Expansion Project at Nambale Magnet School in 2012

Background
The Nambale Magnet School (NMS) is currently outgrowing its current facility. The school's current student body is composed of 185 students. This constitutes grades pre-school through 3rd grade. The growth of the NMS student body occurs every year in January, when the new school year begins. As each grade moves up a level in January, NMS brings in a new class of approximately 30 pre-schoolers; thus the school population increases by 30 students every year.

NMS's first round of funding in 2007/2008 provided for the construction of a facility that would house and educate students through 4th grade. Specifically this funding was used to construct:

• Dormitories.
• Classrooms.
• Kitchen Facility.
• Dining Hall / Meeting Room.
• Bathroom Facilities including showers, with bio-digester and baffle reactor for sanitization.

The Need
NMS, is now in the fortunate position of outgrowing their facility and is in need of new construction that would prepare NMS to house and educate students in the fifth through eighth grades. This new construction would be built on NMS's current acreage, thus having all students, and associated staff & faculty on the same premises. The construction would entail:

• An academic block of classrooms.
• Two dormitories - one for boys and one for girls. Each hostel will have two stories, with bathrooms, a living area and bedroom for house parents, and a recreational room.
• Additional offices for staff.

In addition, there is the outstanding need to construct:

• A gatehouse/security building.
• Steel gates to the school entrance.
• A visitor's waiting parlor.
• An extension to the existing kitchen.
• A bio-digester and baffle reactor for waste disposal that will refine the waste into methane gas which then will fuel the kitchen and the bi-product which will fertilize the gardens.
• Three underground storage tanks for water.

The Cost
NMS hired an architectural firm in 2011, working specifically with Kaleb Murila at West Engineering Kenya Ltd. during 2011. This firm has engineered plans for this construction

The cost estimate of this construction is $750,000 US dollars. It is anticipated that the construction can be completed in one year, weather permitting. This undertaking is critical as NMS looks toward the future and recognizes that housing and classroom space for the upcoming fifth graders is not currently available.

The Benefits
In sum, this significant expansion to NMS will continue its sustainable growth and make significant positive impact on the vulnerable children of Western Kenya and, specifically, the Nambale community. The education NMS provides is a rare opportunity for these vulnerable children; NMS creates possibilities for educational achievement and enhanced physical and mental health for an entire sector of children who would otherwise have dismal prospects owing to their lack of emotional, economic and physical support. The fortunate children who become students at NMS will eventually mature into contributing members of their community when they reach adulthood, rather than a drain on society, and will have learned to appreciate and participate in community service.

Aside from providing a quality education to children who would likely not enjoy such an opportunity, the Nambale Magnet School serves as an economic engine for the town of Nambale and its newly established political district. We anticipate greater recognition and attention with on-vent of the new The Nambale District, previously Nambale was part of the Busia District. This new district designation will give NMS and our activities a much higher visibility among the local and regional political infrastructure and should help increase the proportion of tuition-paying students.

Additional funding needs include:

• Subsidizing the orphans for one year, $1,500 per child/per year. This will be necessary until the conference/retreat center is fully operational.
• Construction for Grades 4-8.
• Classrooms and Dormitories.
• Teacher Housing to entice high quality profesionals.
• Furnishing the classrooms and dormitories.
• Purchase land for the high school. This land will used for high school, agricultural center, vocational center, and conference/retreat center. Given escalating real estate values, we can save significant money if this land is purchased imminently; in today’s US dollars, we need $100,000 to purchase 60 acres.