More than 800 pupils from Kitere Primary School will benefit from classroom renovations, new desks and piping of clean water within the school. This is courtesy of the Shine Kenya Shinda Mamilii Kama Bingwa campaign grand prize victory by 24-year old Kepher Okoth from Migori.
The renovations and piping will be funded by the extra Ksh. 1 million awarded to Okoth, who won the Ksh 5 million grand prize in the Shine Kenya Shinda Mamilii Kama Bingwa promotion. To help realize his dream, Safaricom Foundation has contributed an additional Ksh. 1.3 million, bringing the total to Ksh. 2.3 million, to complete the water supply project and install handwashing points for the pupils.
In addition to the renovations, the pupils of Kitere Primary school also received school bags crafted from recycled Safaricom billboard materials. This is part of Safaricom’s sustainability program geared towards environmental conservation through recycling.
Other community engagements done in Migori County courtesy of Safaricom include a medical camp to offer eye care consultations, breast cancer screening, general doctor consultations and child health consultations. Patients with Fistula related issues also received free surgeries courtesy of a free fistula camp. Safaricom also visited hospitals in Migori to distribute mama-packs to new mothers.
Speaking at the launch of the renovation project at the school, Fawzia Ali-Kimanthi, Chief officer of Consumer Business at Safaricom said, “We designed this campaign in such a way that whoever wins a million shillings and above, received an additional cash from Safaricom Foundation to support community projects of their choice. Kepher Okoth, who was our grand prize winner of Ksh. 5 million, received an extra Ksh. 1 million and he has chosen to renovate his former primary school. This way, the benefits of this promotion extend beyond individual winners to positively impact wider communities.”
Meanwhile, Kepher Okoth, the grand prize winner, could not hide his joy as he received a heroic welcome home. He said, “I want to extend my gratitude to Safaricom, not only for awarding me as the grand prize winner, but also for providing Ksh. 1 million to support my community. I have chosen to support my former primary school by renovating and furnishing a few classrooms and addressing their longstanding water supply challenges,” Okoth said.