St. Michael's Secondary
School Building Project
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Update- May 10th 2008
As shown on the accompanying pictures
(right and below) taken during a monitoring visit by
Friends of Kitui early May, the school construction is
proceeding steadily. One block is now at third floor stage.
Aidan Corless will next visit Kitui early June to review
overall progress. Please keep your donations coming! So far
we have raised over half the total project cost
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these pictures to enlarge
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these pictures to enlarge
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Pictures taken May 10th 2008
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Extract from the Progress
Report received from Stephen
K. Mutunga of
Kisuko
Building
Construction,
contractors to the school project, on January 19th
2008:
Greetings
from Kitui
This
project was going on very well up to and including the time
we broke up for the Christmas season of 2007.
The
Kenya General Elections were held immediately after
Christmas and the results caused countrywide unrests that
crippled everything in the country.
Production
factories were closed down including those manufacturing
reinforcement steel bars, cement, ballast, hollow pots and
even timber mills.
People
were confined within their native villages; not able to
travel due to ethnic rivalry
across their borders. Transport systems came to a halt as
Kenyan roads became no go zones with armed militias manning
road blocks along the highways and petrol stations running
dry due to non-supply.
All
the above incidents have adversely affected our performance
and speed in the past three weeks but we are now catching
up on lost time. However
the
political situation is not yet stable.
We
have noted your instruction that
the kitchen and dining block will go up an extra one
storey. The extra floor increases the area to be considered
for the terrazzo floor finish to 3541M2................
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May 10th 2008- considerable progress is
being made
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these pictures to enlarge
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May 10th 2008
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Fr Charles Kitheka inspects progress,
January 19th
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Working on the first floor
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Block 2 is under way
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Another view of the Admin block
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Front Entrance of new school- November
16, 2007
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Appeal by
Fr. Paul Healy, Diocesan Administrator, Kitui Diocese, for
school building fund.
Extract from the "Irish
Times", August 28th 2006
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these pictures to enlarge
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November
21st 2007:
Aidan Corless has just returned from a trip
to Kitui where he was monitoring progress on
various Friends of Kitui activities, and reviewing
progress on the construction of the St Michael's school.
The pictures here show that the walls of most of the
individual structures on the complex are now being
raised. An evaluation of the project's future benefits
for the students, and future impact on the
environment which was carried out over the past few
months has led to a decision to upgrade some of the
facilities to a higher standard than would be the norm
for local building practices. For example, we intend to
construct modern and upgradeable toilet and wastewater
treatment facilities. We believe that we should build
Western style toilets, install UPVC windows and terazzo
flooring throughout.This has added €100k euro to
our budget but it will be a school fully equipped for
the future.
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December
2006 Report:
Aidan Corless
reports that approximately €58,850 has been raised to date
(December 2006) for the
building a new secondary boarding school in Kitui
town. The site cost is €40,000 and the estimated cost of
building and equipping the school is a further €270,000-€300,000.
(The school was subsequently enlarged after a further
assessment of needs and the budget increased accordingly-
see above)
The school, for boys and girls, will be called "St.
Michaels", and will be dedicated to the memory of the
late Rev. Father Joseph Corless, former Principal of Blackrock College, Dublin.
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School Building Project- an Overview
Led
by Aidan Corless, this project aims to raise an overall
total of approximately €450,000 to
build and equip a boarding school for the Diocese of Kitui.
As of September 2007, approximately €200,000 has been raised for the
project. We have now purchased a site, and initial construction work on
foundations etc. has been done. Tenders for completion of
the project have been received and are being reviewed.
Following receipt of tenders, and an increase in the size
of the school to accommodate more pupils, the building cost
is now estimated at €450,000 compared wwith the
initial estimate of €340,000 for a smaller school.
This is an ongoing programme, with a large sum of money
still to be raised, and your
support is earnestly requested.
(Pictured above- Kevin
O'Boyle, Fr. Paul Healy, and Aidan Corless stand on the
foundation slab for St Michael's School (November 2006))
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Fundraising
Committee:
Chairman:
Aidan Corless
John Corless
Stephen Doyle
Kevin O'Boyle
Dominic Coyle
Carl McCann
Dermot O'Rourke
Declan
McSweeney
Pat Torpey
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(Click on picture to
enlarge)
As
of September 11th 2006, site works have started and we
anticipate substantial completion by Autumn 2007.
More plans for the
school project will be posted here shortly.
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More Information or to Make a Donation: |
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Aidan
Corless
"Kinvara"
Westminster
Road,
Dublin
18
Ireland
Telephone
+353-1-289-2393
e-mail:
aidan@friendsofkitui.com |
All
donations for Friends of Kitui projects are handled by
Trocaire, the development arm of the Catholic Church in
Ireland. If you are a PAYE payer, your donation will
increase in value by the amount of the tax you have paid.
For non-PAYE donors, your donation will qualify as an
allowable expense. A receipt will be issued by Trocaire for
each donation.
Please
make cheques payable to "Trocaire- Friends of Kitui
A/C" and forward your donation to
Aidan Corless at the address shown.
You
will find a donation form HERE
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