From Volunteering to Vocation: Virgin Unite school project in Kenya leads to lasting commitment
Last updated 9/21/2008 11:22:07 PM
Amanda Annan with students at the Sekenani School
A school renovation project in a Masai Mara township has inspired two business travellers, Amanda Annan and Sonal Kaddcha, to set up Educate The Children (ETC), a new NGO for underprivileged children in rural parts of Kenya.
In June 2008 Virgin Unite, a charity arm of Virgin Atlantic, invited ten gold club flying members to rebuild the Sekenani Primary School and later join Sir Richard Branson on his Kenya Press Weekend.
Each volunteer had to raise over £2000 towards the project, travelling to Kenya and spending a week working on the site. From these efforts, two new dormitories with showers, sinks, solar panels and a pump (23,000 litres/day) were installed and built.
But Annan went a step further by hiring a film crew from Los Angeles to accompany and document her experience - and is hoping to raise more funds for the school by selling the documentary.
The Sekenani School is situated at the entrance of the Masai Mara game reserve. It was established in 1989 as a kindergarten, and provides education for 300 boys and girls from the Sekenani Township.