A WORD FROM OUR C. E. O MADAM SIMONE 

I haven't been the same person since I saw the moonlight on the other side of the world"

We all have a passion………

In addition to the love of my job, Africa has become my passion.

My name is Simone Weinert. I have been working as a teacher for many years. It makes me happy to accompany the children as they discover the world.

In 1993 I visited the African country of Kenya for the first time as a vacationer. I was immediately fascinated by the people, nature and the completely different culture.

 Friendships were formed that continue to this day.

To date, I have visited the country 28 times. It has long since become my second home.

Each visit was characterized by small amounts of help in the form of clothing and monetary donations.

Until the idea of ​​building a school was born in 2016. The reason for this was that the school in which the children had been able to learn until now collapsed. So I was able to put my love for my job into practice in Kenya.

How can you do all this?

What I started alone has developed into a network of many helpers. This is how I talked about my project in lectures.

Reports in the newspaper drew attention to the project.

But many stories in a wide variety of places also aroused interest in help in Kenya.

 

 

 

 

 This resulted in monthly donations as well as one-off donations.

Our annual Christmas crafts, which we sell at various markets, are particularly close to our hearts. We are pleased that the response is getting bigger and bigger.

With the founding of our association "Dorothea Simone Academy Kilifi" we started a new way to help the children of Ganz / Kilifi.

But despite our great commitment, there are still many tasks ahead of us for which we absolutely need support.

 

 

 

 

School fees

“It takes a village to raise a child.”

                    African proverb

The Dorothea Simone Academy is a private school.

The differences to government schools are manifold.

The most important point is that the number of students in our school in one class does not exceed 30 children. In government schools there are often more than 70 children per teacher.

Under these conditions, the quality of teaching is self-evident.

The teachers at the Dorothea Simone Academy are highly motivated to teach the children.

 

 

 

However, a small amount of school fees is charged per child each month. This is used to pay teachers’ salaries.

In contrast to other private schools, our costs are so low and calculated in such a way that the salaries are affordable.

For the baby class up to 3rd class it costs 10 euros per month.

For 4th grade to 6th grade 15 euros. These sums include the costs for notebooks, books, school uniforms, medical care and one meal per day.

 The donations we receive here are used to expand the school, paint walls, buy equipment such as tables, chairs, dishes for the daily porridge meal, pay the water bill, wages for the cook and other things that are important.

If you would like to support us in these challenges, we would be very grateful. A

Our project

After the idea of ​​building a school was born in 2016, the dream was to become reality in 2017.

A house was planned for 40 kindergarten children aged 3 to 6 years.

With the first donations in my luggage, I flew to Kenya and construction could begin. The first construction phase up to the roof was completed. Then the money ran out. After six months I flew back to Kenya and we were able to finish the roof, windows and doors. After half a year it was done and our school was finished. That was in February 2018.

Shortly after our school opened, there was such a huge response in the area that the number of children doubled within a very short time.

So we quickly decided to continue building. We are using the money that was actually intended for a well, but this project could not be implemented because the price was too high, to build two more classrooms.

We finished at the beginning of 2019, right on time, before our first container of school furniture arrived from my home in Saxony.

We were happy to receive and unpack the container in Kenya, filled with many donations from the Saxon region. The joy of the Kenyans was indescribable. Now the Kenyan children are learning at the tables of the Jesewitz school. A great feeling.

These buildings were built shortly before Corona brought the world to a standstill and during the Corona period. Despite difficult circumstances, we managed to build 2 more classrooms and expand the original teacher's room into a classroom. Impressions from the inside...We are proud to report that we were able to build the two classrooms for our 5th and 6th graders in just 2 weeks in January 2023. This was possible for us through generous donations during the Christmas season and the sale of our lovingly made crafts at Christmas.