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.

My name is Athman Shee a students at St. Charles Lwanga children Centre. Allow me to share how Christmas celebrations are conducted in Kenya and most especially in our school.

Our Christmas celebration is a time when people come together in remembrance of Christ’s birth, a day believed to be holy and full of a joy that lightens the whole world. The day is highly valued here in Kenya as Christians spend their nights in churches and worship places, waiting for this moment. People sing Christmas hymns such as Mary’s Boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day, “Christmas, Christmas Everybody Sing” with a lot of dances and ululations (quickly repeated loud sounds, often to express joy and happiness or sorrow) especially at midnight welcoming the birth of Jesus. Christmas is very important day and people do a lot of decorations mostly in churches, but also in homes, shopping centres, supermarkets and some commodities have labels on them to wish people merry Christmas. About 70% of Kenya populations are Christians and this makes the Christians celebration lively and outstanding.

The Santa Claus tradition is not common in Kenya, instead people concentrate on family gatherings and celebration the birth of Christ. A typical Kenyan family celebrates the Christmas day, by going to mass. Some people will go for the midnight mass especially the young people while other attend the morning mass. People invite friends especially all their family members, they make a Christmas tree in their homes and then a lot of cooking takes place of chapattis, stews amongst other meals. During this festive season there are so many people in the villages.

Christmas at St. Charles Lwanga Secondary School and Children’s Centre is celebrated in a very special way and touching way. Brother Kennedy organizes a great celebration for the students in which he also invites other children outside the school who can barely afford their daily bread to celebrate together. Prior before the day the students organize songs and dances to grace the occasion. During this day a lot of cooking takes places where a special diet is prepared of chapattis, rice, green peas, roasted potatoes, beef, vegetables, juices and people eat to their fullest.

Our most sincere gratitude goes to Brother Kennedy, Inverness County Cares, Chalice and all our benefactors for their generous sacrifice in putting a smile in every child at St. Charles Lwanga.

Thank you

Betty Jane Cameron, 80, teaches music to students at St. Charles Lwanga Secondary School in Nairobi, Kenya

This is the story of Emmanuel a teacher at St Charles Lwanga Secondary School (SCLSS) in Nairobi Kenya.

My name is Mr. Emmanuel Machanja, the Geography and Religion teacher at SCLSS. I come from a very humble background, the ninth in a family of 12, three of whom have passed on. My father died while we were very young, He was asthmatic and we couldn’t afford his medication. He left the full responsibility to my mother who was a peasant farmer. Life was not easy; getting food was a problem and getting school fees was a big challenge and most of us dropped out of school.

In my primary education, I studied at a school six kilometers away from home, where we would walk each day without food.  Life was not fair and there were times when I almost dropped out to help my mother with our family.

Fortunately one of my teachers, Madam Josephine, (God rest her soul in eternal peace) paid for my school fees and I was able to complete my primary education. I qualified for a provincial secondary school but I had to I stay out of school for one year since I didn’t have the school fees. I later was able to join a school when my mother borrowed a shirt, shoes and trousers from my neighbor whose son had completed his schooling. Life was not easy in secondary school and I was often sent home for lack of school fees. In secondary school I worked so hard and I attained a very good grade so I could be accepted to university. My mother was happy I had completed secondary school but her major challenge was the university fees.

I was accepted at many universities but was unable to go because of lack of fees. I decided to volunteer in my neighboring school through which the headmistress linked me with Brother John Kennedy Oronjo. He welcomed me at SCLSS where I served as teacher and a boarding master. After one term he decided to sponsor me to join the university. I owe him much gratitude for that. I worked so hard both at the university and at the SCLSS. I completed my University education this year in April and graduated in July the same year with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.

I thank God and all those I have mentioned, for this and I am working so hard to improve the living standard of my mother and those who live together with her. Thank you.