Introducing to you...

The little girl in the first photograph is called Jennifer Atieno. She is from Victory 1 and is in the nursery class.

The boy in the second photograph is Elias Baya. He is in standard 3 and is aged 10 years. He is above average and has no health problems. His mother has the full responsibility of taking care of all her children. The father has left the home.

The girl the second photograph is Priscah Akinyi. She is in standard 6 and her date of birth is 9.8.96, so she is now 13 years old. Priscah is a very hardworking girl. She has been coming top of her class every term with very good grades. She has no health problems. She is an orphan who lives with a foster parent.

We will go on!

As most of you have probably heard by now the Kenya Service Project has gone through some changes. Well, actually, one big change only.
Unfortunately, it has been decided that the 8 studenst from the ISSE will not be visiting the Victory school in Mombasa. This has been a big disappointement to us as well as to the Victory school, who were really looking forward to our visit.

On a brighter note, though, we have now recovered from the blow, and I am proud to anounce that all eight students have decided to continue their work for the KSP. Most important is that the Victory school still needs our support, and that is what we will keep offering them. So, more fundraising activities will be organised throughout the rest of the school year to collect as much money as possible for our Kenyan friends.

Sjef and Mascha, two of the three ISSE teachers involved in the KSP, are still planning a visit to the Victory School. We have decided that we find it very important to keep the personal contact going with the school, since everyone seems to be getting so much out of it. Sjef and Mascha will most likely go to Mombasa for a week in June. They will do as much as they can to help out at the school and to set up plans for the future of the KSP. Their report will be shown on here and at the ISSE afterwards.

Another way to keep the personal contact alive is by introducing some of the Victory school's students to you. I will do this in the next post.

Hope to update you again soon!

Dinner meeting

Last Friday, the ISE Kenya team decided to have a dinner meeting after school. A great way to get to know each other a little bit better, and a delicious meal, at that! Everyone brought in a dish from their own national kitchen. This resulted in a very hip 'fusion' dinner ranging from fish 'n chips to sushi and from curry to pretzels.

Some great ideas for fundraisers arose during this evening, which you will definitely hear more of soon. All I can reveal right now is that it will involve some wet teachers...

We also managed to do a short Skype session with Carol Groves, the chairman of the Friends of Mombasa Children.

All in all, a nice and successful evening.

Ladies and Gentlemen, our new Kenya students!:

The brand new Kenya team is complete. We are all looking forward to an inspirational time working on the Kenya Service Project, and, of course, going over to Mombasa ourselves! The students would like to introduce themselves to you right here:



Hi, my name is Robert Limkeman, and I am 16 years old. I have two older brothers going to university, and I live with my mother and father in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. I am originally from the United States of America and I lived there for 12 years, and overseas for 4 years (Israel for 1 and The Netherlands for 3). I speak only English, and I am studying Spanish, along with a subject package centering on the humanities. The two subjects I am most interested are philosophy, and theology and I read books in my free time on them. I play volleyball and basketball for fun, but I really love the arts, and music the most. I sing, play percussion and some piano, and hope to learn to play the guitar. The cornerstone of my life however, is Jesus Christ, and He is the source of my energy, joy, and love for others and life itself.



My name is Shivaani Soundarajan and I was born in Penang, Malaysia. I am 16 years old. I joined International school of Eindhoven in August 2008 in MYP 4, and at the moment, I am currently studying in MYP5. I studied in India for 7 years and studied in Malaysia for 7 years, and this is my second year in Eindhoven, Netherlands. I joined the Kenya Project because I wanted to learn something new as in myself and in a group. Firstly I wanted to join the Kenya project because I would like learn a new culture that I’ve never experienced before, and as in a group, I would to learn other people cultures and feelings on how they are. Helping out the kids and teaching the kids in Friends of Mombasa school is important to me, and as well with our whole group. I would like to interact with every other member in our team on how we all feel, and what we should to raise up money before going to Kenya, and in the end We should teach each others and also ourselves is that poverty is not equal to unhappiness.



I’m Misaki Takenouchi, from MP5A. I am of course very very excited about the Kenya trip, and I want to make this project successful with you guys  I especially interested in teaching Kenyan children. I want to create efficient and fun activities throughout the whole year, and to achieve it, I want to have eagerly and honestly discussion.
As the benefits I can bring to this project, I can say I’m quite good at volleyball and hockey. I have been playing volleyball for 3,4 years, and hockey for 5 months. From those activities, I learned how to act in the team, not only the skills of sports. I also like cooking (including Japanese food!) Maybe I can hold a cooking class for other people. I really love children, and I believe I’m good at treating and playing with them.
Let’s have great time together! XD



Hello, I’m Carola Stahlberg. This year, I’m allowed to take part in our Kenya service project and I’m really looking forward to it. I want to make this a great experience for all the people who are involved. The reason for my interest for this project is because the world isn’t equal. Some countries are more developed, have more money than others. Kenya is one of the countries, which has quite a few problems and I want to help those people who live there. It is important that those who do live in a better world, help people or try to support people in countries with less luxury. Therefore, I’m really looking forward to planning the activities and the trip to the victory school in Mombasa and trying to make this a great time for all the people who are/will be involved.
Next to the school, I take part in two different sports, which are Judo and taekwondo and I really enjoy them. But I also have a big family, which requires ‘working together as a group’. Most of my little sisters also do one of the sports which I’m enjoying after school and quite often we have conversations about it. So the part which I bring into the group, which takes part in the Kenya project is, a person with experience in Judo and taekwondo.



Hello. My name is Aishwarya Padmanabhan. I am from India, and I moved here five years ago. I study in the International Secondary School of Eindhoven. I am currently studying in the year 5 of the MYP syllabus. For the past two years, I have heard a lot of stories about Kenya, mostly from our school premises. A lot of awareness has been raised towards situations in Kenya and what we can do to help the people there with their lives. The teachers and the students of the ISSE have worked really hard on the project and have creating many presentations, videos and other about this trip and this has really motivated me to go on this trip.
When I heard stories about the lives of the children in Kenya, I was really touched and I wanted to be able to do something for them and contribute in whatever way I could, to help the children. Also, I know this is going to be a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to be amongst the children and to spend time with them; to help them.
I also want to go because, I believe I will learn and get something positively out of this trip. When we go to Kenya, we will enter very new lifestyles, and different cultures and belief systems. We will be able to actually see the problems the children and their families face every single daythe experience.
We will actually be able to see, the food they eat everyday, the way they cook, the way their lives are built around the little that they have. I will be able to share such moments with them.
Also, if I go not only will I be able to learn, I will also be able to teach the children something; like a certain dance, or a song etc.Being in this trip, is really exciting and I am willing to work extremely hard on it and make sure it’s a success!



My name, as you probably know, is James Nolan, this is just how you have to begin to introduce yourself. I am English, originally from an area called the Wirral but having moved around a lot whilst in England I don’t actually have what I would call a hometown as such although I’d probably eventually say that I am form somewhere in the northwest.
My early education was a religious one as I was sent to catholic schools up to the age of 12 meaning that I had to call myself a religious person. I got into a grammar school that was very high up the league tables. After a year at this school I moved to Eindhoven along with my parents at the start of MP2 and I have been at the ISSE ever since.
My favourite sport is football and I play on the school team, I’m going to my second NECIS in November. I like to watch football as well as play it and support Everton FC and my favourite player is Mikel Arteta. Apart from playing football I like to listen to music, go cycling and hang out with my mates. I have also been known to read books in my spare time.
I like travelling as well, despite never actually having been outside of Europe and actually quite like to try and learn local languages. At school my favourite subject is history, although I also like Biology and Chemistry. At this moment in time I don’t know what subjects I want to take further but honestly I hope it’s not something with too many numbers.
An s a person I do try and take an interest in world affairs and understand what’s going on in the world. Growing up in the western world it can make me feel guilty for having so much unnecessary things. Along with family I already support a number of charitable organisations and admire people who dedicate their time and energy to such things. Ultimately I believe that every individual has the duty to help make the world a better place in whatever way he can, partly why I’m going to Kenya.



I’m Leonard Nijman, I’m 15 years old and I am from the Netherlands. I decided to join the ISE Kenya Service Project because I wanted to add an experience that would not be forgotten into someone’s life that wants an experience. For me going to Kenya, means the possibility to share my experiences with others in an extremely different environment. Going to Kenya will possibly enable me to teach these Kenyan children something in a fun way since I am able to do that. Joining this service project will also allow me to show my friends family and my environment another side of life, the side of poverty and sickness. Being able to talk about this from experience will increase the value of life in my environment.



My name is David Esmeijer, I am 16 years old, born in 1993. My nationality is Dutch. I have one brother, Samuel (18), born in America, and one sister, Naomi (13), born in Portugal. I was born in France. I lived in holland for 6 years, China for 5 years, France for 2 years, Portugal for 2 years, and now I'm back in the Netherlands. I have 2 dogs, Boef en Mimi, and they are
8 years old now.
My favorite sports are Squash and Snowboarding, but I pretty much enjoy most sports. Also, I like many different kinds of music, but I listen mostly to Trance (depending on the mood I'm in). In my free time, I enjoy going out with some friends, or just stay at home and relax a bit. I really don't enjoy doing any school work outside of school, but lately it's been getting me into trouble so now I'm trying to get more diciplined. That's pretty much all I know about myself :)

The ISE Kenya Service Project 2009-2010

The Kenya Service project had a very successful first year in 2008-9. We were able to meet our initial commitment to fund the annual cost of schooling for 28 students at schools in the Bombolulu district of Mombasa. The money raised from the Whole School Sponsored Walk 2008 was more than double the amount required and over €7000 was donated to the Friends of Mombasa Children’s charity in the UK. Other events throughout the year raised smaller amounts of money for our three teachers and eight students to take to Mombasa. This was spent on health care items, a school outing for the junior school and school supplies and equipment. We were able to see how this made such a difference to the students of the Victory School in the film

clips and students’ and teachers’ reports seen and heard in the school assemblies. Sending the delegation provided a unique and positive learning experience that is benefiting the entire school community at the ISE.

The result of the Kenya Service Project is a greater understanding of the issues faced in developing countries that impact on the lives of young people, how we can actively help them and how they can help us. We again plan to send a delegation of students and teachers to Mombasa this school year. The visit is open to MP5 and DP1 students and, as we anticipate a great interest, there will be a selection procedure. The visit will be timed around Activities Week, 1-5 March 2010, to minimize lost school days. The provisional dates are Tuesday 23 February to Friday 5 March 2010. There will be an Information Session for parents of MP5 and DP1 students interested in going to Kenya on Monday 28 September in the Open Evening for Parents. Teachers and students who went to Kenya last year will be available to answer questions.

In the coming months, various fund raising events will be organized and we hope that he school community will be generous in its support. We welcome any suggestions from parents to increase fund raising. We start with the Whole School Sponsored Walk on 15 October.

Ruth Evans, Sjef Hendrikx and Mascha Keersmaekers of the Kenya Service Project

Team.