Donated projects

A wonderful donor has provided a complete set of art equipment and tables to cater for up to 40 children at any one time. Previously, Art was not a subject that was included in the curriculum for primary schools, but in 2023, this was introduced as a mandatory subject. However, the poorest schools found it very difficult to fund all the necessary equipment for this subject to be taught properly.

Direct Link has been incredibly lucky to receive the funding to provide all the necessary art items and the children are now able to use their imagination and skills, in order to produce drawings and paintings. The children subsequently voted this subject as their favourite. 

"Art offers a haven from the every day, allowing us to step into different worlds and perspectives."  Eduardo Kobra

A well-known charity very kindly donated enough money to enable the school to organise the digging of a well within the campus boundary. This made a huge difference to the life of the school because, previously, water had to be carried a long distance, every day, on someone's head. When there was a drought, several years ago, before the provision of the well, Direct Link paid for a donkey and cart to go to the water source, several miles away, to bring sufficient water to the school, every day. Now, the well provides constant running water which is particularly useful for the kitchen staff when making food for so many children, each day. 

Subsequently, this charity also donated funding for a fresh water tank to be installed next door to the latrines, to enable the children to wash their hands and clean their clothing.

"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water."  W.H. Auden

A very generous donor has funded the installation of a barbed wire fence that completely encircles the campus, to provide more safety for the school and the children. It is not uncommon for schools to receive unwelcome visitors, often at night-time, when the children are all asleep. Direct Link has, in the past, known of the torching of a girls' dormitory, during the night, so that the children lost all their possessions and almost lost their lives, as well. One of our pupils was a survivor of this event and Direct Link provided her with replacements of her possessions. Other cases of schools being burned down have been known, when the children did not manage to escape. There is always a risk of danger from strangers. One of our pupils is an albino boy, whose life is constantly in danger due to the fact that albino bones are a very valuable commodity, in certain areas. People believe that to own a bone, from an albino, brings them luck, so they are especially sought after by fishermen, hoping to have good luck with their fishing expeditions. Many albinos have been murdered for this very purpose. 

"Safety doesn't happen by accident". Anon

A very generous donor has provided the retired Head Teacher's wife with modern eye-testing equipment so that she can test the sight of the grannies and grandpas, to determine what is causing their eye problems and to discover whether they have cataracts. Once cataracts have been diagnosed, the patients are taken to a local eye hospital, where they receive cataract surgery, with the costs borne by Direct Link. Already, many successful operations have taken place, with great success. His wife has also branched out into diagnosing other eye problems, the most successful of which has been the extraction of some metal from the eye of a young workman, which would otherwise have caused blindness in his eye. 

Over 200 pairs of second-hand spectacles were kindly donated by a Scottish school,  for the use of the Clinic. Direct Link shipped these over to Kenya, where they have been distributed and restored the sight of many people.

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."  Helen Keller

Several years ago, a primary school in Scotland was changing its curriculum and, therefore, getting rid of many of its text books. Direct Link sent eight large boxes of books to our Kenyan school, which were sufficient to stock a whole library for all ages of children. This was a wonderfully generous donation and very gratefully received. 

Now, the school has requested more reference books and dictionaries, so funding for these is urgently requested. 

"Books are a uniquely portable magic."  Stephen King

After the completion of the fencing of the school campus and the addition of a smart metal gate and security building at the entrance to the campus, many families realised that this was a very important school for disabled children, and they applied to have their own children taken into the school. Sadly, there was only enough room to accept five more boarding pupils, so the most vulnerable five were taken in. However, there were not enough bunks for these extra children, nor sufficient bedding. On top of that, two of the children could not walk and needed to be provided with hand-propelled tricycles. Immediately, a wonderful donation was received, that covered all these expenses.

"Let him that would move the world first move himself."  Socrates

An extremely generous donor has provided the funding for the rough grass area in the campus, to be dug over and turned into a flat, grassed football pitch. The children will be able to play safely and not fall over the many stones that have been sticking up out of the ground and making running impossible.

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."  John Wooden

The same generous donor has funded the removal of all the hazardous stones from the pathways between the main school building and the other buildings and latrines. Up until now, all our disabled children have had to have help when manoeuvring themselves or their tricycles between the various buildings. This now gives them much more freedom to move around the campus. 

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."  Albert Einstein

Direct Link has sent three cases of excellent quality clothes to be distributed to the very needy members of the local community. All this clothing was purchased from a wonderful charity shop, local to our office, where there was a huge clothing sale. Many of the recipients have no suitable clothing for winter weather and they feel very cold in their tiny houses made from either mud or corrugated iron. Many are very old and are also members of our FFG project. Clothing for them to be able to wear to church is top priority for them, so that they can retain their dignity. 

"We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other."  Anon.