About Saint James Community Orphans School
About the School
Saint James Community School was founded in 2012 by George Odhiambo Ooko under the umbrella of the Mfangano Initiative for Sustainable Development, a Community Based Organization.
Mfangano Island is a Kenyan Island in Lake Victoria with a population of 20, 000. The main source of income is fishery which has become increasingly difficult due to overfishing.
St. James Community Orphans School is a community-owned school established to address the challenges the community has faced over the years.
For a long time, parents have passed away, leaving their children orphaned. As this issue and related problems have become more prevalent, the number of orphans has increased significantly, eventually leading to a point of intervention. In response, the school has taken great care of many of these orphans since it opened its doors on January 9th, 2012.
St. James Community School is located in Mfangano Island, Homabay County in Kenya. It's one of the many islands in Lake Victoria with several beaches. Being an island with many fishing beaches, its prone to a unique lifestyle that contributes to high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS which leads to many orphans.
St. James School is addressing three major problems
1. Education for orphans
2. Poor nutrition
3. Very low levels of domestic income among caregivers households
In 2012, the school started with a population of 45 orphans represented in three kindergarten classes, with 3 teachers. To date, the school is enjoying a population of 112 both total and partial orphans aged between 3 years to 12 years. The school has seven classes with 8 teachers.
Why they need the help
St James Community Orphans School had struggled during COVID-19 and was shut down. Students missed education, friends, and much more. However, the school has now reopened but still has to fight to deal with problems such as inadequate classrooms, materials, lack of IT, poor nutrition, and payment for the teachers. Their current sources of support are not sustainable. HFA intends to support and help the school become self-sustainable.