UPDATED July 3, 2011

As of this writing, July 3, 2011, we are seeing the infrastructure construction of JohJan LifeNets Academy come to completion. We are so pleased to see this project become what it has and its benefit children's education in the community. A vitally important criteria is that there be responsible management of the projects on site as well as management of fundraising and transport of funds from this end. John and Janet Otieno in Kenya are the founders and directors of this school. They reveal the plight of children who do not have a stable family, or access to quality education.

Below are the most recent progress reports of the school's development and construction.

We are happy to report from this series of communications from John Otieno Owak from late April 2011 to the present. Let me share the highlights and the photos that he sent.

April 24, 2011

I'm happy to inform you that we did manage to purchase a School Van, and its still new as the instruction was, but we did used some money on top of it due to the price increments due to the Tsunami deserter that did affect Japan, so we found the prices were higher.  This van is new and should  work well for some years before it starts having mechanical problems.

Also we are up dating you about the ongoing constructions of other five classrooms of which the three of them has reached to the level of putting on roof and then plastering of them, after that we will move the pre-School from their old building and start the construction of the remaining two classrooms, you will be up dated at each step. 

We already received the certificate of the Liability company registration of which now we are waiting also the other one from the Ministry of Education for us to be completely recognized by the government. These are the current information that we would like to share with you all there.

April 29, 2011

We are going on with the Constructions of the other classrooms, we are working on three so that we may complete them and move Pre-School to them and add other remaining too, we hope that this may be completed soon.

As we did propose in our BP that Johjan LifeNets Academy need to have drilled water with complete systems to Serve the School and the nearby community.
 
May 1, 2011

Am sending here the photo for the new classrooms building update, we have done the parts wehere we are now, and we are going on with it they are three classrooms which we are building now and after we complete three then we will start the two after swifting the Pre-School to new classrooms you will be updated.

Thank you for your assistance and we pray that God will continue to bless you all in whatever you are doing there.

May 16, 2011

I just want to update you concerning the ongoing Construction, we are near to completing the three classrooms, we have put on roofing, plastering, and put windows and Doors on this three classrooms, we will wait till they dry up well for the good painting to go on, but we are proposing to move the two classes that are in old buildings to the new ones and demolish the old one so that we can continue with the construction of two remaining classrooms, there also we include the photo taken inside Nursery classroom with the new Chairs and tables for them you can see, that is how we will furnish the Pre-School classrooms. Please download the pictures and see.

We are also happy with the donation from the LifeNets towards the drilling of water well within the School compound, this will help the pupils and the Community at large due to the fact that this drilled water will not dry up, it will also help even our Church Members during Feast we will not run out of water as we did last time, So we say Thank you very Much for those who did donate towards this project, even though it may not be enough for all of the proposed project, but God will provide and we will work within what we have been blessed with. May God bless you all richly.

June 8, 2011

Hello to you all.

We are much thankful to Our Almighty God for His guidance through all this time, and we hope the same with you too.

As we are still going on with the work here at JohJan School, we would like to update you on the ongoing work and the achievements as per today June 8, 2011. We are able to complete the construction of the three classroom for the 3rd phase as you can see the attachment, and now it's at the painting level, we are doing this at the same time working out the demolition of the last temporary building for the space to built the remaining two classroom after which the construction will be started soon. 

Also we got land that will be good for the playing ground, as we have been looking for the suitable land without problems. We have also done the Survey for drilling the Bore Hole within the Compound and we found a company.  

We are also happy to inform you that we managed to get electricity in School, and now we have Electricity in School so we may use even computers to train pupils that will be challenge to other schools around it will make us get more paying Pupils to make School to achieve its goals.

June 19, 2011

We are back again with the work in School and of our Fathers business. We have started the building of the last two classrooms of which one will be acting as a computer Lab in case we may have computer in the futures, this also will help us get more student since few Schools around do have the computers. You can see the attachment photo for the new classrooms.  

June 23, 2011

We will appreciate and welcome you to visit us when this project will be completed so that you can see with your own eye what we have done.

Please we are praying for you so that that day may come soon.

We hope to hear from you again. Keep good work at the home office you are all in our daily prayers so that God's work may continue in peace till we complete our mission given by Christ our Lord.

June 30, 2011

Thank you very much and am very happy with the progress on that side too, we are looking forward to complete it and as we did agreed that you will come and see the progress and officially open it.

We are looking for that day, pass along greetings to your dear wife Mama Bev and all there.

UPDATED February 21, 2011

We have some updates.....here is the latest....come back shortly for more updates between the Feb 21 and previous August update.  Progress on school construction is moving well!  To date, LifeNets has put almost $69,000 into this project. 

From John Otieno, Project Manager and School Director

Hello to all,

Greetings, we are happy to inform you about the progress we have done here in School, after receiving the funds for the building of  five classrooms we have managed to build four  and are completed as you can see the photos. We hope to add the fifth one after shifting pupils from the old temporary buildings to the new one to create the space where the fifth class will be built on of which after finishing the painting which is on going by now, we will start that construction again.

New building side view New classrooms front view

New building back and side view School compound with new buildings

We want to let the donors know that the funds have been used rightly as they did intend.

We also are going on with the process of registering as a Liability company of which we will inform you where we have reached.

I remain to hear from you again. May our Lord Christ bless you richly all.

Your Brother,

John Otieno

UPDATED January 19, 2011

We are doing fine, we hope with you the same, am sending today the photo of our new classrooms construction which is going on by now, the photo was taken some four days ago but today we are working on roofing and after that we will take the photos again and share it with you all. 

New classroom construction going on

Classroom with lockers desks

We hope that this will help you understand what is going on here, otherwise we are doing okay and we have some new admission and the number of pupils will increase for this year, we hope that God will continue to add more pupils in the School.

Please download the pictures they are one new classrooms Constructions, and the classroom with Lockers desks for the pupils to sit on.

Yours in Christ's Love

John.

UPDATED November 28, 2010

Receives much greetings from Migori, Kenya. We are doing fine and we hope with you the same.

Its our pleasure and happiness to see what God continue to do with you and to help others in due time, we are very much thankful for the effort made by both of you we know that with this assistance we will be able to start the process of purchasing that land, start building of other new classrooms, buy the office furniture and lockers for the class six for next year.  May God bless you richly for all this you are doing.

We closed School officially on 24/11/2010, and we did have ceremonies for the graduation of Pre-Unit pupils to class one next year, also we open our new office officially on that date, the attached photos were taken during that time, please download and see.

We are also going on with the registration process and we got the provably paper works from the District Education office on last Monday and now we are planning to pursues it from Nairobi, of which also you will be up dated on its process.

John.

UPDATED September 9, 2010

Here is an update on the Construction as of 2nd September 2010. We have been working now on the roofing and we hope that on Sunday we will put the Iron sheets on the roofing, we want to do this before the opening date that will be on Monday so the works that will remains will be the silent one of plastering and installing of the doors/windows and then painting. We hope that this construction will be finished hopefully before late September.

Here are pictures of the plans of the proposed buildings that will be for Johjan LifeNets Academy, and there is one which we built using boxes and that is how the School will look like after the completion of the 11 classrooms.  We show views at front and from the birds eye view.

Secondly we have the ground plan and how the School will look like in drawings, 

So that is how the plans are. We are working on the roofing today and they are putting rafters and on Sunday they will put on Iron sheets.

John Otieno

Model of school building after completion Proposed buildings birds-eye view

Construction update on September 2, 2010

UPDATED August 26, 2010

We are very happy to see swift progress made on the development of JohJan LifeNets Academy in Migori.  We have sent the first installment of our commitment for the school that will ultimately accommodate 440 students.
 

First, a three acre adjacent plot was purchased to be the children's play area and allows room for the expanded school.  Work on the administrative block has begun. Government certification requires the administrative are. The school currently has 96 students in attendance, the final expectation for this year is 150.  The Otieno's write:  "We indicated that we will have about 440 pupils in School, this we are comparing the numbers of the student per the expected classrooms we will have after we completed the building of the 11 standard classroom which will accommodate about 30-40 pupils per class, the ratio of the classroom accommodation in Kenya, this is the number we are expecting in the future after everything will be in place.

"The photos below show  the building of the administration block as of Friday August 20, 2010.  We have reached the lintel (door and window level). Roofing will begin next week"

UPDATED August 5, 2010

Johjan LifeNets Academy is a privately developed primary school in Migori, Kenya. The town is a hub for commerce and transportation in the southwest corner of Kenya near the Tanzanian border. However, several challenges underlie the region’s attempt for self-sufficiency including recurring drought and a 43% HIV rate in the population.  

Johjan Lifenets Academy fills an important niche in the district of Oruba where widows and orphans abound and people live hand-to-mouth doing what they can to survive.

After considerable assessment and a thorough review of the school, LifeNets recently determined to assist the Johjan LifeNets Academy. The focus of LifeNets is to help develop the school’s property, buildings and infrastructure to where it can be accredited/certified by the Kenyan government. Once certification is met the children’s education will be accredited by the government.  

On July 9 a district officer met with school leaders to ascertain requirements for the school’s initial certification. The initial goals were determined to be acquiring additional land for a playground, build an administrative building, upgrade existing structures to provide proper school environment and subsidize the school’s teachers’ salaries that are going unpaid due to the inability of many to pay their school fees. 

The first round of funds from LifeNets, totaling $19,400 has arrived in our carefully managed account in Nairobi, Kenya. From there each project is being reviewed for maximum value by John Elliott, our LifeNets Project Coordinator for East Africa. Once approved and a bid is accepted, our Treasurer, Antonio Ndung’u, disburses the funds in increments as each project moves forward. 

This initial subsidy of $19,400 is targeting the most immediate needs that will move the school towards certification. They will cover the costs of acquiring additional land for the playground, build an administrative building, upgrade existing structures to provide proper school environment and subsidize the school’s teacher salaries that are going partly unpaid due to the inability of many to pay their school fees.

All those involved in this meaningful educational enterprise are grateful to the donors who are making it possible for some special children in Migori, Kenya to at last acquire a good education. 

Currently grades 1-6 are taught. When finished, grades 1-12 will be taught. There are 75 students now.  Our projected total will be 150 when finished. There are 7 teachers. When finished there will be 14. There will be a class on Christian values taught.

More updates coming!

UPDATED March 23, 2010

We have asked for more information about the JohJan school and Janet Otieno writes:

Greetings to you there, we are doing fine and happy that now LifeNets has put our School on it's website, and we pray that with this our School will be known by many and it will help you find some fund to assist us with so that we may accomplish our goals of helping those who can't help themselves. This is very great, we do appreciate it much and may God bless all who  are helping it to continue provides for the pupils need. 

Concerning the age and category of our School, we have Baby class-pre-Unit class, this we call Pre-School, these pupils are from age 3-5, they receives normal education we call Early Childhood Development, they are taught how to draw, write, and read alphabetical letters, from there, we have Lower Primary, here comprise, class one to class three, they are age between 6-8, here now they are given pure Education with five subjects, i.e. English, Mathematics, Kiswahili, Science, Social Studies,C.R E. ( Christian Religious Education) these they are being tested at the end of each term, and we have upper Primary which is from Class Four- Five, they age between 9-14, they also do the same subjects with the lower primary students, But our School still is in Class Five which is the highest class we have now, they are between age 9-11.  

Beside these Subjects we do offer them 10 O'clock porridge, each day but due to limitation of funds, some times we fail to provide, we were already know some orphans who do miss Lunch, we provide for some also Lunch and those whose parents are not able, also get lunch in School, all these are possible when we have enough funds to do them, But this are some places we do fail to do due to the limitation of funds.

I hope that these information's will help you understand the current position of our School we hope that one day you will visit us and see it by yourself face to face. We always pray for both of you so that you may Continue with the good works which is in you. May our Almighty God bless you all and we hope to hear from you soon again.

Students on Parade

Posted March 4, 2010
 

Janet Otieno writes:

"The School was started in January of 2008 after the chaos from the Elections in our Country. We did have many problems. Sometimes the parents and friends, who were helping us, did not have enough funds to pay their fees on time. We were just up and down till I regretted starting it, but my husband kept on supporting me. Telling me to remember that it was started to help those who can’t help themselves. We were just praying and asking God to help us be strong, and find how we can accomplish what we started, as He was the one who started it through us.

Now we have seven Teachers, who are being paid a little salary. But this is not enough. We are in need to build some more class rooms to accommodate more orphans and fatherless. We are even trying to help those children from the families who are poor. But due to the limitation of funds, we can’t afford to achieve our present goals. For now, we keep praying that it might be possible.

One day I overheard the pleas of some children, and was really touched by one of the Orphans next to my home. His Father had died some 10 years ago, and the children were living with their Mother. But the worst came when she also became very sick and passed away. During the day of the burial, we were there to help do some work. When it came time for the burial, this young boy and his brother and sister touched everyone with how they were crying, and saying “Mother, whom have you left us with, who will take care of us?”

I found myself shedding tears after which this memory kept coming to my mind. I always see the grave there next to my gate. When I came back home with my Husband, we discussed this and thought of how many of them who had been left like that.

Some were left without relatives, some are with their grand parents who can’t afford even to let them go to School. This will create another problem for them in the future, because without education, it is not easy to find what you can do for an income. So to make a long story short, we decided to start the JohJan School of which we had 10 Orphans and 10 Fatherless. Due to the good quality of education our School provides, some parents are paying School fees. This helps us pay the teachers a little salary. We also have volunteers helping us to help those who can’t help themselves.

Another story: After starting the School, due to the finance crisis all over the world, we noticed that there is something else we needed to do. One day I went to visit classes after lunch, and I found a child there, sleeping on the desk. When I wake him up, I see his eyes were red and watery. Then I noticed that there is something wrong with him and asked him if he is sick. He says no, then I asked him if he had lunch at home. He pretended and told me yes, but I was not satisfied.

I decided to visit their home, which is just some few miles from School. I found their Mother cooking Ugali, (this is the staple food in Africa) and I asked her if the boys did get their lunch. She told me that they just run back to School without getting lunch because she was not around. She went to do manual work and buy food for them. She got the money too late, so that is why they returned to School without eating lunch.

This also moved me with compassion. When I returned to School, I told the teachers the story and asked them to give them a chance to go back home and eat. I discussed it with my husband how we could help, because they do miss food sometimes. With the little money we had at that time, we decided to introduce a Porridge on Monday and Lunch on Thursday program, which is going on even now. 

Janet Anyango Otieno.
 

Classrooms
 

Administration Building