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What is the project?
Further details can be found on the project website http://www.projectstedfast.co.uk/ and we will post regular updates here of the work the 56th are undertaking as part of the project. October 2008 A group of 4 from the 56th have returned from a trip to visit the School in Kenya. The group saw first hand how the work they had put into fundraising to help built the school had been put to use, and how greatful the people of Oloolua, and more importantly the kids, were that we had been able to help them. Work is progressing well with the 3 new classrooms and disabled centre. A report of the visit is online and Photos can be found in the Gallery. May 2008 Update
Photos of the construction work are also online and the latest projet video can be seen below. Project Stedfast 2008 Calendars
Calendars are priced at £4.50 and can be purchased from any member of BB staff or order online (Postage costs apply when ordering online) by clicking on the Buy Now image on the left hand side. For us the opportunity to buy a unique and special Christmas gift and also by doing so make a very special gift to the children of Oloolua by supporting this Project, It Can Be Done and with your help It Will Be Done. November 2007 Update
In the run up to Christmas we will be selling a calendar for 2008 which includes both photographs we have taken whilst in Kenya and also drawings given to us by the children of Oloolua, the childrens drawings alone worth the purchase. For us the opportunity to buy a unique and special Christmas gift and also by doing so make a very special gift to the children of Oloolua by supporting this Project, It Can Be Done and with your help It Will Be Done. Calendars are priced at £4.50 and can be purchased from any member of BB staff or order online (Postage costs apply when ordering online) by clicking on the image in the menu bar. June 2007 Update
November 2006 Update
Our arrival in Kenya saw the beginning of a relationship with a group of Church Elders, Parents and Children who mirror our own Church in so many wonderful ways, (even the Session Clerk bears some resemblance). By the time we departed on Wednesday that relationship had been forged into a bond of Christian Fellowship and trust. We have experienced the most sincere and heartfelt hospitality I have ever come across leaving my colleagues and I deeply humbled. In the following days we travelled all over the Parish of Kerarapon and captured images best suited to Comic Relief or Live Aid broadcasts on TV. The words of Bob Geldof at Live Aid back in the eighties came to mind many times as we sat at night considering how best to find ways of extracting the funds this project requires.
We will over the coming weeks provide an account of everything we saw, did, and discussed, in the mean time I hope I have conveyed enough to make you all begin to think.
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Copyright © 2005-2009 56th Edinburgh Boys' Brigade Company Please read our standard disclaimer. |
With the 60th anniversary of the 56th in 2007 and the 125th anniversary of The Boys' Brigade approaching in 2008, the 56th have joined up with 3 other local companies, 5th Livingston, 51st Bonnyrigg and 1st Loanhead companies, to celebrate the event by undertaking a international project that reached outward.
The project is to help the Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade Companies at Kerarapon Parish Church, Kenya to establish a school. The cost of the project is £33,629.00 or 4,250,000 ksh (Kenya Shillings).
Building work is progressing well at the disabled centre is progressing well. The toilet blocks are complete, the disabled unit roof is now on and the water supply is well underway.
In the run up to Christmas we are selling a calendar for 2008 which includes both photographs that were taken whilst in Kenya and also drawings given to us by the children of Oloolua, the childrens drawings alone worth the purchase.
Back in July we found ourselves standing at Oloolua getting our first glimpse of the building work. It is difficult to convey the buzz of excitement and anticipation that flows through the Parish as this project makes its way from dream to reality. The first three classrooms are nearing completion now. The roof and windows / doors all in place work has commenced on the interior finishing and kitting out of these classrooms. Building has commenced on the sanitary facility and water filtration unit. In January a small group of us will return to Kenya once again to visit the site and begin planning for October 2008 when we intend to take a group of young men from the Companies involved in this project to Kenya for the ‘Official’ opening of the School and to spend time working with and teaching in this wonderful facility. The photo shows the current building work of the School. 
The foundations will be laid for the disabled children’s centre during November (plan of centre shown opposite). The centre will include accommodation units (1 x male 1 x female) physio room, dispensary, nurses’ room, toilets and showers and most importantly the kitchen facility which will be able to provide school meals for the whole school complex. This centre will by its very nature set a benchmark for many to follow in Kenya, currently access to education for disabled children is at best rare never mind the opportunity to be integrated into main stream school alongside able bodied children. There will always be children whose disability will make integration into a standard class unsuitable and a special needs classroom is outlined in the plans to accommodate any child who requires this facility for learning, though, regardless of this opportunities will be found to integrate in other ways. Disability will be no boundary.
Building work in Kenya is progressing well in Kenya as the photos show. More details will follow soon. 
On the 3rd of November 4 members of The Boys’ Brigade Staff from Edinburgh and West Lothian made a trip to Oloolua Parish, Kerarapon in Kenya. The purpose of our visit was to meet and finalise plans for Project Stedfast (the building of a school for the Boys and Girls of the Brigade there).
Sir Geldofs words aren’t suitable for this occasion, not because of the tender nature of our audience but because the very people we are reaching out to help do not deserve such course vocal raving.