Who we are

The Shonda Project is a small independent charity with a Christian ethos, which has helped provide Kenyan children with affordable primary education for over 25 years.

We believe that education is essential in helping communities move towards prosperity so back in 1993 we helped build St John’s School in the village of Shonda, Kenya and we have supported it ever since.

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we’re able to provide regular funding for classrooms, teaching materials and teacher’s salaries. We work with local schools and churches in the UK to raise money for specific projects. These have included building additional classrooms, sinking a well, installing a pump to supply running water and constructing a boundary wall.

The Shonda Project is run by a group of volunteers based in the UK, working with the Kenyan Caretaker Board, who have day to day responsibility for the school. The Board comprises people from across the community, from parents to retired government officials to Baptist ministers. We know that local management is paramount and we work hard to strengthen the capacity of the community to run their own affairs.

The project thrives because there is a high degree of trust between the school, the local Caretaker Board and the trustees based in the UK. Our mutual respect and confidence is based upon good governance and clear accountability. We are a partnership and we believe that is the key to our success. 

Our history

In 1994, when the Shonda Project began, there was no free state education in Kenya and the local community was impoverished. It was not unusual for pupils to come to school without shoes and hungry, having had no breakfast.

The project has always had a policy of providing sponsored places to local children whose parents can’t afford to pay fees. More affluent parents pay school fees for their children.

Since the project was founded there has been significant change in Kenya and the local Likoni area. The government now provides free junior school places and there is greater prosperity, so the numbers of children in extreme poverty are reduced.

However, the ‘free’ state education is not entirely free and does require parents to make some financial contribution. The primary problem identified by parents is the large class sizes in government schools. Classes of over 60 pupils is not uncommon. It is not surprising therefore that the exam results pupils achieve at the end of junior school and junior secondary school are typically poor.

Class sizes at St John’s are smaller, typically around 25 pupils per class, the teachers are committed to the children’s success and the exam results the pupils achieve are among the best of all the local schools. So good that the results are often better than the exclusive private schools whose school fees can be twice as much as St John’s.