Our school library, full of interesting books for the children to enjoy. Most of our school children have no books at home in their huts so this is a space where they can self learn and broaden their minds.
The library was built by all the school staff who gave up their weekends and holiday time to build the book shelves, paint the walls and lay the floor.
Scottish supporter and Head Teacher Margaret raised the money and bought the books and materials.
(Photo – some children discussing Maasai culture with a UK school, via Skype)
As we approach the end of the year, here is a quick round-up of what we have achieved in 2016, with the help of our sponsors, donors and volunteers:
We look forwards to an equally successfull 2017.
The project to repair hand pumps continued over the Christmas holidays, with another 5 put back into service. Some are difficult to repair, some are easy but nearly all are in rural locations difficult to reach. One of the 5 pumps repaired had been out of use for 7 years yet it was the only clean water source for 1500 people. It was a cheap, simple repair. We have taught the community the skills to maintain this pump, but why didn’t the original charity who installed the pump 8 years ago teach them how to maintain it? We want this pump to work forever and not just until the next breakdown.
The school has just harvested the crop of onions, turning 25 gms of seeds into 40 Kgms of onions, ready for school lunches. The growing area, Harry’s Garden, saves the school money but more importantly it teaches the children of pastoralist parents how to grow food. The school kitchen will have finished these onions around November, when the next crop will be harvested.
Our new baby class (4 year olds) started a couple of weeks ago. Here they all are in front of their classroom. The 25 children are very excited to be going to school, especially as many of their friends do not go to school. We had about 100 applicants for 25 places, so sorry to the ones we could not accommodate
Our latest project to enhance the education at the school in Kenya. On the last trip to Kenya we took 1 tablet computer full of educational maths and literacy software. The kids just loved it and learnt maths so fast. Now we are fundraising to buy another 14 tablets. Good 7″ tablets are now as little as £69 plus a further few pounds for the software – say £80 all in.
The school is using the last of the rains to plant some trees and shrubs around the school. Everyone is involved – children, teachers, cleaners and even the cook. In the next few weeks, the rains will stop and we will use the water from the bore-hole to keep the shrubs growing. Soon the school will be a green patch in a dry brown area.
Friday was the closing ceremony for the end of the first term. 130 children, along with their teachers, cooks and cleaners can have a rest until early May.
From my Saturday paper, out dropped a glossy brochure from a charity wanting to raise £52M per month (£642M per year). It got me thinking.. So how was this charity hoping to raise £52M per month? Usually by a large marketing spend, like this expensive brochure. A company that spends too much on marketing will eventually go bust as the extra cash generated will not cover the marketing costs, extra stock, debtors etc, but for a charity as long as a pound spent produces more than a pound in donations, it will grow. The glossy was from WaterAid, a charity that specialises in providing clean water and sanitation across the developing world, a cause I whole heartedly support. Unclean drinking water is a major cause of illness and death in the developing world. I am a trustee of the charity Osiligi Charity Projects and we repair broken hand pumps and supply clean water as part of our support of a Maasai area in Kenya, so I know just how important clean water is.
We are just a small charity. Last year, our income was £192,000. By comparison, WaterAid’s income was £48.1M. We have a commitment that every penny received by Osiligi is spent in Kenya. This allows nothing for any marketing, wages, expenses or even stamps. WaterAid spends 22p in every pound on marketing (source 2011 accounts). In addition, it has 191 UK employees. I don’t know how much these employees are paid, but the accounts show that 8 of them received more than £60,000 each per year with the boss (CEO) receiving £110,188, plus pensions and expenses. If Wateraid reaches its £642M income target and continues spending 22% on marketing, that’s £141M a year on marketing. With just a tiny part of this marketing spend, we could build many schools and water-holes to make a huge difference in the corner of Kenya where we operate.
We are a very different beast to WaterAid, although both of us are called charities. We both supply clean water to developing countries. We are small, everyone is a volunteer and every penny goes to Africa. Wateraid is big, has salaried employees but only a small part goes to the developing countries. We are both called ‘charities’ so unless you delve into the accounts, you would never see the difference. Perhaps we need a different word to differentiate the two types? We call ourselves a “100% charity”, because 100% of any donation goes to the cause. You may think that I am having a go at WaterAid, but I am not. It is the same for any large charity; to become large they have to spend a lot on wages and marketing. As a general rule, small charities are run by volunteers who spend little on costs, large charities spend a lot. This is how they become large.
Not all the employees of large charities are in marketing. Many are in charity governance or project management and engineering. These people try to ensure that the money spent is used wisely. Engineers try to hone the process so that the charity’s end product or service is better, i.e. finding better ways to drill a bore-hole. Small charities have to rely on the principle skills of their volunteers; large charities can develop these skills and buy-in skills where needed.
Small charities tend to be run by an unpaid volunteer, larger ones by a paid CEO. As the banks are quick to tell us, in order to recruit the right people, you have to pay high salaries, but is this so with charities? If the boss supports a cause, does he need a high salary to motivate him? Perhaps there are fat cats in both businesses and charities.
The Olympic games makers have taught us that there is a great pool of volunteer talent wanting and waiting to help. The charity sector’s challenge is how to harness this for the greater public good.
So how do we differentiate between those lean and efficient charities run by volunteers and those that are run more like businesses with big marketing budgets? When I give to charity, I like to feel that the money ends up at the cause and is not paying for the next mail-shot or CEO’s salary but I really don’t want to churn through pages of accounts. Come on regulators; please give us an easy way to see the wood for the trees.
Do we need to distinguish between volunteer and business charities? What do you think?
[Update from 2014/15 accounts. The CEO is now paid £144,638 including pensions]
Roger Pannell is a trustee of Osiligi Charity Projects
Another broken pump repaired by Osiligi. This pump is about 20 miles from our school and serves a primary school and surrounding community of Naado Enterit. Just take a look at the delight on the caretaker’s face. It is the first time the pump has worked for many years. The caretaker will be responsible for keeping it working.
