Straw to Bread

The swing-set that built a school

Back in the early days of Straw to Bread, a U.S. college student, Jacob Cooper, gave his birthday money to build a swing-set for the Kenyan children to enjoy. Every day, families flocked to the vacant lot where the swing stood. As their children played, parents talked and dreamed of building a primary school so excellent that their children could flourish. Bethlehem Home Kouko Academy opened in October of 2010, funded by a Straw to Bread donation that was intended only to build a storage building and a latrine. In order to get the school started quickly, local workers constructed simple buildings of branches and scrap-metal with dirt floors.

Three permanent brick classrooms and a library followed.

In 2019, Straw to Bread funded a beautiful three-story building with nine classrooms.

In 2022, the second large building was added, along with a modern sanitation system and an enclosing security fence and gate.

We started the school by adding one grade at a time until, in 2016, Bethlehem Home Kouko Academy primary school had its first full complement of students. These students are sponsored by generous Straw to Bread donors for $650 a year, (through grade 6) which includes school tuition, uniforms, free healthcare, and—most importantly—two meals a day. This is the only food that most of these children get to eat each day. Our Junior Secondary School was started in 2023 (grades 7-9), and those students receive all of the above plus advanced labs, textbooks, and teachers.

Our school has been at the top of its district since the beginning, proving that hope, one meal a day, and a caring community are more important than even pencils and paper. Every one of the Bethlehem Home Kouko Academy has been part of the top 5-15% of children in Kenya who passed the national exam that would allow them to go on to a fine residential high school. Each of these students also has a Straw to Bread sponsor who gives $650 per year for tuition, room, board, uniforms, books, and personal items.

As Bethlehem Home students began to graduate from secondary school, they continued to excel. We have nine students in college (3-year diploma programs) and three in university. ($3-$4000 per year, including tuition, room and board).

“Thread-ucation”—what’s that?

These motivated teachers have developed an entire curriculum for health education, including reproductive health and life skills.  They are also collaborators with Straw to Bread in providing the Bethlehem Home Kouko Academy girls (and the older graduates now in boarding school) with sanitary supplies that allow them to stay in school instead of missing class each month. Bethlehem Home women want to develop a more permanent solution by starting a cottage industry to sew underwear with reusable sanitary pads.  The Straw to Bread support for this project is called “Thread-ucation.”  On the Plateau, the project is known as “Gracious Girls.”

On their own, some of the Bethlehem Home Kouko Academy teachers and other women in the community have sought out local girls who had dropped out of school and befriended them, in order to support them and teach them skills. They meet regularly in small groups across the Plateau.

Here’s more about our school.