The Kimilili Trust
small projects for big improvements

Some background on the Kimilili Trust

The Kimilili Trust works to improve the quality of life for young people living in the Kimilili area.

Jan and John Gribben have been associated with the Kimilili area for more than ten years. They were both, until their retirements, headteachers of schools which had link-schools in that part of Kenya. They have kept their links with the general area by setting up this charity (The Kimilili Trust) with some friends in West Sussex. The Trust achieved charitable status in 2004 and the trustees are all local West Sussex people.

The Kimilili Trust does not provide assistance to individuals but is set up to help young people in general through schools, churches and other local organisations.

Primary education in Kenya is free but the government offers only limited help with buildings and the provision of resources. Promotion within primary schools is by ability rather than age and consequently mixed age classes are the rule rather than the exception. Primary education finishes at about 14+ (end of Key Stage 3 in UK terms) but individual pupils may be as old as 17 or 18. Primary education concludes with an examination (the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education - KCPE) and primary schools within a division are ranked according to the performance of their pupils in this examination.

Admission to secondary school is dependant upon performance in the KCPE and secondary school courses are of 4 years duration – though individuals may take longer to complete. Whilst the government has recently started assisting with fees some additional sums are often payable and it is traditional in Kenya for secondary schools to be boarding schools. Consequently there will be costs for boarding as well as tuition. Many children in the Kimilili area still find themselves unable to proceed to secondary school by reason of poverty. The Trust does sometimes make a contribution to a general welfare fund within an individual school to help needy pupils in that school.