CATO - Their classrooms are made of mud and they do their math problems in the dirt but Keela Dates said the high spirits of the students living in a small Kenyan village are very similar to the elementary school students at Cato-Meridian.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Keela Dates narrates a slide show of her trip to Mtwapa, Kenya, for Cato-Meridian Elementary School students. The Cato-Meridian Elementary School will be sponsoring the school Jambo Jipya, which means “something new.”
Keela Dates narrates a slide show of her trip to Mtwapa, Kenya, for Cato-Meridian Elementary School students. The Cato-Meridian Elementary School will be sponsoring the school Jambo Jipya, which means “something new.”
“They're kids are just like us. They love to smile and laugh like us,” Keela said during a presentation Friday to Cato-Meridian Elementary School students about her trip to Kenya as a volunteer teacher.
Keela, 22, graduated from Wells College in 2006 and is a certified elementary school teacher.
She said she wanted to take a year off before working to volunteer somewhere in a developing country.
In February, Keela, the daughter of fourth-grade Cato-Meridian Elementary teacher Kitty Dates, left the United States to volunteer to teach in Mtwapa, Kenya, through a volunteer program in the United Kingdom.
While Keela volunteered in Africa, Kitty got her class involved with her daughter's trip and successfully proposed to the school board in February to adopt the small school Jambo Jipya.
“My mother says students are loving it and doing fundraisers. It gives them purpose that they're doing something helpful,” Keela said.
Keela returned from her trip in April and Friday morning she introduced the elementary school to the Kenyan students and their lifestyle through a slide show. The entire school has gotten involved since the adoption began.
In 2004 Christine Mwende, a nurse, founded the school that educates AIDS-orphaned and poor children who without this school wouldn't have access to an education.
The school that started with only five children has grown to more than 100 students.
“This is a school that needs a lot of help,” Kitty said.
Keela is home from Kenya until September, when she will travel back to Mtwapa, hopefully, she said, with a suitcase full of shoes for the children who asked for them when she left.
While at home she said she is going to continue working with the Cato-Meridian community to raise money for the African school.
When Keela asked the students Friday morning if they could imagine eating beans every day, sharing books and walking two hours to get to school, the students all replied in unison, “no.”
Although their lives are a lot different from American children, she said, the African students smile, in part, because of the fundraising support the Cato-Meridian students have given them.
Since March the school has raised $2,800 through fundraising efforts and donations.
Already, Keela said that the school has purchased mattresses for the students to sleep on overnight during the week so they don't have to walk the long distance each day to school.
“One reason this school was created was to try and feed the children who don't get fed at home,” Keela said.
Keela hopes to raise enough money to purchase shoes for the children, new uniforms and additional land to expand the school.
The school's next fundraiser, an African festival, will be held at the school June 2.
Keela, 22, graduated from Wells College in 2006 and is a certified elementary school teacher.
She said she wanted to take a year off before working to volunteer somewhere in a developing country.
In February, Keela, the daughter of fourth-grade Cato-Meridian Elementary teacher Kitty Dates, left the United States to volunteer to teach in Mtwapa, Kenya, through a volunteer program in the United Kingdom.
While Keela volunteered in Africa, Kitty got her class involved with her daughter's trip and successfully proposed to the school board in February to adopt the small school Jambo Jipya.
“My mother says students are loving it and doing fundraisers. It gives them purpose that they're doing something helpful,” Keela said.
Keela returned from her trip in April and Friday morning she introduced the elementary school to the Kenyan students and their lifestyle through a slide show. The entire school has gotten involved since the adoption began.
In 2004 Christine Mwende, a nurse, founded the school that educates AIDS-orphaned and poor children who without this school wouldn't have access to an education.
The school that started with only five children has grown to more than 100 students.
“This is a school that needs a lot of help,” Kitty said.
Keela is home from Kenya until September, when she will travel back to Mtwapa, hopefully, she said, with a suitcase full of shoes for the children who asked for them when she left.
While at home she said she is going to continue working with the Cato-Meridian community to raise money for the African school.
When Keela asked the students Friday morning if they could imagine eating beans every day, sharing books and walking two hours to get to school, the students all replied in unison, “no.”
Although their lives are a lot different from American children, she said, the African students smile, in part, because of the fundraising support the Cato-Meridian students have given them.
Since March the school has raised $2,800 through fundraising efforts and donations.
Already, Keela said that the school has purchased mattresses for the students to sleep on overnight during the week so they don't have to walk the long distance each day to school.
“One reason this school was created was to try and feed the children who don't get fed at home,” Keela said.
Keela hopes to raise enough money to purchase shoes for the children, new uniforms and additional land to expand the school.
The school's next fundraiser, an African festival, will be held at the school June 2.
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