PATRIZIA School Syangeni
Syangeni is a small village in the Kitui region of Kenya. The area is characterized by agriculture, often affected by drought and is close to the Tsavo National Park. In order to find paid work, a good education is absolutely necessary. The PATRIZIA School Syangeni was built in 2017 in partnership with the Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V.
It is a shining example of how to improve education and living conditions in one of the poorest regions of Kenya. The school addresses critical challenges such as insufficient access to a high proportion of illiterate people, lack of educational opportunities, lack of access to drinking water and the region’s dependence on agriculture.
„In one of Kenya’s poorest regions we are creating a valuable perspective for the children and adolescents with the primary school, running water and our own garden.”
Astrid Gabler
Managing Director PATRIZIA Foundation
Education as a way out of poverty
Across the region, pupils have to travel long distances every day under difficult conditions. There is a lack of educational infrastructure. In existing schools, teaching methods are outdated and access to digital learning tools is limited. These problems reflect the economic and social challenges of Kitui, where climatic challenges such as irregular rainfall threaten agriculture and thus people’s livelihoods. Urgent, holistic action is needed to sustainably promote education and the well-being of the community.
As the region has been struggling with extreme droughts and increasingly long dry periods for years due to climate change and the existing schools are too small and inadequately equipped to provide a good learning environment for the children, PATRIZIA School Syangeni was founded in 2017 together with Welthungerhilfe e.V. The elementary school started with 160 children in six classrooms. To build the school, the parents – mainly the mothers – produced over 34,000 bricks by hand. Along the construction of the school, an administration building, sanitary facilities and a water tank were built to ensure the drinking water is available. The government had the tank filled for the opening ceremony in 2017. Many of the children were able to use a tap for the first time in their lives. A school garden helps to understand agriculture.
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Expansion to improve education and living conditions
The future plans for PATRIZIA School Syangeni for the years 2024-2025 includes the expansion of the school to accommodate the increasing number of students. In order to improve the situation of long and dangerous daily journeys to school, there are plans to build two separate dormitories for boys and girls, each with 200 beds. In addition, six accommodation units will be built for the teaching staff to ensure consecutive teaching with motivated teachers. A fence will also be constructed around the school grounds to increase the safety of the children.
To improve a reliable water supply, the construction of a brick water storage tank with a capacity of 100 m³ and the installation of rain gutters is planned. This will replace the water tank with a solid, water-collecting structure so that water is also available during the long dry period. The extension will be complemented by the installation of solar panels for a decentralized and environmentally friendly power supply and the construction of an ICT laboratory for digital learning. An additional pond and a drip irrigation system will support the school’s agricultural activities in the school garden. The planned extensions will make PATRIZIA School Syangeni a model school for the entire region – with sustainable approaches, maximum self-sufficiency and digital, child-centered learning methods.
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