Current System of Education
The current system of education in Kenya is examination-oriented and highly competitive. The children are taught to prepare for exams rather than to learn life skills and ethical behaviors. The facilities are inadequate with congested classrooms (about 60 children in each room); there is a high turnover among teachers. The children are also vulnerable, due to real poverty and to the HIV/AIDS scourge. They become orphans at an early age. At times, there is no one to care about the children neither now, nor in the future. As a result, most children in Malava have a poor educational foundation, with subsequent difficulties in learning, leading to limited opportunities in life.
Hope for a Notre Dame Education
In an SND directed school, it will be possible to educate children for life. “Education liberates, empowers and enables choices” (General Chapter 2008). The sisters will be able to instill strong social, ethical and spiritual values as well as to give a solid academic education in this poor area. Will you help the sisters to lift up the children through education?
There are two communities of Sisters of Notre Dame who live and work in Malava, West Kenya. The sisters reach out to the needs of the poor in various ways. Now, one new Kenyan sister, Sister Beatrice, is trained in primary education. Another SND, Sister Margaret is currently in training for early childhood education. These two sisters are ready to be the teachers in the nursery school. Some of the older sisters are already experienced teachers; they are just waiting to mentor a younger generation of Kenyan SNDs.
The social fabric of Kenya reflects the damage of colonialism and rapid urbanization. Inequality, scarcity of resources, and corruption at all levels are some causes of poverty. The hope of the sisters is to rebuild a Kenyan society through our greatest building tool--education. Your contribution will become part of the rebuilding process for the children of Malava. A nursery education is a basis for life, sustainable health and development.
You can be part of this wonderful educational endeavor in assisting with a new nursery school for the little children in Malava. A sister on the Kenya Province Leadership Team, stresses the need for this nursery school. She says: “I believe the transformation of the Kenyan society will have to start at nursery school level.” You can help to change the world, even on another continent.
Planning for Nursery School
The sisters plan to open this three-room school in January 2010. They plan to use part of the convent for the beginning. They project that the nursery school will become a full elementary school by 2018. The total cost for the nursery school with its furnishings is approximately $40,000. The sisters in Kenya are seeking funding from generous benefactors who care about educating the poor. I ask you to consider a substantial financial gift so that this nursery school will become a reality soon.
After the destruction and rampant poverty following the French Revolution, St. Julie Billiart told her sisters: “Teach them what they need to know for life.” Her words echo the same life-changing phrase in the minds of the SNDs today! Will you share in our teaching role by your gifts to our educational ministries? Will you give a generous gift now to open a nursery school in Malava, Kenya?
Sharing in Making Known God’s Goodness
Our partners and friends in Mission make known God’s goodness in our world by being one with the Sisters of Notre Dame; you share in our Mission. There is an urgency and value in being part of a new ministry which will form the minds and hearts of little children. You can bring “good news” to the poor by your concern, interest and gifts supporting all our ministries.
help and generosity! You can see a special goodness on the faces of these young children. The city of Malava is poor; the schools in Kenya are poor, all school facilities there are inadequate. The children need to get a good head-start in learning in their early years. In early childhood, these Kenyan children need opportunities to develop self-awareness and a concept of their own goodness and abilities.
Strong early-childhood education is a necessity for these little ones. The nearest nursery school is about two miles away…a long way for children to walk, especially on wet and cold mornings in Malava. Without any transportation, no school is near enough for the parents to bring their children. The eyes of the children plead for hope in a future. 
children of Malava? Your partnering with the sisters is the first step to establish this new ministry. You, together with the sisters, can open a nursery school to form these poor, pre-school children. In the future, such a school has potential to grow into a primary or elementary school. Your help can make this possible. You can 
