Minutes:
TRUSTS FOR AFRICAN SCHOOLS
Minutes of the meeting of trustees on 2 June 2008 at Portcullis House.
Present: Norma Empringham, Heather Flint, Luke Morris, Ben Howland, Will Jones and Gill Marshall-Andrews
Apologies: Tom Marshall-Andrews, Tim Flower, Johnnie Morris
In attendance: Di Ellis
1. Minutes of the meeting on 3 April 2008 had been previously circulated and were agreed.
2. An update on strategic developments and local trusts at Eburru, Green Park, Asako, Madogo and Kimphe Langano was given by GMA and is attached below to these minutes.
3. Buheesi Secondary School Trust. Di Ellis reported that the trust was set up in February and has met twice since then. The trustees and particularly the Chairman have a good reputation and Di and her colleagues felt that the money would be monitored carefully.
Tenders for a science laboratory have been acquired and the lowest one has been chosen. It is for 62million Uganda Shillings around £19,300 at current exchange rate. As inflation is running high in Uganda there is a proposal for 66 million Uganda shillings – around £20,600. DE handed over a cheque to TAS for £20k and it was agreed that this money and the associated Gift Aid will be ring-fenced for Buheesi.
There is a need for a Gestetner duplicating machine (there is no electricity so a photocopier is inappropriate). Luke will investigate a partner in his firm who may be able to sponsor this.
The text for the webpage and the leaflet have also been agreed by the local trustees.
Di is planning to go out again in November or February.
4. Finance There is around £17k in the bank. BH will ask TF the Treasurer to prepare another Gift Aid claim.
5. Proposals for immediate funding
It was agreed that we send out straight away:
£600 to Asako for salary for a Caretaker / cook for 2 years.
£10,000 to Buheesi for Science Laboratory (second payment of £10,000 in August subject to satisfactory progress reports.
And as soon as the bank account is set up for Kimphe Langano
£2100 to KL for desks
£400 to KL for a site plan etc (post facto expenditure)
£1400 to KL for 6 bursaries for one year
6. Proposals in the pipeline
Solar panels and duplicating machine for Buheesi, science laboratories and classrooms for Eburru, fencing and classrooms for Madogo, classrooms for Kimphe Langano.
7. Fund raising. Heather offered to hold another garden party / sale of sculptures in her garden – an offer gratefully accepted. GMA will send her trustees’ addresses.
8. Next meeting Thursday 2 October 2008 6pm at Portcullis House.
Update June 08
Strategic developments
The Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation which is the brainchild of Stephen Kilonzo the Vice President of Kenya is keen to work with TAS on mutually prioritised education projects. They have been in operation for 3 years and have a budget of around £2.5 m. They have recently decided to focus their efforts on peace and education and feel we can help with educational exerptise, a viable model (the local school trust), and a UK funding base.
They have prepared a Memorandum of Understanding which talks generally of co-operation and co-funding which I signed while out there last week. There is no down side to this for us or them.
One of their staff Mike Makau is a trustee of the new Madogo Secondary School Trust and made a very positive contribution to the inaugural meeting on 22 May. This will be used as the test bed for future joint projects. KMF is very well connected in Kenya and will be helpful with problems such as land grabbing in Madogo.
The Kenya Wildlife Service is also keen to have a MOU with TAS. They have logistical capability and some funds for communities around the National Parks. They are keen for us to get involved with more schools in very poor areas around Meru and Kora National Parks for us. They can help with transport and accommodation and local know how as well as funding.
So the prospect of funding partnerships emerging is good with KMF, KWS and the Constituency Development Funds under the control the MPs. This money will take time to come through as in some areas including Naivasha (Eburru and Green Park) and Bengele (Asako and Madogo) the old MP is challenging the new one.
VSO – Johnnie and I went to see the Director and several others at VSO. Report on this to be given at the meeting.
Eburru – The teacher exchange – Head and one other – to Langley Park School for Girls in April was a huge success. ‘A life changing experience’ was how Evans described it. It seems the whole school staff took these two teachers to heart and made them very welcome. Julie Stoker is leaving the school at the end of the summer term but there are other staff more than willing to take on responsibility for continuing the programme.
Discussions continue about the land swap. The new local MP is in prison pending charges for fomenting violence after the election so the Constituency Development Fund is frozen. Plans for a new classroom/laboratory block were presented but there is now some question over whether it is cheaper to build one storey buildings rather than two so this whole matter is in abeyance.
Asako – The staff accommodation is started and I reluctantly laid the foundation stone! It was all rather a put up job and not sure if work will have stopped as soon as we left. But everyone seemed delighted and the builder seemed keen and competent. Various other building projects were put forward in rough form. It was agreed that the Board of Governors should produce a master plan with priorities so development was not haphazard. The fence should be going in now – materials funded by TAS and constructed by KWS.
Madogo - This trust was inaugurated in great style – bowls of paper flowers everywhere. The school staff made us very welcome and the District Education Officer was there giving support. One of the trustees is Mike Makau who is field officer with the Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation. His contribution will be very significant I think. The bank account will be set up soon and hopefully new tenders will be prepared on a Design and Build basis. The tenders presented at the meeting were all for labour only and based on a Bill of Quantities which indicated very high materials cost, so they were not accepted.
Priorities for funding will be a fence – to prevent land grabbing and protect the girl boarders from the soldiers – a house for a matron to look after the girls, and a laboratory / classroom block.
The new principal is very keen and seems to be making more demands on the students. He is keen to develop more vocational training and adult learning which I said we would wish to support.
Green Park- the building is nearly finished but still the developers have not appointed anyone to run the facility as a ‘centre of excellence’. Until they do nothing much is going to happen. There is still opposition among some of the GPST trustees – one in particular – to developing the use of the building beyond a very basic nursery school. However I am hoping that 2 new trustees will be appointed who should be able to move things along.
Kimphe Langano – the new self help group was inaugurated with 20 members so we established that it needed an Executive Group of around 7 to take decisions which would then be referred to the ‘General Assembley’. One of the 7 is Terri O’Sullivan and Irish expat who is shortly to marry an Ethiopian. She will be a bank signatory which is good.
A Bill of Quantities was produced which gave an indicative cost of roughly twice what it should be according to Tasew Bekele, the Education Bureau representative – also a member of the Executive Group. Three tenders were then ceremonially opened – ceiling wax etc – and they were all within a few hundred pounds of each other and all over twice what they should be. TB said he would help find suitable builders to get a cheaper quote from but hasn’t replied to any emails to date.
3 funding proposals were agreed- 1 of them reluctantly as it was post facto.
