional bedding at Imprezza Academy in Western Kenya to allow more secondary school age students to be boarded and kept safe from early marriage, FGM, and extended families prioritising work over education. More information . .
October 2022 - Thank you to Jordan and Shannon for their death defying leaps to raise money for Imprezza.
July 2022 - TORQUAY GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL
At their final school assembly Mrs Karen Bumby congratulated all who took part in this year's Annual Sponsored Walk which raised a fantastic total of £14136 of which half, £7068 was donated to Imprezza Academy in Kenya. TGGS has been a very strong supporter of Imprezza Academy for almost 20 years and have raised and continue to raise thousands of pounds for the benefit of many hundreds of poor and destitute students across Western Kenya. Many many thanks to everyone. October 2021 - Covid Pandemic At Imprezza AcademyImprezza continues to adhere to the Covid-19 protocols and guidelines. We appreciate the benefits that solar electricity and unlimited fresh drinking water have brought making life easier under these restrictions. Our temperature guns, water dispensers and sanitizers continue to be placed around the school.
Funding, due to Covid-19 was difficult throughout 2020 and into Autumn 2021 when we have started to do in-person fundraisers again. The extra demands on funds to comply with Covid-19 regulations are an ongoing pressure when we would love to be spending instead on further development of the school rather than extra soap, disinfectant and similar. However the safety of our pupils and staff is of course the first priority. Up to now we have been fortunate to not have Covid in the school, although it is in the surrounding communities with some deaths occurring. Our main focus is preparing for the new curriculum in January 2024 when we will need a whole new set of text books, more classrooms, dormitories and also practical workshops for the vocational courses. Whilst agriculture will remain a compulsory subject for the lower school, it also becomes a vocational choice for the top two years of the school. Our agriculture program will have to significantly expand, both to meet the educational needs and also provide additional food for the additional two years of pupils being transferred from primary school. We are also very aware that we now have a waiting list of over 200 potential students who qualify for Imprezza but we do not have the funds or space for. Some of the students in our 2021 intake had been waiting over 2 years to get in. October 2021 - Marathon Fundraiser
We are thrilled to announce that over £15,000 was raised and a replacement vehicle for Imprezza Academy successfully purchased! We want to thank our supporters for the huge effort put into fundraising this large sum of money for such a vital part of the school, particularly TGGS who contributed over £7000. The vehicle is central to many aspects of the school and is used as an ambulance, taxi, delivery (food, medicines, equipment etc) and so much more. Life has been very difficult since the last van broke down, but now thing will get just that little bit easier, so thank you once again for supporting this cause.
TGGS Sponsored Walk Video This video below was put together by Torquay Girls Grammar School's head girl team to promote the virtual sponsored walk this year. Students have until 31st July to make donations via the school parent pay.
And below is their poster:
Ingenious local invention!Here's an inventive solution to the challenge of hand washing! A local man in the village near Imprezza Academy created this ingenious way of enabling the community to wash their hands without having to touch any surfaces, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The hut behind is a dwelling and typical of the living accommodation of our students.
Corona Virus And Imprezza Academy Like most of the world, Kenya too has been affected by Covid 19. They have very strict rules in place to restrict its spread including mask wearing, overnight curfew and working from home if possible. Schools, Colleges and Universities are closed. Imprezza Academy is closed of course, and the vast majority of our students (well over 300) are either back with their families or placed in the community. We do have a dispensation of allowing 11 students to remain sleeping at the site who cannot be placed for various reasons, and some students who are staying reasonably close to the school are still coming for a meal each day. We are of course paying boarding costs for our students. All teachers are now off site with the exception of Thursdays and Fridays. Catherine and her husband together with the 11 students and 24 hour security remain at the school full time. When the teachers come in on Thursday they collect all the prepared and photocopied school work and using, where necessary, motorbike taxis to visit all our students over those two days. They hand out the new work and collect in the previous weeks work. The advantage of this method is it allows us to see each of our students and check on their welfare as well. We do not anticipate an early easing of restrictions and as yet have had no indication from the education department what their plans are for this current academic year. Our other major concern is the very real threat of a locust invasion which will in all probability devastate any crops we are growing. This will inevitably lead to food shortages and high costs to replace what is lost. Pictured here are the current corn crops under threat. News Archive:Catherine speaks on women's equality on Kenya news TV showWith International Women's Day on Sunday 8 March, Catherine was invited to talk on KTN News Kenya about the issues they face with gender equality.
You can watch the video below, on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPr1GF5-Eus Catherine to visit UK!Catherine arrived in the UK in February, and among other planned visits she attended our VALENTINES BALL (Saturday 15th Feb - further details on our Events page) We are very grateful to those anonymous donors who have made this trip possible for Catherine.
A Bit Of Fun!Imprezza teacher Naphtal Ochieng waking up the students with a fun sing song with actions - The reason? It is very hot in January and if there are long speeches after lunch students can doze off!
In addition members of the Massai were present, and they were also celebrating student Lilian Maua who got a C+ in National exams that will get her to University. Catherine has said that she did really well to get such a high grade, and we agree - well done Lillian! Catherine Receives A Well Deserved AwardHuge congratulations to Catherine who was awarded the Distinguished African Amazons Award by The Global Advocacy for African Affairs.
The award is for people doing community work in the grassroots consistently for many years, not in the big towns - it is strictly rural and remote. Catherine is one of the top 50 women awarded. October 2019 - Borehole completed
April 2019 - Solar equipment finally arriving at the site
August 2019 - Imprezza 15 Year CelebrationOur 15 Year Celebration took place on 1st November at Torquay Girls Grammar School to celebrate the charity and Imprezza Academy's history to date. Included below is the speach from former headmistress of TGGS Sue Roberts given on the evening:
"15 years is a long time and in the beginning we had no idea that we would see Catherine achieve so much or endure so much. Helping just felt like the right thing to do when we saw how the first Imprezza School in Nairobi struggled and fought just to remain open. I’ll never forget the assembly when Chris gave the girls a graphic and fairly horrific picture of the toilets at Imprezza. He had taken photos while he was there. That certainly stirred some consciences. Here in Torquay we were in the middle of lots of major improvements – new classrooms, labs, dining room, language rooms. We were getting rid of old worn out buildings while Catherine had virtually nothing. The girls were brilliant and really took Imprezza School to their hearts and it is fantastic that after 15 years they still do so much. Having Catherine visit the school was always very special because I don’t know anyone who has ever met her and not been inspired by her vision and commitment to the young people she serves. Over 15 years some people move on and others join which is natural in any charity but maintaining that continuity of commitment is a great achievement and for endless determination in the face of all sorts of challenges we should acknowledge Imprezza’s huge debt to Chris Hulme and his long suffering family. Much has changed in the world and in Kenya in the last 15 years. We are seeing the role of women in society become much more significant, girls’ education now a major international issue, new technology shrinking distance and transforming communication. The thing that has not really changed is the gap between our experiences and expectations here in Devon and that of Catherine’s students in Busia. But there is always hope that in the next 5, 10, 15 years it will be different. Meanwhile I know that it is very important to Catherine to know that her students’ futures matter to us and that she has faithful friends in distant places." You can read more about this evening in our newsletter here. Aug 2018 - Recognition Award
School founder and director, Catherine Omanyo, was nominated and selected by The International Advisory Board Of The Mandela Legacy Centre For Leadership And Development to receive the highly distinguished African Peace And Development Award for her outstanding leadership and efforts to promote enduring development in Africa. This is a phenomenal achievement and well deserved recognition of Catherine's unwavering commitment to Imprezza School, its students and, indeed, education throughout Kenya and Africa. She will officially be presented the award during the closing dinner of the 'Africa Policy And Development Summit' on 27th and 28th September 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda. The original email below: On behalf of the International Advisory Board of the Mandela Legacy Centre for Leadership and Development , a non governmental organisation (NGO) founded in keeping with the ideals of the late world icon Nelson Mandela, and specifically to uphold outstanding leadership and promote enduring development in Africa. We are very pleased to inform you that after a keen process of due diligence and selection, following your nomination, you have been meritoriously chosen to receive the distinguished African Peace and Development Award during the closing dinner of the Africa Policy and Development Summit on 27th and 28th September 2018 in Kigali Rwanda.
Geneva Marathon - May 6th 2018
Tom Maclure and James Tolputt are running the Geneva Marathon on May 6th to help raise funds for a new sports field for Imprezza Academy. The school is under pressure to acquire a sports field in order to secure official status and at least qualify for possible support from the local education authority, thus meeting new Kenyan government requirements. A suitable plot of land has been identified - now we need to raise the funds to purchase it! Here is Tom talking about the Team story.. James and myself have been great friends for over 30 years. We decided that as we will both have reached our 50th by the end of May, we should celebrate with our first joint marathon... crazy fools! We have made a habit of finding sporting challenges since bunjee-jumping in New Zealand in our 20s, rafting the Nile in our 30s and sky-diving in our 40s and the bug gets ever stronger! As we are both passionate about supporting sporting opportunities for boys and girls, we believe that this is an especially worthy cause (not to mention it's high time that others now benefitted from our foolishness)! It will undoubtedly bring huge joy to and provide new outlets for the students, whilst overcoming a pressing requirement for the academy's future security. The total financial requirement to fully purchase the plot identified is a bit higher, but we know we would truly kick-start the process right away with our target sum. We anticipate having to resort to more 'surprises' down the line but this project will be a great motivator! If you feel able to support us, we thank you immensely for that! November 2017
Pictured below: Catherine delivering an assembly at Torquay Girls' Grammar School and with head teacher Dr Nick Smith.
Drought/famine in Kenya (March 2017)
As you may already be aware from our newsletter, there is currently a drought and famine in Kenya which is the worst in living memory, according to Catherine (founder and Director of Imprezza Academy). The school is located in a semi arid area, so long dry spells are not unusual, however this is severe. There is no mains water anywhere in the area including the main town, there hasn't been for a while. The school is drawing from a shrinking river, carrying the water approximately 3/4 mile uphill where it is filtered to make it drinkable. We are sending £150 over this week (March 27th 2017) to purchase more filters, not a cost we had planned for. Criminal gangs have stolen all our vegetables, not only ours but many other growers in the District. This means we have gone from being self sufficient in veg for most of the year to having to buy everything we need. Another unplanned cost. Another consequence of having all the veg stolen is the cost of replacing all the seed, seedlings etc. to start growing again at around £150. Normally some seed is retained for planting for the next crop. We will not have our own veg for at least six months, that is assuming the rains arrive so we can plant. There is another 3.5 acres of land we can bring into food production which would be closer to the school (and our security guards) although this would need to be fenced and fertilised at a cost of £1,000 minimum. This land was planned to be reclaimed slowly using our own compost to build up fertility, but if we want it to come into production straight away that is the cost. We continue to feed nutritious food at the school, but all food costs have rocketed with maize more than doubling in price in a month. This has meant we have had to reduce the amount of meals per day we supply to everyone. A heartbreaking decision, but vital to allow us to survive. All our manual workers are paid well and are able to afford food, but many in the area do not receive good wages with lots still on $1 per day or even less. In reality this means they are working almost 2 days to buy a bag of maize, we are fortunate that none of our people are in that position. Already many in the area only eat every other day so it is inevitable that starvation will take hold as they can't afford to purchase food. And in addition those who can't afford to filter water, typhoid and cholera is a real threat. The rains weather forecast for Western Kenya looked not bad, with rainfall just below average for the long rains period, starting last week (mid-March 2017) and continuing as usual until early June. For the rest of Kenya the forecast is dire with significantly less rainfall than normal, so rocketing food prices will be here for a year if this happens. April is supposed to be the wettest month, but so far the school has seen storms and little rain. Whatever decision we take on planting new crops in the spare land available, we can't do anything without significant rain. A short message from Catherine on Conservation Agriculture and the recent thefts (edited): "Conservation agriculture has become part of normal practice. It is the easiest as no deep digging. It also saves time and money. We dig holes, if necessary, depending on the crop and after a crop is harvested maize or bean plants/husks are left to cover the land, this conserves soil moisture and increases the grounds fertility. We are seeing crop yields increase year on year. Conservation agriculture methods have been introduced to many in the area and now all our neighbours use conservation agriculture methods. When we started we had to plant crops according to season but with conservation agriculture we don't fear droughts as much as we used to, we prepare the land and plant. Even with this years very bad drought our crops had not failed. This is why they were targeted by the thieves. We have many students to feed, however we have been able to cut food costs (until the theft of our vegetables) by having huge harvests 3 times per year, August, December and April. Inter cropping of maize and legumes is common practice as is sweet potato and green grams. We have had increased yields of everything." - Catherine Omanyo Crowdfunding Campaign Update
As you may well be aware, Operation Imprezza ran a crowdfunding campaign in November 2016 to raise £10,000. This money was being raised to build and equip new girls' dormitories so that more students could stay overnight at the academy and avoid the dangerous daily journey. Although we were not able to raise the full £10k, we were thrilled with the generous donations from our supporters totalling £6,467.16 which included a staggering £5k donation from Torquay Girls' Grammar School raised in a sponsored walk by the pupils. This £5000 enabled us to build a semi-permanent girls' dormitory to house 50 students shown in the pictures below. This building will be upgraded to a permanent structure at a later date when we can raise sufficient funds. The remaining £1500 has been used to equip the dormitory with beds and mattresses, and further donations made after the crowdfunding campaign have been spent replacing old and worn out mosquito nets in the existing dormitories.
'Allo 'Allo - Café René Comes to Teignmouth...
Moonstone Theatre Company brought Café René to the Trade Winds Restaurant in Teignmouth on 4th March, tickets sold out days earlier and a good crowd enjoyed the food and the entertainment which were both superb. Everyone had a great time and the evening raised £758, helped by the raffle and some generous donations. Thanks go to everyone who took part and worked to make it such a success. Special thanks are due, of course, to all at Moonstone Theatre Company and to Nick and his team at Trade Winds Restaurant. Will we do it again? Yes! Watch this space for events in the Autumn'16 and early Spring '17. We look forward to seeing you there! Exam results for 2016 are in...
Once again exam results have been amazing, with students achieving high marks despite their incredibly tough circumstances. All students take at least seven subjects and the final grade is an average across the subjects, which makes it very challenging. The results (equivalent to UK A levels) range from B+ to D- with only 5 students in total below C- (which is still a superb grade!). Both boys and girls achieved equally high marks, although on average the girls did slightly better than the boys. Science and Maths were the subjects achieving the best results so far at Imprezza, with English Language being the weaker subject. Head Mistress and Imprezza Academy founder Catherine Omanyo is keen to encourage a novel reading culture at the school to help students with this subject, which will be one of our future goals starting with the construction of a Library. Considering the conditions students endure, especially those not boarding, it is a truly humbling set of results. The consistent good results means Imprezza is attracting more and more fee-paying students, which can only mean bigger and better things for the school. Tremendous congratulations and 'well done!' to our Imprezza Academy students and teachers, and a huge thanks to all who have donated and supported Operation Imprezza over the years to make this all possible. Imprezza students shine again!
A huge congratulations to our students who participated in a choir that have made it to the national finals! The theme was to tackle the issues of AIDS and Stop Female Genital Mutilation, brave subjects to tackle. Well Done Imprezza Academy Students!
A HUGE well done to students at the academy who recently took their exams - of the 25 pupils who took their National exams 21 have passed, and one of our girls achieved a B+ which means she has been offered a place at university and will get state funding. A phenomenal achievement. Well done! Security fence, dormitories and drying maize
A huge thanks to everyone who made a donation to get our school fence finished - below you can see photos of the work in progress, as well as other building work on the dormitories and food production. Rabbits!
We're very excited to finally have rabbits and secure hutches that will be bred for food. They not only eat waste greenery produced from the farm plots but also breed quickly and are relatively easy to keep. Agriculture Update
Below - the latest agriculture report sent over from Kenya shows the fantastic progress made in growing crops at the school site - this is very promising news both for the school's self-sufficiency programme and for the local farmers involved. Construction on the site
The photos below show construction at the site; the ground is hard and stony, the soil is full of roots and hard to dig through and the conditions very hot to work in! Construction of the staff toilets shown below to be completed soon.
Update from Africa
The most recent photos and news from Catherine in Kenya: |
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