Tagtiv8 love playing and working with like-minded people, who want to make a real difference in the UK and abroad. When we were approached by Lauren Asquith from Derby County Community Trust about supporting her work in Kenya, we jumped at the chance, especially as the visit involved promotion of physical activity and play.
What follows is an email from Lauren following her visit…
Dear Tagtiv8,
Words cannot describe how thankful I am for your wonderful level of support and making my trip to Kenya possible.
Life is a true postcode lottery and where you are born can dictate many aspects of your life from childhood to adulthood. Education is the biggest hope and only option to find a way out of a difficult situation.
It’s a real challenge to put into words the experience and the impact it has had and I have cried many a tear during and post my time in Kenya. Tears of happiness, sadness, frustration and anger.
For every one of those children we met at Mama Kerry School, school is a safe place. It’s a haven of hope where they learn, play and are provided with two free meals a day. For many of our children these meals were the only form of food they would receive on a day to day basis.
Your support allowed us the chance to improve the school even further. We worked hard throughout the times when we weren’t teaching and achieved so much in just 2 weeks. We were able to:
- Build a new classroom along with new desks
- Build a new kitchen inclusive of large fire burning oven, chimney, sink, preparation tables and serving area. Previously the cooks chopped on the floor, bent over with a very sharp knife in one hand and food in the other, whilst smoke bellowed into the room.
- Clear out and renovate a store room to be used as an additional classroom
- Instal guttering and a water butt to make use of rain water for crops and other uses
- Instal and fund a fresh supply of water into the school site for drinking
- Build a double swing for the children
- Paint 4 classrooms white to help brighten the rooms so children could see better
- Give every child a set of shoes and clothes, hygiene pack, toy and pencils
- Educate the female students and teachers around health and provide reusable sanitary products and bras
- Provide equipment and training to promote physical activity and play within the school day and local community: tennis, cricket, football, rugby, badminton and softball
I’m truly privileged that my day to day role allows me to provide opportunities for those in our local communities and overcome barriers through the medium of sport. The trip to Kenya raised over £25,000.00 to be put back into our own community across Derbyshire.
Apologies that it has taken a week to sit down and write this ‘Thank You’ email. If I am being truly honest, it has been a challenge slipping back into regular life.
Please check out the video to show just some of the successes of the trip.
I’m already planning for 2019. Next year, my plan is to teach self defence classes for the females within the school and local area. If you’d like to support again please let me know.
Thanks a million…
Lauren
A Call to Action
If you can support Lauren in any way, just reach out…
Club Development and Disability Manager, Derby County Community Trust
01332 416140 | 07791239185