An introduction to the newest member of Rotary eClub Latitude 38, Mark S, and the charity he and his wife founded 10 years ago.
Lets say a warm welcome to Mark and listen to what he has been up to.....
As some of you may already know, I come from Kenya and have lived in Australia for well over 14 years now. Since arriving in Australia I have been involved with charitable work to help members of my community back home in Kenya especially in the promotion of literacy and education as well as in nutrition through a consistent feeding program.
I do this work through a charity organisation called Aussie Kenya Community Organization (AKCO) which was founded by my wife Sharron and I some 10 years or so ago. AKCO is supported by several of our friends and MANY well-wishers in Australia especially the Rotary Club of Croydon who have helped AKCO grow to make some real impact and change in the lives of so many disadvantaged children in the Ngope village of Kenya where I come from. AKCO loosely started by providing literacy education to about 10 pre-primary school children who could not manage the over 2 km walk to the only government school in their village. Many kids got wind of it and also started attending. To date the school has grown to provide primary education to about 250 children who attend school which is still hosted at the local church in the village.
With the sponsorship of the Captain’s Choice Private Jet Tours and the Rotary Club of Croydon, AKCO has since initiated and commenced building a modern school block that will upon completion have 8 classrooms and provide education to about 350 children. The school is more or less complete but what is holding it from opening its doors to the many anxious to learn children is a lack of toilet facilities. AKCO is struggling to raise funds to get the toilet blocks built complete with a functional sanitary system. Hopefully this should all be done and competed this year to enable the school open for learning.
For those interested in following the many other things that AKCO is doing please follow us through the AKCO Facebook page that can be found through the link below. Thanks again to President Brian Norris and the members of the Rotary eClub of Latitude 38 for accepting me on behalf of AKCO to join your esteemed club. Looking forward to lots of interaction and progress as we do community development work together....
Visit the Facebook page of Aussie Kenya Community Organisation where you will see some great photos and information about the work Mark has been doing.