Click to view our Annual Spring Report 2014

Lynn Murphy’s Pottery Sale Raised $500.00 for PCA.
Lynn is a long time Potter who makes beautiful pieces, both decorative & useful.
Thank you Lynn & thank you to Carol Waters who provided delicious treats for everyone who came through the door, on a very cold day.

Fresh from Nairobi these re-purposed cement bags lined with kanga make oh-so stylish clutches. Great for storing make-up or going out, these mid-sized bags come fully lined with a beaded zipper. Custom made at the LC Education Centre by Rose and her single mom’s sewing club. They start with discarded cement bags found around the slum, line and trim them with kanga bought in Malindi by the Indian Ocean, sew in the zipper and add a single bead which is sourced from local markets around Nairobi.
Thoughtful and purposeful gifts. Now available at Bloom Artisan Boutique, 159 York Street in the Byward Market in Ottawa! Owner Lisa Wilson is putting them on display with all proceeds going to Project Chance Africa. Thank you Bloom! http://www.bloomartisan.ca

For the past 9 years that PCA has been involved with the school & centre, it was located in a rented compound. With rising rents & looking towards sustainability, it was decided to purchase a building for the school. Fortunately one was found where the vendors agreed to payments by installments. The move to this building was made in January 2011. Renovations are needed to complete all the classrooms.  This school & centre has the capacity for the enrolment of 600 children. There is currently a waiting list for entry. Once the needed renovations are completed those waiting to come will be admitted. We anticipate having one Secondary grade.  This will be a first in this area as there are no Secondary schools in the slums.

This past winter, through donations from Ottawa West Rotary & private donors we were able to put electricity in the building, construct four large classrooms, toilet facilities, with showers & sinks. There are few buildings n the slum with running water & the capacity for electricity.  The school is fortunate in having both.

In September 2010 PCA held a fund raiser at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. We raised $15,000.00. All of which went to the payment of the building. A huge “thank you” to everyone who participated in this event.

We now embark on the last phase of payment for the school building, which is due July 1st. ¾’s of the building is paid for.  We have $23,000.00 left to raise.  With the final payment, the LC education centre will own their own (6 storey) building at last. This will allow 600 impoverished children to have a chance for an education.

The school will also have room for the first secondary class. Secondary schools are out of reach for slum children. They are too expensive, and children rarely get to attend. Them. There are no secondary schools in Mathare.

Please help us to reach this important goal:
Any donation will be greatly appreciated. You can donate by cheque, credit card or debit card. The “canada helps” button  will do direct deposits.

This winter we received a designated donation for renovations to the school.

We put lighting in many of the classrooms, 4 toilets with showers were built. The children are now able to shower at school there is no water in most of Mathare. We added two water cachement tanks, built 4 large classrooms, replaced some dirt floors with cement & built steps to the building.

We have the beginnings of a library, with the potential to operate a small internet café for the community & move toward self sustainability. Two sewing rooms were made for the single mothers program  & a large meeting room that the school can rent out for events.

We hope to have a health clinic in the building as well.

For the second year in a row, “the Mathare Scholarship Trust” a non profit organization out of Ottawa, offered one of our children a secondary school scholarship.

The ministry of education stated that they didn’t know how our children score such high marks in final exams, given their dire circumstances (orphans or from single parents).

Help us to help them go farther.
Thank you to everyone whose contribution has made it possible for  us get this far.