In 2012 the St Charles Lwanga High School (Lwanga School), Nairobi, was founded to provide education for 280 AIDS orphans and homeless children and by 2013 it was experiencing great need. School director Br John Kennedy was a student at the Coady International Institute, and at that time he made contact with Inverness County Cares (ICC).
The Lwanga School is the only home most of the students know and their only possibility of obtaining an education. ICC pledged to feed the students for one year. The year passed and it became a stable refuge, which could not exist without the support of ICC. In 2015, ICC entered into a partnership with Chalice Canada, an aid and development organization, based in Bedford, NS. A budget was approved for the year 2015-16 based on the needs of the Lwanga School ($73,000 provided by Chalice and $60,000 by ICC) and the funds are allocated to the school in quarterly increments. In order to access the next quarter’s funds the Lwanga School must provide receipts and proof that the funds have been allocated to the appropriate areas specified in the budget.
Chalice has a staff of 8 in Nairobi, overseeing Chalice initiatives in 13 Kenyan communities and 4 other African countries. As well, each year individuals supporting ICC have visited and/or volunteered at the Lwanga School (expenses paid personally).
Donations given to ICC are duly recorded and a personal thank you note is sent. Each month ICC sends the donations collected, to Chalice with donor information. Chalice in turn, adds the funds to the account designated for the Lwanga school and in February of the following year, Canada Revenue receipts are send to donors by Chalice.
