DBSAs Previous Life

Peoples impression of Africa and Kenya is usually galloping wildebeests,

mighty lions, peaceful elephants, elegant giraffes, magnificent multi-colored
clouds surrounding elongated mountain ranges, and leaves of acacia trees
scattering across heaven and earth. In Kenyas capital Nairobi; however, a
group of people are being forgotten.
Mathare slum in Nairobi is Kenyas second largest slum. The slum
encompasses a meagre three square kilometers of land, yet dwells nearly
70,000 people. Among the population, 60% are AIDs patients and the vast
majority is suffering from malaria, cholera, typhoid and other malignant
diseases. The buildings are hastily scraped together from metal pieces.
Water and electricity are non-existent. The streets are filled with garbage
and animal excreta, exuding a constant sickening stench. Volunteers would
walk carefully to avoid the sludge water to the end of the Mathare North
Road every day, where they would eventually reach the Supporting
Education School, Mathare Light Center.
The Mathare Light Center, now named Hope Primary School, serves as a
beacon of hope to all who desire a bright future. There are currently 214
students in the school, in which 165 of them are third grade or below and 49
of them in fourth grade or above. Currently there are six local teachers that
teach mathematics, science, English, and Swahili. However, due to the salary
being only 1,400 Kenyan shilling per month (about 20 Canadian dollars), the
teachers have been living beyond their means. They have been voluntarily
teaching, believing that one day the children will be free from the shackles of
the slum that so rigorously bind them. The classrooms of the school are
constructed using metal pieces and tree trunks. These dilapidated metal
pieces often gave the children severe lacerations (The situation has
improved drastically after the reconstruction). Every classroom has a
blackboard, chairs and tables. The blackboards are often painted boards,
which obscure writing. Moreover; the lack of blackboard erasers causes the
children to wipe the boards with their hands, which in turn bombards the
classroom with dust.
A volunteer once saw a local boy, no more than five, picking up a carrot next
to a garbage can and happily putting it in his mouth. The volunteer ran to
him urgently and knocked off the food from his hand while screaming NO
anxiously. The boy smiled with sincere innocence and quickly faded into
obscurity. Due to hunger, girls around 14 years of age are often abducted

because of food, which causes unwanted pregnancies. The children in the

school have bright smiles, simple, and ignorant eyes; fascinating yet
heartbreaking. These children might be HIV carriers and their smiles might
fade away someday. Surveying these grave conditions, volunteers cannot
help but to think about what kind of changes they can make with ones own
meagre efforts.
On January 2014, Hongyu Yang from Shandong University and Jingxue Li from
Taiwan Fu-Ren University went to Kenyas Mathare Slum Supporting
Education Center and took on the position of community-supported teachers.
During the experience, Hongyu Yang and Jingxue Li proposed Slum Dream
Building Project to help raise money for the children in the Mathare Light
Center to pay part of their tuition and entrance examination fee, as well as
purchasing daily necessities to their families.
On July 2014, a Dream Building Program led by BinBin (Chris) Yin was
launched to fund-raise for the reconstruction of the Mathare Light Center.
The intention was not only to reconstruct the center but also improve the
poor teaching environment, which would attract more children from the slum
to enrol. Chris hoped to kindle these childrens dreams through education.
The reconstruction project was divided into two phases. In the first phase,
the team constructed four small classrooms and a washroom. The second
phase included the development of a library, a kitchen, and an addition of
four small classrooms. On day 32 of the project, reconstruction has
successfully concluded, and Mathare Light Center officially changed its name
to Chang Rong Light Center.
Looking back, Mathare Light Center School was built with metal pieces. The
centre was perpetually hot and stuffy. It had rainy leakages, dim classrooms
and atrocious air quality. The kitchen was located close to a drainage ditch,
which led to awful sanitary conditions. In addition, childrens lacerations from
metal scraps often spread and promoted disease. Today, the school has a
permanent school building (with eight small classrooms, a library, a kitchen
and a toilet), which greatly enhances the learning environment. Children are
able to learn in a bright and spacious classroom, and therefore have gained
the means to pursue their dreams.
Slums have always been a complex issue. We understand that the previous
two phases of the dream building project might have only incurred minimal
changes to the big picture. But just like the old Chinese adage suggests, a
journey of thousands of miles cannot be achieved without the accumulation

of each single step, just as the enormous ocean may not be formed without
gathering every brook or stream. We hope that through our efforts, we can
bestow positive energy to todays society. We wish to reach out to
individuals, public organizations, and social enterprises to gain their aid in
providing a child, a family, or even a society the hope of survival.
To see the progress of slum dream building project or if you wish to know
more information about us, please do not hesitate to contact us through
these public platforms:

Contact us
WeChatdream_in_africa2014
Sina weibo@
Facebook: Dream Building Service Association
Twitter: DBSA2015
Volunteers
Chris (University of British Columbia) WechatY18635039955
Amber (Harbin Institute of Technology) WeChatjiangkunqi
WingShenzhen University Wechat632887854
JessicaChicago University WechatOoMelodyoO
Lucinda (Shandong University) Wechat: lucindayang1205
Attachment: Construction successfully comes to an end on Day 32!
(A letter to all donators)
Dear donators of the Slum Dream Building Project,
The dream building project aimed at reconstructing Mathare Light Center
began on July 22, and now, on day 32, reestablishment has officially drawn to
a close. Your affectionate gaze has always been focused on the children in
the slum. We hope to share with you the smiles of the children, share the

delight of witnessing the development of the school. It is just like nursing a

baby, Mathare Light Center has slowly transformed into reality from a tiny
seed, a tiny dream. We are gratified as we are thankful.
Looking back, Mathare Light Center School was constructed with old metal
pieces. The centre was perpetually hot and stuffy. It had rainy leakages, dim
classrooms and atrocious air quality. The kitchen was located close to a
drainage ditch, which led to awful sanitary conditions. In addition, childrens
lacerations from metal scraps often spread and promoted disease. Today, the
school has a permanent school building (with eight small classrooms, a
library, a kitchen and a toilet), which greatly enhances the learning
environment. Children are able to learn in a bright and spacious classroom,
and therefore have gained the means to pursue their dreams.
The children in the slum are unfortunate; fate has ravaged their body and
soul. However, they are also lucky, as they have your love as
accompaniment. Your solicitude has given the children the courage to trudge
on; your benevolence has given the children the opportunity to dream; and it
is no other than societys generosity that has given sorrowful souls hope, and
less fortunate people strength.
We cannot detail every single glorious moment in humanity, nor can we
describe every single instance of love and affection that warms the heart. It
seems that we have expressed all of our gratitude that we possibly could in
our lifetimes on the days that we received a donation. Yet no amount of
appreciation is sufficient enough for the love and sincerity that you granted
us and the children. It does not matter whether capability is high or low, nor
how much a donation is, nor how late you are at expressing your
benevolence, the only important thing is in your love. Your kind-heartedness
enkindles a new life, and your kindness shall give a child, a family, or even a
society the means of survival.
We now give our special thanks to Ms. Zirui, who donated about 6200 dollars.
Due to the immense amount, the principal has decided to rename Mathare
Light Center to ChangRong Light Center (ChangRong is the father of Ms.
Zirui.

(About the school)

(School before construction)

(School after construction)

(Classrooms before construction)

(Classrooms after construction)

(Front door before construction)

(Front door after construction)

<Concerning the signatures>

For all those benefactors that have donated more than 100 dollars, we allow
you to leave your signatures on the outer walls of the school. At this point,
there are still many anonymous donators, we sincerely plead for these
benefactors to contact us. We are deeply grateful.

(Volunteer Xue Chen is writing down relevant information)

<Concerning the donations>

<Concerning expenditures>
First and second phases of the project (since July 24)s expenditure list:

First and second phases of the project (since July 24)s transaction receipts:

Special note: we will be using the leftover money (about 1330 dollars) to
purchase textbooks, encyclopaedias and so on. We will update frequently on
any future progress.
<Appreciation from the children>

As a token of gratitude, the children have created their own specials ways of
thanking you
10 dollars or more: Personal appreciation letters written by the children
themselves in Swahili
20 dollars or more: The appreciation letter and a special Kenyan present
100 dollars or more: We shall earnestly engrave your name on the outer wall
of the school
We have already begun to gather the addresses of the donators, and we
estimate to send these letters by September. For this reason, we sincerely
hope that each and every benefactor leaves their name and contact
information. We greatly appreciate it.

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We express our sincere gratitude to all benefactors; we thank you for your
kindness, love, and solicitude. It is you that have given the children a chance
to live a happy life. We thank you again!
Sincerely,
The Dream Building Team
August 22, 2014