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This spring Inverness County Cares will revisit their long-range plan for their involvement with The St Charles Lwanga School. As all guardians we hope to see our project ‘grow up’ and become independent and self-sustainable. To realize this, the school needs to move to an area where there is ample space for the school compound and areas for gardens and fields for crops. The present day St Charles Lwanga School in Ruai, Nairobi had developed a reputation as an excellent educational institution. With this status they will be able to attract fee-paying students and continue to serve the students who cannot afford to pay fees.

The school administration has identified an area in Western Kenya in the Lake Victoria vicinity where the soil is fertile and rainfall abundant. Purchasing land in this area would take children from the influences of the city of Nairobi, and most importantly enable the students to concentrate on agriculture, which will supply the school with food and an income to support the needs of the school.

The University of Vermont and volunteers from GoGlobal have developed a program where students from St Charles Lwanga School will work cooperatively with the Perma-Culture Institute of Kenya and form alliances with the University of Nairobi. It is the intent of the Vermont delegation, to train students at SCL in organic farming practices, in order to provide the new school with guidance and expert help to develop their agricultural program. It is the expectation that this program will transition into a community agriculture college where the students from SCL will be able to acquire post secondary diplomas in agricultural practices. Following this trend it is the belief that this college and its graduates will be able to disseminate and share the agricultural expertise with the nearby communities. Sharing this knowledge of agricultural practices will enable residents to take part in community based initiatives to improve the agricultural knowledge and increase their standard of living.

Thanks to the generosity of their supporters Inverness County Cares has been able to reach their goal of $60,000 per year for the past three years. The new school land requires an additional $30,000 of which generous supporters have already donated $16,500. When the land is purchased, other funding partners (not ICC) will begin negotiations to determine the specifics of the new school and the funding particulars.

Betty Jane Cameron will return home on the 29^th of April with many stories and new insights into the St Charles Lwanga School. We thank our supporters who make all this possible. For more information see our webpages.

Inverness County Cares (ICC) is a community aid organization based in Inverness County, Nova Scotia. ICC has worked to provide for the educational and daily life needs of the 280 students at the St Charles Lwanga Secondary School (SCLSS) since 2012. The students of SCLSS are housed in dormitories on half acre on which the school and all buildings are situated. For many students this is their only chance to obtain a secondary education. Mostly all the students had a history of sporadic school attendance due to lack of money for school fees. Because of this they truly appreciate the opportunity to learn and are very serious about this opportunity to gain a secondary education.

The conditions at the school are crowded, with classrooms and living areas past the maximum occupancy. Their diet is simple and nutritious, mainly, beans, corn, Sukuma Wiki (collard greens), cabbage and occasionally tomatoes, with meat as a rare luxury.

The school is located close to the Nairobi International airport. This is an area that is rapidly being encroached on by the city of Nairobi and the influence of the Kibera Slums which are nearby.

The climate and growing conditions in this area are not suitable for farming or even small garden plots. The school grounds are very crowded and there are two seasons of very little rain, which turns the ground into a cement-like terrain with deep cracks. Water is supplied by a rainwater collection system (supplied by Living Water Africa), channeling rainwater from the roofs of all the school buildings into an 80,000 liter tank. Drinking water is supplied by Nairobi City Water, which is stored in a tank on the school grounds. There are no showers (bucket water bathing) and six, two-stall pit latrines provide the 280 students with toilet services.

Plans are in progress for a new school in the HomaBay area of South Western Kenya, near Lake Victoria. This new school will be located in an area with a climate much more favourable to sustainable farming on a 10 acre plot of land. Although the need is critical there are many obstacles that must be overcome before the new school is a reality. Anyone who wishes to financially support these student and school initiatives may do so by sending a cheque to Inverness County Cares, PO Box 99, Judique, NS, B0E 1P0.

Next month’s newspaper article: plans for a new school and the process of educating the students, teachers and communities near the school on farming methods that will work toward making the school self sustaining.

For more information please visit   http://lwangachildren.com/

1st- Betty Jane Cameron (second on right) with Dutch visitors. 2- Exam time in classroom, 3-Classes held outside, 4- Students, 5-Sustainable farming lessons.

On January 8, 2018, Betty Jane Cameron, Inverness County Cares member and extraordinary grandmother, nurse, midwife and music teacher departed on her 3^rd trip to volunteer at the St Charles Lwanga Secondary School (SCLSS) in Ruai, Nairobi, Kenya. She checked in to Halifax airport with very minimum personal baggage but brought 9 bags of clothing, personal items and many musical instruments donated by the generous people of her surrounding communities. Betty Jane at 80 years, although very fit and energetic, finds it much more convenient to travel through the airport in a wheel chair. Imagine Br Kennedy’s dismay and surprise when on their first meeting three years ago, she arrived in a wheelchair. Much to his relief she proved herself exceptionally fit and is blessed with amazing stamina. This January her flight was diverted and Betty Jane and her 9 bags took separate flight paths. After several days of anxiety all nine bags arrived at the school.

Communications from Betty Jane.

“January 11/18. I got here about 4pm Wednesday and was royally welcomed by the entire School with cheers and hugs. It was worth the whole very long trip. There is no sign of any baggage but a tracer is hopefully working its magic. Today is day 4 in the same clothes, but I did wash in a bucket… I feel right at home both here and home in Mabou where (due to power outages) there was no water for three days.  I am doing more medical work this year. I also am sharing the small dorm with the assistant administrator who is a good friend and it feels like a palace! I am so pleased that I remembered almost all the student’s names when I arrived.

January 17/18. Hi everyone, I’m halfway through week 2, very busy and very happy to be here. I am constantly tuning string instruments. Today I did a wash to everyone’s surprise. The Form 1’s have arrived and I have taught them health, geography, and basic music beats with drums, percussion and dance. We had lots of fun. I also teach health and PE to all classes weekly. We have music after school daily – so far recorder and guitar. The choir director is going to live here and study, and we are working on theory and each instrument so he can carry on all year. This Friday I go to another parish to do pastoral visiting and counseling

with the sick and elderly, and will be there a week. I miss you all but really feel that I belong to this community too and love the people and the work.

January 24/18. I was away all week visiting a parish. The pictures give some idea of what we did. I taught young children, visited many elderly and sick folk, conducted a marriage encounter class, attended the anointing of a dying man, two baptisms followed by their wedding two days later and worked with the catechists They wanted me to stay, but back at SCLSS they greeted me like I was gone a year! Say hi to all. Love Betty Jane.”

St Charles Lwanga Secondary School is located in Nairobi, Kenya. Inverness County Cares (ICC) and Chalice Canada (chalice.ca) celebrate the many accomplishments made possible at St. Charles Lwanga School (SCLS) through our mutual partnership during the past year. ICC is proud to have reached its $60,000 fundraising goal, which was matched by Chalice Canada. Representatives of both organizations have met twice to plan and develop our partnership and provide maximum benefits for SCLS.

ICC continues to work co-cooperatively with students at Dalbrae Academy who have contributed to SCLS for the past five years. ICC member and native of West Mabou, NS, Betty Jane Cameron, a nurse/midwife and music teacher, spent six weeks at SCLS mentoring, teaching music and organizing ground work for a school safety policy. 
In addition ICC member, Rev. Duncan MacIsaac, then parish priest in Inverness and Broad Cove, NS, spent ten days at SCLS, celebrating Eucharist with staff and students as well as counseling and mentoring. 
While in Kenya, Betty Jane and Fr. Duncan participated in a school evaluation day with representatives of Chalice and SCLS with a vision of future development.

SCLS received a monthly budget from ICC and Chalice to cover simple and healthy food and nutrition for the students and provide much needed new toilets and wash areas and upgrade older ones. We are thankful to the Brothers of St. Charles Lwanga who constructed a new chapel for the SCL students on the school grounds.
This year SCLS mourned the death of student of Stanley Wanjala, who died in March 2017. His funeral expenses were taken care of by our two organizations. Forty-three students graduated from SCLS and three merited Kenyan government scholarships to continue with university studies. In addition to this ICC members and associates provided scholarships to some SCL graduates for further studies. 
A formal Child Protection Policy was created by the SCLS administration to ensure the safety of students.

ICC and Chalice budgeted $1,500 for preliminary architectural planning to develop a school in an area, which is much more suited to provide an agricultural program for the SCL students. In addition to our regular fundraising, sufficient funding was acquired to purchase five acres of land for this property. A proposed new school site of ten acres will cost of $30,000.

ICC has developed its own website (invernesscountycares.com) as well as the SCL website 
(lwangachildren.com), keeping both current on a monthly basis.

Thank you to all our generous supporters.