Merryland Kindergarten is located at Mairo Inya Trading Centre in the Ndaragwa location, Nyandarua district. It is located approximately 6 kilometres from Nyahururu town along the Nyeri - Nyahururu road, Kenya.

The Kindergarten started in the year 2005. It was established on the initiative of Lydiah Wangechi Gichane after losing her husband in an accident which left her the only breadwinner for her children. Initially being trained as an early childhood teacher, she intended to provide the best development for children between two and seven years. However, this has not been successful because the area is very poor and parents struggle to pay the small fees charged at the kindergarten. Ninety percent of the parents are casual laborers, and earn only 100 KSh per day, which just about covers food, house rent and very basic needs for their families. Therefore, parents are unable to pay the required fees. The area has a large population of children who need special care like orphans, mentally and physically challenged children and highly neglected children.

The children need to be protected from all forms of abuse. Even at home they are exposed to many dangers and forms of abuse. Some of them have been neglected and denied their rights. Due to the AIDS scourge, many children have been orphaned and left in the hands of relatives who are not aware of their needs.

Despite trying to provide all these basic needs we face severe problems:

- We do not own any premises and are forced to rent for unreasonable amounts
- We have high expenditures compared to income
- We lack enough space for playgrounds for the children
- We lack land to expand and to provide adequate class rooms with furniture
- We lack any kind of playing and learning materials for the children
- We lack medical facilities and any means of medical support
- We are unable to pay teachers adequately due to the lack of fees
- We lack enough workers and teachers

We would be grateful for any form of help or any donation you can make to help our kindergarten to secure the lives of these precious little children.
Children are our future and these children deserve to have a more decent life. Your help will be highly appreciated by Merryland Kindergarten and all the children.

If you would like to contact Lydia Wangechi Gichane directly, you may do so through
Lydia Wangechi Gichane
P.O. Box 595 - 20300
Nyahururu Kenya
Email: wangechilydiah@yahoo.co.uk
Cell phone: +254-0722-780529

Requirements for receiving in kind donations from abroad:
¨ Packing list of the items needs to be included
¨ Bill of lading
¨ Shipping line
¨ Items to be cleared immediately to reduce KPA and warehousing charges
¨ Clothes are discouraged from being imported as they are taxed (100% duty)

Otherwise you can email to one of the following addresses to get assistance and further information:

Daniele.Hoffmann@gmx.de (Daniele Hoffmann) adliakin@otenet.gr (Ingrid Liakopoulos) jonesfish@earthlink.net (Lisa Jones)

Picture of a recent fundraising initiative to provide essential waterbottles for the children

Hi there and thank you for reading this far.

We at Art by the Sea have decided to support this very worthy cause because I was alerted to the plight of these people by Daniele. Linda and I have three children and they are very precious to us. As parents you do everything within your power to give them a good start in life. So I cannot imagine what it must feel like if you become powerless to provide even the basic essentials of life.
For us this is a fundraising opportunity in the purest sense of the word. There are no tax benefits, no publicity and whatever donations raised go directly to the children and caregivers who need it most. There is no catch. The individuals mentioned above donate all their time and energy to the administration so there are little if any administration costs.

We feel very privileged to be asked to support this initiative and would love it if you would join us.
For any further information please contact myself or one of the above mentioned people or alternatively contact Wangechi wangechilydiah@yahoo.co.uk