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ANNUAL REPORT

2012-13

2 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

ANNUAL REPORT | 3

CONTENTS

WELCOME TO THE ANNUAL REPORT

FOREWORD

4
6

ABOUT EPAFRICA
TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

9
13

THE SUMMER: MBARARA

THE SUMMER: KAKAMEGA
THE SUMMER: KISII

14
16
18

SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: NYAMAKOROBO

SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: RIAGUMO
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: SHUUKU

20
22
24

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES
CENTRAL WORKSTREAMS
RESEARCHER SPOTLIGHT
FOCUS ON: SHARED SERVICES

26
28
33
37

REFLECTIONS: ONE YEAR ON...

FINANCIAL REPORT

38
40

THANKS
EPAFRICA PARTNER SCHOOLS 2012-13

44
45

4 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

Welcome to the
Annual Report
Hello and welcome to the EPAfrica Annual Report 2012-13.

It has been another landmark year for EPAfrica, which would not have been possible without the hard work of all those
involved in the running of the charity, to whom we always owe our thanks. The Management Committee, Francesca Devereux,
Ashley Craft, Jenny Jones, Esme Nichols, Fiona Rushbrook and Ben Kett oversaw the smooth running of all aspects of
EPAfrica work. Uncertainty over contingency planning for the 2013 Kenyan elections was handled with the rigour and
professionalism that has become a hallmark of the charity.
A fantastic team of workstreams and university committees worked on many new innovations to the charity structure and
focus, as we completed the transition to become Education Partnerships Africa. Highlights for the year include: successfully
expanding to Uganda, continuing the professionalization of the charity and expansion of our summer research, holding our
first ever Alumni Dinner, and all workstreams working to our first ever Annual Plan.
Our largest ever Summer Team were dedicated and meticulous in their work, co-ordinating across three sites and two countries
for the first time. The expanded Central Pots scheme was highly successful in delivering water and electricity projects to our
partner schools. Overall, the summer was a huge success.
We learnt a number of lessons about the different educational context in Mbarara, and we are excited to consolidate our
expansion to Uganda in future years, as well as to return to Kakamega and Kisii.
Lucien Georgeson,
Communications
2013-14 Management Committee

It has been another landmark year for EPAfrica, which

would not have been possible without the hard work of all
those involved in the running of the charity, to whom we
always owe our thanks.

Its been another fantastic year for EPAfrica; heres a summary of the year in
numbers,

119

volunteers in East Africa and the UK

50

hours of training delivered

18

partner schools

41,077
invested in our partner schools

2600

textbooks purchased for our schools

78

schools visited

6 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

Foreword

Welcome to Education Partnerships Africas annual report for 2012-13.

This has been another great year for EPAfrica. For the first time, with our expansion to Mbarara, Uganda, we sent Project
Workers to three sites and two countries.
We had another excellent summer with 39 Project Workers and 5 Project Researchers from five UK universities investing
more than 41,077 in 18 partner schools. Despite the increased challenges now posed by operating across three sites and two
countries, EPAfricas hard-working volunteers were able to train for, prepare and deliver a successful summer once more.
This summer also saw the expansion of the Central Pots schemes. Funding for the electricity Central Pot was generously
provided by the British & Foreign School Society, and funding for the water Central Pot came from a number of donors,
including our alumni through the Regular Giving scheme. We are eternally grateful to all our donors for their incredible
support.
The money they raised allowed us to invest in electricity and water provision in a number of our schools. This expands
the opportunities that the charity has to systematically address infrastructural problems in our partner schools, helping to
maximise our impact in East Africa.
Another area of focus this summer was expanding our research projects. The aim of this was to expand EPAfricas
knowledge-base, particularly in crucial areas such as health and careers, as well as conducting evaluation-based research on
income-generating projects and electricity.
I think another successful summer is testament to the passion and commitment of the charity. The success of our model
comes from the constant efforts of all involved to build on current strengths and identify opportunities for innovation.
I would like to finish by thanking all EPAfricas volunteers for the hard work and energy they have brought to the charity this
year without them we, literally, would not exist. I am excited to see what the summer will bring as we return to Kakamega,
Kisii and Mbarara.
Tom Ebbutt,
Chair, UK Board of Trustees

I think another successful summer is testament to the passion

and commitment of the charity. The success of our model comes
from the constant efforts of all involved to build on current
strengths and identify opportunities for innovation.

ANNUAL REPORT | 7

Thanks to the whole team for another successful year.

This summer the volunteers completed the huge task of expansion to Uganda. We are continuing to build relationships in
Western Kenya and we look forward to further summers where strong partnerships are made.
The summer, as always, generated a few challenges for the Project Workers in Kenya, especially with teachers strikes reducing
the amount of time for volunteers in schools with students. I was, once again, hugely impressed by all EPAfrica volunteers
determination to make the most of their time in the summer, and their dedication to their partner schools.
With devolution in Kenya, the new county governments have the mandate to improve educational standards, in keeping
with EPAfricas mission. As such, we are likely to see more interaction with county secretaries in charge of education into
the future.
The three areas in which our knowledge management will add value to the counties that we operate in are; best practices
accumulated over time, our innovative ways of enhancing various self-sustaining programmes and our quest to scale up
post-secondary and career programmes across all our partner schools.
Best wishes to all of EPAfrica in the UK, and as always, asante sana.
Eliud Mogere,
Chair, Kenyan NGO Board

8 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

In Migori, we bumped into a gentleman called Joshua

Mogaka who urged us to come and work in the secondary
school in Nyakorere in the Kisii district... Sam Barnett, on the
origins of EPAfrica

ANNUAL REPORT | 9

About EPAfrica
MISSION STATEMENT
Education Partnerships Africa works in partnership with
rural communities in East Africa to improve the quality of
secondary education. We enable talented university students
in the UK to experience grassroots international development
and provide them with the awareness, skills and knowledge
to become leaders of the future.
OUR STRATEGY
We achieve this by sending talented university students
from Cambridge, Oxford and universities in London who
fundraise money in the UK for investment in our partner
schools in East Africa. We invest in resources and school
development, working closely with school management to
ensure that resources are fully utilised and our interventions
are sustainable.

We take a holistic approach, understanding that a good

school is so much more than just good resources. We use our
other Programmes of Delivery (PODs) to improve access to
co-curricular activities, information regarding health and gender
issues and knowledge about post-educational opportunities.
Our other interventions try to assist the wider needs of
under-resourced schools, through sports, music, art or drama.
Investing in the academic education of students as well as in
their broader personal development does not just help at an
individual level, but contributes to the wider development
of the communities that we work in. Students who have
benefited from being at an EPAfrica school will hopefully
grow up to be able to invest their own wages, skills and time
in their community and country.
Our efforts over the last 20 years have been focused on the
Kisii region in southwest Kenya. In 2011 we successfully
expanded to a new project site in Kakamega in western Kenya.
This summer we expanded to a new country and a new site:
Mbarara in western Uganda.

We take a holistic approach,

understanding that a good school is so
much more than just good resources.

10 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

THE EPAFRICA MODEL

EPAfrica has a model that frames what schools we work with
and how we work with them. The model was updated in
2008 after Free Secondary Education (FSE) was introduced
in Kenya and takes a realistic and sensitive approach, making
a strong but conditional commitment to our schools.
Following successful application and selection, each EPAfrica
partner school receives a base level of support. This involves
investment and PW presence for at least two consecutive
years, followed by a review between EPAfrica and the partner
school. The criteria for judging a successful EPAfrica school
following PW investment are as follows:
Teachers: trained and manageable class sizes
Management: clear financial planning, expansion planning
and leadership
Resources: well stocked library and laboratory with equipment.

A successful partnership after two or three years will see the

school become a Graduate School. A Graduate School is one
that achieves clear development targets, such as sustainable
levels of growth, self-investment and steadily improving exam
results. A Graduate School is also likely to have sustainable
initiatives relating to health, gender, post-secondary opportunities and co-curricular activities.
If a school does not show significant commitment to the
understandings outlined at the start of the partnership, it
will become instead an Alumnus school.
We continue to monitor our post-programme Graduate
Schools closely and may return to a school if we perceive
that it would benefit from further investment.

OUR AIMS IN EAST AFRICA

OUR AIMS IN THE UK

Work in direct partnership with schools to help increase

the opportunities for young people to access good quality
secondary education.

Offer a unique opportunity to talented UK students to

live and work in a developing country.

Invest in each partner school: to build its capacity for delivering and maintaining quality education. We aim to achieve
this through a programme of tailored resource investment
and school development initiatives.
Identify and select schools with greatest potential to benefit
from our programme: typically in areas with low access to
affordable secondary education and high potential for growth.
Connect schools and students with exciting opportunities, for example by improving or introducing partnerships
between schools and:

Promote understanding among young people in the UK

about the realities facing developing countries, especially in
the education sector.
Deliver a high-class training programme that enables volunteers to maximise the potential for impact in East African
schools and their opportunities for personal development.
Give young people the opportunity to be involved in all
aspects of the running of a charity.

1. Existing service providers for specific education
opportunities;

2. The Ministry of Education;

3. Local businesses.

However cheesy it sounds, EPAfrica has the ability to

change the direction of your life. Elizabeth Gunstone, former
Management Committee member

ANNUAL REPORT | 11

We offer a unique opportunity to

talented UK students to live and work
in a developing country.
THE EPAFRICA STRUCTURE - UK
Project Workers (PWs)
Students from Cambridge, Oxford, and universities in
London, who are the core of the charity. They fundraise in
the UK and spend 10 weeks in East Africa each summer to
deliver the PoDs in their partner schools.
University Committees (UCs)
These are made up of returning Project Workers still studying
at Oxford, Cambridge or London who have stayed involved
in the charity. The UCs are responsible for day-to-day operations, such as recruitment, training and fundraising.
Workstreams Leads (WSLs)
Workstreams Leads are responsible for key areas of work,
overseen by the MC. These include Finance, Fundraising,
PoDs, Training, Communications and Marketing, and
Knowledge Management.

THE EPAFRICA STRUCTURE - EAST AFRICA

Project Researchers (PRs)
These may be graduate students or undergraduate applicants
who have shown a special interest in and talent for research.
After spending six months designing a project, they travel out
to East Africa over the summer to investigate and improve a
part of EPAfricas work.
The Summer Team
The PWs are supported throughout their time in East Africa,
with members of the MC, UGCs and Workstreams offering
Summer Management and Coordinator assistance at each site.
Head Teachers Committee (HTC)
Set up in summer 2003, this committee brings all the head
teachers together. We meet annually with past and present
Head Teachers at the Head Teachers Conference held in the
first week of the ten week summer period.
Kenyan NGO Board
EPAfrica was successfully registered as an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) in April 2008. This gives EPAfrica
an official standing in Kenya. Four members of the Kisii
community sit on the board and all have been very active in
their support to EPAfrica over the years.

Management Committee (MC)

This is EPAfricas management team, and is made up of 6
members. The MC are responsible for the day-to-day management of the charity via the WSLs and UCs, by acting as the
main decision-makers on operational matters and ensuring
effective communication across the charity.
Board of Trustees
This is made up of 6 former members of the MC, including
a chairman. They take care of the charitys legal responsibilities and provide continuity within EPAfrica by overseeing
the organisations strategic direction.

12 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

ANNUAL REPORT | 13

Top Achievements
Looking back, we can see what a busy and exciting year it has been for EPAfrica, both in
the UK and in East Africa. Here are just a few of the highlights:
This year we...

sent 39 Project Workers and 5 Project Researchers to East Africa;

worked in 18 schools;

invested 41,077;

had our best ever year for Fundraising, across University Committees and the

Central Charity, fundraising to create 2 Central Pots for water and electricity;

then invested 4,360 on water and 1,617 on electricity through the Central Pots;

started to work with schools in Mbarara, Uganda, expanding to a new country and

site, completing our transformation to Education Partnerships Africa;

finalised a successful and professional re-brand;

introduced the Annual Plan to all workstreams and university committees to

streamline and improve the effectiveness of our UK operations;

consolidated our Shared Services into a new Management Committee position;

undertook rigorous 2013 Kenyan Election contingency planning;

introduced new charity policies for: data protection, reserves and research ethics;

held our first annual alumni dinner at an exclusive venue in St. James Park;

introduced the internal job board on newsletters going out to all our volunteers;

continued to improve on our already professional training, by adding site-specific

training;

delivered more detailed and comprehensive health training for the Project Workers

and Summer Team, written and delivered by medically trained volunteers.

14 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

The Summer: Mbarara

We begin our tour of the summers projects with Mbarara. Francesca
Devereux, a Project Worker in Masaka in 2008, returned to Uganda as a
Project Manager in Mbarara this summer.
I had been a Project Worker in Masaka, Uganda, back in
the summer of 2008. So when I heard that I was going to
be placed as Project Manager in our new site in Mbarara the
excitement of a new challenge was mixed with a feeling of
the familiar - that I was going home.

Our experience was very real, containing all the ups and
downs of living and working in a small town in south-western
Uganda. As a result, EPAfrica collectively gained a good deal
of experience about the nuanced differences between the
Ugandan and Kenyan contexts in which it works.

It was a pleasure to watch as the group of Project Workers

rediscovered all the quirks and charms of Ugandan life and
schools, from which stand in town made the best rollex (an
omelette wrapped in chapatti) to just how much matooke
(i.e. plantain) you could bear to eat at school dinners.

And personally, I learned a huge amount as a manager of

sixteen volunteers - I came back very tired but knowing
that in the five weeks I had spent in Uganda I had learned
so much more about myself than I had done in any other
part of my professional and academic life. For this reason, I
would definitely encourage anyone to consider applying to
the project management team in Mbarara.

The Project Workers learned to thrive in their schools, becoming

experts on water sanitation methods and the cheapest way
of getting the most resources. They participated in various
cultural festivals, not to mention purchasing a (very cute!)
goat. I felt very proud of all that they achieved and developed
personally over the ten weeks.
While observing all of this with a heady reminiscence, being
Project Manager was not without its challenges. Myself and
my management team became well-acquainted with the
various medical establishments about town, how to ingratiate
ourselves with our fierce landlord to ensure a sufficient water
supply for the house, and the very Ugandan phenomenon
of student rioting.

Francesca Devereux

ANNUAL REPORT | 15

EPAfrica collectively gained a good deal of

experience about the nuanced differences between
the Ugandan and Kenyan contexts in which it
works.

16 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

The Summer: Kakamega

This was our third year in Kakamega, and our volunteers and partner schools enjoyed another
successful summer. Matt Purtill, tell us about his experience as Project Manager for the whole
summer in Kakamega.
2013 was EPAfricas third year in Kakamega, although the
success of the project and the support we receive could fool
you into thinking that the charity had been based in the
region for ten times as long.

importance to secondary school students. Further time was

spent working with staff and students in drama classes, art
projects and even basic French lessons, which helped create
an engaging environment that allows education to flourish.

This year 13 Project Workers were based in 7 schools in

Kakamega and Vihiga counties, investing a total of over
15,000 in sustainable initiatives to improve the quality of
secondary education.

However, a list of facts and figures fails to capture how

successful last summer was in Kakamega. Having been fortunate to manage the project for its entire duration, my most
memorable moment was the headteachers debrief.

As ever, Project Workers invested funds in durable resources

for schools, but 2013s project also saw a great number of
investments in vital utilities, such as electrical lighting at
Ematsuli Secondary and St. Stephens Kamashia, as well as
water sources at Esokone and St. Josephs Shibinga. These
investments will allow students to remain in school during
hours of darkness and dry seasons - typically a crucial difficulty
for the rural district schools EPAfrica works in.

The principals in attendance were unanimous in their praise

for the Project Workers - one teacher going as far as to say that
they were the best yet in Kakamega. It was excellent to hear
such good things about the Project Workers thoroughness,
willingness to engage with the school community and their
hard work in ensuring the project was successful.

Beyond the monetary investment, project workers worked

to prepare health and careers events, putting students and
schools in touch with engaging speakers on issues of critical

These words from the headteachers were the perfect reminder

of why everyone involved in the charity works extremely hard
throughout the year to make the project happen; because the
project is something that can have a remarkable impact on
the schools we work in.

2013s project also saw a great number of investments

in vital utilities, such as electrical lighting at Ematsuli
Secondary and St. Stephens Kamashia, as well as water
sources at Esokone and St. Josephs Shibinga.

ANNUAL REPORT | 17

As always, our project schools were extremely welcoming

to EPAfricas volunteers and their hospitality was far greater
than could be expected. Managing the site and having the
opportunity to work with our schools and UK students was
a privilege. It will certainly be exciting to see the progress of
2013s project schools as well as the future challenges that
the cohort of Project Workers will go onto in the future.
Matt Purtill

However, a list of facts and figures fails to capture how

successful last summer was in Kakamega. Having been
fortunate to manage the project for its entire duration, my
most memorable moment was the headteachers debrief.

18 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

The Summer: Kisii

We close our whistle-stop tour of the summer with where it all began for EPAfrica in
East Africa: Kisii. Molly Manning talks us through a busy summer.
It was an exciting year to be part of the Summer Team in East
Africa, amidst our expansion to a new country and with so
many more volunteers on the ground. Alongside this, new
research was being conducted across both countries and
through working closely with the other Summer Teams in
East Africa, we also coordinated the delivery of two substantial
central pots to install water and electricity systems in 11 of
our partner schools.
Leading another project in our most-established site was
an interesting experience. The fast increasing bustle of Kisii
town was nearly unrecognisable from my first trip in 2011
as a Project Worker, a sign of the effects of the changes the
country is going through itself. We watched as the town grew
through new infrastructure to support 60 new Kisii ministers
and made countless new friends from the expanding student
community of Kisii University, some of whom were drafted
in to talk to students in our partner schools.
It was also encouraging to meet with the new local minister
for education in Kisii who told us of his plans to promote
polytechnics and vocational courses. Music to our ears! It
was a loud and vibrant introduction to Kenyan life for our

new volunteers. For the Summer Team as well it was a new

site with lots of new possibilities to explore!
One effect of the recent changes however, meant that the
project came up against some early obstacles. The National
Teachers Strike lasted a few weeks into the start of the project,
which was difficult for the new Project Workers, who had
been so keen to get started in their schools after months of
training and fundraising. The Summer Team was delayed
as well as we were limited to visiting only certain schools
until normal activities resumed. Using creative thinking
and team work, new tasks were started and the project was
slightly re-ordered to fit the changing circumstances. The
initiative, commitment and hard work of all our volunteers
was a credit to its success.
It was great to be out in Kisii once more, visiting our old
partner schools and friends. Back to my favourite diet of
chapatti, avocado and beans and long cups of sweet, sweet
chai! It is a great experience to manage the project, which can
be both challenging and unpredictable at the best of times
and working through it all with such a committed and driven
team was a privilege.

It was also encouraging to meet with the new local minister

for education in Kisii who told us of his plans to promote
polytechnics and vocational courses. Music to our ears!

ANNUAL REPORT | 19

For me, there was no bigger motivation than revisiting my

old school, Nyairanga, now a post-programme school, which
has since managed to develop its boarding facilities to provide
students a safe, comfortable and secure haven in which to
study and with treated drinking water for everyone. With
the grades, infrastructure and student welfare increasing, my
visit to see them became the highlight of my trip! I hope this
years new volunteers also get the opportunity to return and
see what all their hard work can lead to.
Molly Manning

For me, there was no bigger motivation than revisiting my

old school, Nyairanga; with the grades, infrastructure and
student welfare increasing, it was the highlight of my trip!

20 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

School Spotlight:
Nyamakorobo
India Barker tells us more about her time at Nyamakorobo Secondary School and
the village of Nyacheke; Nyamakorobo was one of the first year partner schools in
Kisii this summer.
Ana and I were living in the village of Nyacheke with the
family of Joseph Ondigi, Chairman of the Board of Governors, which included his wife, his children, many of his
grandchildren, as well as the two workers who helped on his
land. We considered ourselves incredibly lucky to be living
so closely with Joseph and his family, with whom we ate all
of our meals, as they were both very fun and very caring.

new bio-sand water filters. We were very grateful to John and

Daniel from Aquaclara who were incredibly helpful, coming
to look at Nyamakorobos existing water facilities to decide
how we could most effectively invest our funds; Daniel even
giving an impromptu speech on water filtration to the visiting
parents association when they ushered him in to the meeting!

Besides these investments in the physical infrastructure of the

school, we worked on health, gender and careers initiatives.
Nyamakorobo School had been set up just up the hill from
Josephs house, on land that he and his neighbours in the
We worked with NGO I-Rise to teach girls at the school
Quaker parish had donated. The
long steep climb up was rewarded
by beautiful views of the tea plants
Overall, Ana and I were really sad to
growing in the valley. However, there
was no escaping the real resources
leave Nyamakorobo, hopefully we will
challenge that the school faced:
Nyamakorobo was in its first year
be back to visit Kisii again in the future!
of EPAfrica investment, and didnt
have a library, enough books, enough
water, any computers, or even enough chairs to sit on. The
how to make their own reusable sanitary towels, which they
laboratory building, constructed with funding from the
took up enthusiastically. We invited health workers in to talk
Constituency Development Fund, stood completely empty.
to the students, separating the boys and the girls and using
our new anonymous health questions box for the students
With the help of the central pot funds for water and electricity
to ask questions. We also brightened the library up with
and some careful planning, Ana and I managed to stretch our
health murals with key points about malaria, typhoid and
investment as far as it could possibly go- installing gas and
contraception, as the school didnt have any publicly displayed
tables in the lab, electricity, tables and shelves in the library,
information before our arrival.
installing a 5000 litre water tank and buying some lab equipment. On top of this, with the help of Aquaclara, we installed
Our careers day went ahead despite the threat of a teachers

ANNUAL REPORT | 21

strike, with some really great speakers: the Principal of Kisii

University, a broadcaster from KBC, a local headteacher and
our good friend Vincent Ratimo, who was responsible for
installing the lab. The most inspiring speech came from Lydia,
a young woman of just 23 who had been orphaned by the
2007 election violence and had come from a very poor district
school much like Nyamakorobo, but had managed to come
first in her year taking a Physics degree, and thereafter become
Dean of St Annes College, a local university/polytechnic. The
students seemed to really appreciate her advice.
Overall, Ana and I were really sad to leave Nyamakorobo and
the wider community of Nyacheke. We will miss going to the
market twice a week and meeting lots of people, although
everyone laughed at our poor bargaining skills and we seemed
to make all the babies cry. Hopefully we will be back to visit
Kisii again in the future!
India Barker and Ana Diac

22 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

School Spotlight:
Riagumo

Riagumo was a third year school in Kisii in 2013, presenting different challenges
to a first year school; Alan Stephen has written about his experiences this summer.

ANNUAL REPORT | 23

We worked with Riagumo Mixed Secondary School in its

third year of investment with EPAfrica and found it to be
a brilliant establishment that is well suited to our model.
The management was very forthcoming to our ideas and we
worked well together to bring about sustainable changes with
long-term impacts on the quality of education in the school.
On arriving at the school we were pleased to see that the
laboratory and library projects, undertaken by the first two
years, were well kept and were being used effectively. This
allowed us to prioritize our investment into many other areas.
We found that while the library was being used effectively
there was still a shortage of books and focused a major portion
of our investment in increasing the book to student ratio of
the core subjects.
The school had increased in student numbers across the years
and is currently undergoing a shift to a becoming a boarding
double stream school. This transition was restricted by the
schools infrastructure, thus we decided to invest in school
desks and helping refurbish the windows in one of the buildings, which was then opened up as the boys dormitory. This
allowed the rooms previously being used by the boys as their
dorm room to become a classroom.
The school used a generator to meet its electricity needs
(including the running of its brilliant IT suite). This was
seen as a major drain on the schools finances and using the
central pot money available from the grant from the BFSS,
we helped finish the wiring required to connect the school
to the main grid. We also spent money on extending the
bore well already present to supply the students with a ready
source of water and bought a few more aquaclara water filters
for them. With the help of the school we organized a careers
and health day which was met with a brilliant response by
the students and the staff.
On returning to the UK following the summer project, we
were sorry to hear the passing of our headmaster, Mr Walter
Syongoh. He was a brilliant man who truly cared about
the school. His passion and drive during his tenure as the
headmaster brought about many wonderful improvements in
the school. He was a pleasure to work with and will be missed.
Alan Stephen and Nicole Nisbett

With the help of the school we organised a

careers and health day which was met with a
brilliant response by the students and staff.

24 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

School Spotlight:
Shuuku

From our first summer project in Mbarara, Jam Krayapoon describes the different challenges
faced by schools in Uganda from his time at Shuuku Vocational.
Shuuku Vocational Secondary School was a first year school
located in a small trading outpost called Shabia. One of the
four new schools EPAfrica was working with in Mbarara, it
proved quite distinctive in a number of ways.
The most visible was the number of students enrolled, a
considerable 942, a majority of whom were boarding. This
made investment in resources quite different from in Kenya!
Shuuku was also a private school, founded and currently
run by the director James Klear; this meant that teachers
received regular pay and held longer-term positions than in
government schools.
As it was the charitys first year in Mbarara, we were not
entirely sure what to expect in terms of facilities, staff, and
school life. However, we were impressed by the dedication
of the staff, and the close relationship between teachers and
students. We found that the school had a history of strong
academic performance (it performed 3rd in the district overall
in UNEB exams), but faced difficulties in science education
and lacked the relevant textbooks and lab equipment to run
practicals.

We felt that while the school would benefit from additional

teaching resources and lab equipment, due to its sheer
size we knew that it would be impossible to secure a good
student-to-textbook ratio and get the recommended lab
equipment needed to expand practical lessons. Due to the
aforementioned poor results in science subjects, we resolved
to focus our investment on lab equipment for the school. We
did also buy some new textbooks for teacher-use, reorganised
the library and introduced a new storage system for both lab
equipment and books.
The administration made it clear to us, however, that it
did not just want physical investments but also to have us
work with them to improve the quality of teaching and to
streamline the schools administrative processes. Seeing that
the administration was very open to our ideas, we decided
to focus a lot of our time on issues of school development.
To this end, we produced a report on examination procedures
and teaching methods, which eventually developed into a
programme for reducing rote learning in classrooms. To do
this we worked with certain departments to develop content
booklets for students for use in classroom activities and as

Shuuku showed us that an important factor behind

academic success seems to be the presence of dedicated
staff and a postive school culture.

ANNUAL REPORT | 25

revision resources. With the administration, we compiled

and revised rules and regulations governing student and staff
behaviour, clarifying conditions around bursary schemes and
staff responsibilities.
To supplement our efforts in improving education outcomes
and to ensure a holistic investment, we also worked with the
school on gender, health and PSO issues. We trained female
students in the I-Rise programme, teaching them to make
reusable sanitary pads. Two water tanks were purchased to
provide the students with potable drinking water. We also
worked with the administration to appoint an official careers
teacher, set up an alumni network and organise a careers day.
Overall, although we faced some hardships and difficulties with
the tragic and untimely death of the headteacher, Kenneth,
and the district-wide shut down, we felt that our time in the
school was positive and that Shuuku is heading in the right
direction. The large size of the school made it a good test for
assessing whether the EPAfrica model of investment could
be scaled up effectively. Although this presents challenges,
it is not an insurmountable obstacle. The EPAfrica model is
sufficiently flexible and accommodates less tangible investments, which dont require as much money.
Shuuku showed us that an important factor behind academic
success seems to be the presence of a dedicated staff and
administration, and a positive school culture. We still keep
in contact with the director, James, who recently informed
us that this years crop of students performed very well in

national examinations with twenty students achieving the

highest grade boundary. While this does not necessarily show
that our work in the school has yet had an impact, it does
show that the school remains committed to helping students
reach their academic potential, making the school a good
environment for future investment.
Jam Kraprayoon, Sarah Siaw and Helen Pittam

26 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

University Committees
The three university committees are the lifeblood of EPAfrica, recruiting new Project Workers and
guiding them through the busy year, so that they are ready for the summer ahead, and so much
else. Oxford UC President Matt Purtill tells us more.
In 2012-13, EPAfricas university presence continued to go from
strength to strength. Once again our university committees
in Cambridge, Oxford and London succeeded in recruiting
excellent project workers and researchers to work with our
partner schools in East Africa.
I personally had the pleasure of leading the committee at
Oxford University in a year where all three committees had
their own individual successes. 2013 saw London become an
even more prominent fixture of the citys student community, with volunteer applications coming from many of the
colleges that make up the University of London. The year also
saw Londons committee work with the University College
London Volunteering Society. In Cambridge, EPAfrica shared
a platform with other student organisations to discuss issues
surrounding student volunteering in international development.
These events have proved a fantastic opportunity to bring the
discussion on international development to a wider student
audience and Im certain will continue to provide fantastic
insights into how EPAfrica and other student volunteering
organisations can improve their work in the future.

2013 also proved to be a ground-breaking year for fundraising

in our university committees. In Oxford we were able to
win sponsorship from Raise and Give (RAG) through the
organisations charity ballot. This sponsorship, worth over
10,000, will be hugely beneficial to the charity. We were
also immensely fortunate to be elected as Merton College,
Oxfords supported charity in both 2012 and 2013, providing
even further assistance to EPAfrica from universitys students.
And the generosity of student bodies was not only present
in Oxford - in Cambridge five college JCRs gave generous
donations to EPAfrica making a cumulative total of almost
1000. Thank you to Wolfson, Sidney Sussex, Homerton,
Robinson and Emmanuel colleges for their generosity. We
are incredibly grateful for the support of the student bodies
who contribute so much to the charitys work.
Especially enjoyable as a University Committee President was
the opportunity to contribute to the charitys operation from
the very beginning of the year, recruiting project workers at
student fairs, and continuing to work with these volunteers
through their training and development up until the projects
completion in East Africa. Being able to see this development

In 2012-13, EPAfricas university presence continued to go

from strength to strength.

ANNUAL REPORT | 27

2013 also proved to be a ground-breaking year for fundraising

in our university committees.
in the UK students we work with was extremely rewarding and
a notable reminder of the leadership skills development that
is a crucial and rarely celebrated part of EPAfricas work. The
past year was a phenomenally successful one for the University
Committees who are at the centre of EPAfricas work. A large
charity thank you is warranted to the committee members
and volunteers who take time out of studying to help the
committees run so successfully. Thank you!
Matt Purtill

28 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

Central Workstreams
There have been many great improvements in the work of the central charity this year, in improving
our UK operations, the experience of our Project Workers and preparing for expansion.

ANNUAL REPORT | 29

TRAINING
The Training Workstream revolves around the people aspects
of the charity the meeting, the teaching, the socialising, and
the developing in a whistle-stop sprint through the EPAfrica
year. From Fundraising Training, to Strategy Training, onto
PODs, then Health, then Summer Team Training, Project
Manager Sessions, First Week Training and then GO! Our
PWs are in their schools, and their 10 week summer project has
begun. What a whirlwind and 2012-2013 was no different.
Several changes were made in the Training workstream this
year, allowing us to adapt to the charitys recent expansion.
Managing larger numbers of volunteers and preparing PWs
for a new country presented interesting challenges!
Alongside the expansion to Uganda, we changed our approach
in UK training as well, creating separate material for volunteers
going to different sites. Volunteers from our 5 UK universities came together in London for strategy and PoD training,
focussing on training in smaller groups, with content tailored
to their particular site, helping Project Workers to form strong
bonds with their project groups. Introducing site-specific
training allowed EPAfrica to maintain the intimacy that has
kept so many volunteers involved, while accommodating the
charitys exciting growth and development.
Knowing that the best means of learning was by doing, our
aim for the year was to make the training we delivered to the
PWs and the Summer Team alike as applied and as handson as possible. We also tried to ensure that the international
development context underlay our strategy training, to give our
volunteers a deeper understanding of why we do what we do.
To ensure a safe and successful summer we also introduced
new positions for Medical Training Officers, filled by medically
qualified volunteers. This allowed us to deliver detailed and
dynamic training to best prepare all our volunteers. All
volunteers were provided with extensive Health Training
Packs and Quick Reference Health Guides to safeguard them
on the project.
In addition, the training team put lots of work into developing thorough Summer Team training. All three summer
teams were trained together on logistics, leadership and
health. Alongside this the team created a detailed project
guide, which proved to be a key resource in East Africa over
the summer. Whats more, we added a dedicated Project
Manager leadership training and planning session too, to
equip our PMs on whom the success of our summers so
heavily depend with the skills they needed to lead each site
of up to 30 volunteers.
With the charitys biggest project to date, 50 hours of detailed
training allowed us to send and support 39 Project Workers
and 5 Project Researchers to work in 2 countries and 3 sites!
Molly Manning and Jenny Jones

With special thanks to Samuel Jones, Gabriel Lambert, Gio

Cracolici, Will Hamilton and Matt Boardman.

30 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

SCHOOL SELECTION AND PROGRESSION

SUMMER TEAM

SS&P was quite a complex task in 2012-13, owing to expansion

to Mbarara and concerns over the 2013 Kenyan Elections.
We had to ensure that there were enough schools in Uganda
to cover the possibility of not sending PWs to Kenya, whilst
keeping the strong links we have with current and pipeline
schools in both sites in Kenya. The team did fantastic work
and we were of course, delighted that there was no need for
a contingency plan.

2013 was a particularly exciting year for the Summer Team

Workstream as, after a long time spent preparing, we managed
to run the first ever summer program in Uganda. Each year
there are many logistical challenges in preparing our projects
in Kenya but expansion to Uganda brought its own unique
issues. This said, the fantastic foundations that were laid by
our three separate groups of in-country researchers (Buffy
and Sruthi, Matt and Rona, and Jan and Lizzie) in terms of
selecting schools, finding accommodation, beginning our
local network and rooting our understanding of the local
environment put the summer team in a very strong position
to deliver a successful summer.

The school selection meeting was held in London on 11

November. We discussed all three sites and potential Kenya
Go and Kenya No-Go scenarios. The rest of the year
followed the pattern of collecting in Deliverables from the
PWs from the previous summer, creating alumni briefs for
all our Summer 2013 schools, writing letters to all schools
concerned in the Kenya Go and Kenya No Go school selection scenarios (over 200 individual letters), updating Summer
Team training materials for Summer 2013 and passing on
information on pipeline schools to the new Summer Team.
The main areas of development in the SS&P world this year
was beginning to streamline the correspondence process with
schools and standardising letters, texts and databases. As
EPAfrica has expanded the task of responding to all schools
we have visited has become greater, especially as not all schools
are currently contactable by email. We have therefore begun
a gradual shift to greater use of digital communication and
this years coordinators were briefed to promote the value of
this to all schools visited.
Among the points to be developed in future years are how we
utilise our bank of pipeline schools, and what role do graduate
schools play in the EPAfrica family, how can we ensure we
stay connected to these schools and that they feel connected
to EPAfrica. The Annual Head Teachers Conference is a
great starting point however a number of other options have
been discussed this year to try and encompass our increasing
numbers of graduate as well as short-listed schools.
Laura Smith

Given the elections in Kenya during the summer of 2013,

the Summer Team preparations had to take account of several
possible scenarios to give us the best chances of continuing
our work in East Africa with minimal disruption. This
involved liaising throughout the year with numerous contacts
across business and government as well as on the ground in
Kenya in order to piece together an accurate picture of the
in-country risk. Contingency plans were set in place, but
fortunately none needed to be enacted as the elections passed
in a peaceful fashion.
As with the previous year, the Summer Team Workstream
has been working hard to solidify the systems that lie behind
a smooth running and sustainable summer. Building on the
knowledge accumulated in 2012, we were able to create
the most accurate and functional summer budgeting to
date, giving us greater control over our finances. This was a
particular challenge given that we now work in three sites in
two countries, with multiple contingency plans and fluctuating
exchange rates and inflation. One particular element of this
was clarifying the usage guidelines of the emergency fund.
Booking and coordinating flights for so many PWs and
summer team members is always a hefty task. A new initiative
was trialled this year to book flights much earlier than ever
before, using PW deposits, to reduce the risk to the charity,
and to minimise one of the largest contributions to PWs
costs. As a part of our risk management strategy, PW flights
were taken in and out of Uganda, leaving us in the strongest
position to weather potential instability in the Kenya.
This year was an important stepping stone on the path towards
efficient, professional summer management that can be scaled
up or down according to need. We are still learning so we can
adapt to the new Ugandan environment but the pioneers in
this years project have much to be proud of.
Particular thanks needs to go to Jan Freyberg, whose tireless
work and commitment as Summer Team Workstream Lead
was invaluable for the success of the summer. The emergency
contacts must also be recognised for their role as well as the
members of the summer teams themselves for their work on
the ground.
Ben Kett

ANNUAL REPORT | 31

PROGRAMMES OF DELIVERY
This year, the focus in the Programmes of Delivery (PoDs)
Workstream was on continuing the great work of the year
before and improving on it. An excellent team of PoD leads
was essential to this! They put in tons of time and effort and
despite all the stresses that often accompany the build-up to
a training day, managed everything really well.
The PoD leads went through the PoD pack to add examples,
check for changes, and highlight differences between the
situation in Kisii and that in Kakamegafor example,
concerning gender relations in the two sites. We started to
adapt PoD information to Mbarara, though with an entire
summers experience there, much more is being done in time
for summer 2014. The pack was also completely reformatted
and rebranded with EPAfrica replacing KEP!

With both of these resources updated, we felt confident that

the PWs would be well-prepared for Kenya and Uganda.
The training they received on PoDs built upon this excellent
base. Not only did we have the usual PoD day in London,
run jointly by the Training and PoDs Workstreams, but we
organised PoD workshops in each university. The goal of
these was to for PWs to meet up again, several weeks after PoD
Day, to go back over the PoDs (by preparing short presentations in groups) in order to solidify their understanding of
each PoD. Both of these were highly successful in preparing
PWs for the summer.
Kate Bulteel

The accompanying Case Studies Pack was comprehensively

updated, with a broader range of examples, including many
new ones. The Case Studies are intended to give project workers
ideas about the sort of investments they can make, so it is
essential to keep this information as up to date as possible.

Not only did we have the usual PoD day in London, but we
organised PoD workshops in each university.

32 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

RESEARCH

NGO PARTNERSHIPS

With five Project Researchers this year, we saw the largest

Research team yet!

This summer, we ran a set of pilot installations with AquaClara

in 3 schools in Kisii. This involved installing water tanks and
fitting them with AquaClara filters, to provide clean, safe water
from rainwater collection. AquaClara also provide training
in the maintenance of their filtration system.

This summer, two PRs were based in Kisii working on

evaluation-based research projects. To provide EPAfrica with
evidence-based recommendations for IGAP implementation
in the future, Jonathan Tsang focused on the evaluation of
IGAP projects (Income Based Generating Projects) implemented by previous EPAfrica schools.
A somewhat different project was carried out by our other
evaluation researcher, Isobel Weinberg. Isi examined the
use of electricity and water by EPAfrica schools to evaluate
the central pot schemes from last summer. Isobels project
also has implications for helping EPAfrica design an effective evaluation framework for the grant money provided by
BFSS, which was invested in electricity projects this summer.
Our three PRs working on exploratory research projects
focused on a range of topics. Hannah Marshall and Anna
Drummond worked on parallel projects in Mbarara and Kisii
to investigate the primary reasons for absenteeism among
our students and the effects of menstruation on attendance. Our other PR working on exploratory research, Paul
Chu, looked into PSO-focused research in Mbarara, to help
provide guidance for PWs on how best to tackle this PoD
in our new site.
Many thanks to Ashley Craft, Emma Beswick and Magda
Lomacka for their support and advice to the PRs.
As well as incorporating the findings of the PRs into future
training, the Research Workstream also made preliminary
plans to disseminate the work of previous PRs through a
Publications Section on the website watch this space!

The schools that piloted water tank and filtration systems

with AquaClara were:
Nyanko
Amaiko
Riagumo
In addition, I-Rise training happened again for Project Workers
in the UK, to allow them to train other Project Workers, as
well as staff and students in how to make reusable sanitary
products.
An NGO pipeline was developed to understand how we
can better manage relationships with other NGOs. Summer
Teams documented interactions with NGOs to help the
future development of an NGO protocol.
There were several other small NGOs that Project Workers in
Kisii worked with on a one-off basis to speak with students.
These were Millennium Manpower Solutions and Kisii Youth
Focus.
Finally, the foundations were laid for the development a
NGO partnerships protocol, and next year looks like it will
be an exciting year for formalising this process.
Ewan Blackledge

Eleanor Watkins

With five Project Researchers this

year, we saw the largest Research
team yet!

ANNUAL REPORT | 33

Researcher Spotlight
Project Researchers have an important role in understanding the contexts that we work in and
make a vital contribution to the development of EPAfrica. Paul Chu describes his experience of
carrying out research in Mbarara this summer.
I was a Project Researcher in Summer 2013 doing baseline
research on Post-Secondary Opportunities in Mbarara, Uganda.
This was my first time in East Africa. Being an avid reader of
African English literature, I had long dreamed of visiting the
continent and experiencing life in Africa for myself. In the
7 weeks I was there, I conducted more than 400 surveys, 8
focus groups and several interviews with teachers and tertiary
institutions.
I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone, both in
terms of the living conditions but also with regard to research.
This was my first time doing fieldwork. I now understand
the practical side of research such as survey design, question
phrasing and how a pilot study can really be a lifesaver!
The cultural exchange was also particularly poignant for
me. In my first week, I went around chatting with locals to
understand how they perceived their education system and
also to pick up basic Runyankore and forms of greetings.
During my time in Mbarara, I also completed a 47-page
Careers & Higher Education Guide to be placed in the
school libraries. It contains details about study and examination skills, ambitions, available tertiary courses, institution
details, and scholarship and funding opportunities. I am
very proud of this guide as it was the very first edition for
Ugandan partner schools, since it was the first year EPAfrica
worked with schools in Mbarara.
I celebrated my birthday in Uganda by heading to a school
for a full day of research!
In my last week, a few of us were invited to appear on a live
radio show! We were asked to give our opinions about work
experience and suggest some advice for listeners on how to
prepare to get a job or an internship.
Paul Chu

In my last week, a few of

us were invited to appear
on a live radio show!

34 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

In recent years the Marketing and Communications workstream
has gone from strength to strength. An important part of this
years work consisted of consolidating the groundwork laid
the year before. The monthly newsletter and jobs board have
become a regular part of EPAfrica life, vital to keeping the
community informed of important events and developments.
One of the biggest successes this year was to make the EPAfrica
blog post, always a highlight of summer communications, a
permanent feature throughout the year. Monthly instalments
combined insight, interviews and updates from contributors across the EPAfrica network. From an interview with
a Kenyan headteacher to a history of the charity from the
founder himself, the blog aimed to capture the spirit and
untold stories of EPAfrica. Its also been a great way to hear
from some of our alumni: thank you to all who contributed!
And reaching out to alumni was an important part of the
charitys work last year. Marketing and Communications
worked closely with Alumni Relations to get the alumni
newsletter up and running. Groundwork was also laid to

improve communications with our contacts in East Africa.

Marketing also saw some success last year with several articles
published in publications such as PI Magazine (UCL), OxStu
(Oxford) and The Student Times (national). Media interest
focused on a positive comparison of the EPAfrica model with
traditional volunteer teaching programs. Raising the profile
of the charity in this way will hopefully help both to attract
new volunteers and lend support to fundraising efforts.
Finally the Marketing and Communications Workstream
oversaw the creation of a number of different publications
last year including information leaflets for schools, business
cards for Co-ordinators and, of course, the annual report.
With the help of Alice Hogg, a very talented graphic designer,
all publications looked highly professional. As a result the
EPAfrica brand is now firmly established!
Michaela Rhode

The blog aimed to capture the spirit and untold stories of

EPAfrica; its also been a great way to hear from our alumni!

ANNUAL REPORT | 35

FUNDRAISING
Building on the foundations from our first year with a central
Fundraising workstream, we had a very successful year in
2012-13.
Possibly the most exciting achievement of the year was the
fantastic support that we received from British and Foreign
School Society in the form of a three year grant, dependent
on reporting after each year. The funds raised from this
grant will go towards electricity projects in up to 10 schools
in Kisii and Kakamega, and has the potential to have a huge
impact on the education of students in these schools. The
first of these projects were completed this year, and we are
very much excited to help more schools in future years.
We are also incredibly grateful to continued support from
the North South Travel Foundation, this year in the form
of a grant for the water central pot. This has allowed us to
complete projects in schools in Kenya and Uganda to extend
and improve water provision in our schools.
Elsewhere, we continued to explore easyfundraising; thank
you to all who have helped us to raise money! If you have not
yet signed up, please do so today, it only takes a few minutes
and raises money for EPAfrica without costing you a penny.

We also launched our first ever Regular Giving scheme. This

provides alumni and other individuals who wish to continue
to support the work of EPAfrica by giving a small amount per
month. Regular support like this is invaluable for a charity
like ours so we are incredibly grateful to all our regular givers!
Finally, to round out a busy year, we explored corporate
fundraising options and continued to improve our donor
communication and management activities.
Dan Wainwright

36 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

ALUMNI RELATIONS
We are very proud of our unique alumni network at EPAfrica.
Every alumnus of EPAfrica is part of a network of like-minded
individuals. Every alumnus has the shared experience of
travelling to East Africa and donating time and money to
help improve secondary education in Kenya and Uganda.
Our aim in 2013 was to re-establish links with alumni and
set up a blueprint for future alumni relations. I began by
conducting telephone interviews with alumni to find out
about their experiences and opinions. The results were written
up in an internal report that focused on how alumni can
be categorised into different groups with specific requirements. We also created an alumni database by consolidating
various records. A quarterly newsletter was established which
amalgamated information from the monthly newsletter
alongside specific alumni information. It provides updates
on EPAfricas progress, information about upcoming events
and ways that alumni can get back involved in EPAfrica.
An EPAfrica LinkedIn group was also set up for alumni and
current members.

to a lecture from a guest speaker and find out news about

EPAfrica. In 2013 we had Jonny Steinberg, an award-winning
South African writer and scholar, who spoke about research
from his latest book which explores the life of a Somali man
who migrates South from his home country, including a
spell in Nairobi.
In 2014 we plan to build on this re-development of alumni
relations. Our alumni are a vital part of EPAfricas continued
development. All our alumni possess important skills that
could help the charity to continue to improve in the future.
Charlotte Granville

2013 also saw the first alumni dinner. The alumni dinner
provides a great opportunity for alumni to catch up with
old friends, meet other members of the charity and listen

Our alumni are a vital part of EPAfricas

continued development.

ANNUAL REPORT | 37

Focus on: Shared Services

This was the second year that we have had a central Shared Services team incorporating IT,
Knowledge Management and Finance.
It was a year spent consolidating old systems and setting up
new ones to support the charity with the best financial and
technical systems possible in both the UK and East Africa.
Highlights include:
We compiled EPAfricas first Annual Plan, covering all
the workstreams and university committees in the charity.
This helped workstream leads and officers to plan their year
and to stay on top of important tasks and projects. It also
gave us an overall picture of what we do as an organisation,
and allowed us to track our progress against the plan during
the course of the year, with feedback and analysis relayed to
the Management Committee and Board. This has paved the
way for the Annual Planning process to be embedded into
EPAfricas operations in future years.
We trialled for the first time using Google Forms for our
summer data collection enabling the summer team to input
information directly into a central spreadsheet. This was a
brilliant lesson learning process for us and has acted as a
precursor to developing a central database which will be
accessed by online forms and in using Google for Non Profits
as our central Knowledge Management System.

We completed the move from KEP to EPAfrica by changing

the website and mailing list domains to epafrica.org.uk. This
has started a new website refresh which will occur in 2014.
We managed a turnover of over 100,000, of which nearly
36,000 of PW fundraising was spent on schools investments along with 6,000 of central fundraising on additional
water and electricity projects. We also embedded a system
of quarterly financial reporting and made improvements to
our accounting tools.
Claire Fyson, Internal Finance
Lucien Georgeson, Annual Plan
Arvind Kumar, Knowledge Management
Jenica Rawtani, IT

38 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

One year on...

Having completed her two year tenure on the Management Committee after the
summer, Jenny Jones reflects on the experience of being on the MC, what she
gained from it and where the charity can continue to go from strength to strength.
Youre going to have so much spare time! my housemates
exclaimed excitedly, once theyd overcome their incredulity
that I actually would be stepping off the MC and would be
(warning: heretical words to follow...) not involved (!) with
EPAfrica the charity Id lovingly poured my all into for
the last five years.
No more late-night MC calls on Skype, they asked? No more
Saturday meetings exploring the charitys strategy, analysing
everything from summer plans to impact measurements?
And, they added this time with dismay no more chapatti
dinner parties to celebrate a training session well done, or a
summer team ready and raring to head out to East Africa...?
An emotional launch party later, and of course, it turned
out that my housemates incredulity was partly merited.
The elusive spare time never quite materialised - work soon
saw to that! And, very fortunately, not involved was not
quite so cut and dry. So many of my close friends stemmed
from our unforgettable experiences in East Africa. Even my
boyfriend and housemate had got involved with official roles
in the central charity by the time Id stepped off the MC!
How could I ever leave?
For an organisation I feel as passionately about as EPAfrica,
Im pleased to say that the last few months have allowed me
to still enjoy helping at a few training sessions, but also given
me some much-needed time to step back. A perfect balance.
With the Alumni Dinner fast-approaching, I was asked to
indulge in a little reflection and nostalgia and, with a toe still
in the water but having shed the hectic schedule of a current
MCer; what perspective had I gained? What had hindsight
taught me that was obscured to those in its midst?
Its all positive stuff (phew!) youll be pleased to know. So
heres my top five:
Firstly, I still view EPAfrica as a unique organisation where
you collaborate and generate ideas with the most inspiring
people Ive ever had the privilege to work with. The exceptional enthusiasm and creativity in how we achieve our results
which charity members themselves shape is truly rare.
Secondly, time hasnt tarnished any of the pride I feel in
what the charity has achieved. Our expansion, our successful
summers, our increased fundraising, our professionalisation

and so importantly - the fact that we kept all of what we

loved about KEP and took it to a whole new level in EPAfrica
was no small feat. And whilst were a (rightly) forward
looking and self-critical bunch, we shouldnt understate
those achievements.
Thirdly, that all the skills, the experiences and the knowledge
that EPAfrica gave me have remained incredibly relevant in
my career. Understanding how an organisation fits together,
what makes it tick, and how to lead that whether in the
depths of rural Kenya or amongst the busy lives of all our
volunteers in the UK is pretty phenomenal.
Fourthly, were consistently concerned about impact how
to measure it, whether its value for money and whether
its enough. This is vital to the charitys development but
meanwhile we mustnt lose sight of that intangible KEP fire
and EPAfrica magic that we feel when our PWs are in their
schools in East Africa. That look in the Headteachers eye, that
trust theyve built with the teachers, that motivation theyve
shared with a generation of students this is the stuff that
cant be recorded; but for me, its at the heart of what we do.
And finally, rosy-tinted glasses aside - it was fun! At times
manic, busy and even stressful but from PW to MC, it was
a magical rollercoaster, and, so long as it remains that way,
Ill always have a lot of time for this charity.
Jenny Jones

EPAfrica is a unique
organisation where
you rub shoulders and
generate ideas with
the most inspiring
people Ive ever had the
privilege to work with.

ANNUAL REPORT | 39

At the end of 2012-13, five members of the

Management Committee and one member
of Board of Trustees stepped down as their
tenured positions came to an end. We
would like to thank them for their tireless
effort and wonderful contributions to the
charity.
Dr Matthew Sims, Board of Trustees
Ashley Craft, Model Manager
Francesca Devereux, Marketing Manager
Jenny Jones, Training Manager
Ben Kett, Summer Operations Manager
Esme Nichols, UC Manager

40 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

Financial Report
Education Partnerships Africa (formerly Kenya Education
Partnerships) (a company limited by guarantee)
Report & Financial Statements: 01/12/2012 to 30/11/2013
Company number: 04970135
Charity number: 1104888

Auditors
Given that gross income is less than 250,000 per annum,
Education Partnerships Africa does not require an independent
audit. Education Partnerships Africa strives to achieve high
levels of internal control.

Report of the trustees for the year ended 30/11/2013. The

trustees present their annual report and the audited financial
statements for the year ended 30 November 2013. The preceding
part of this report gives a detailed review of activities during
the year and future developments, which are expected to be
continuing for the foreseeable future. Net inflow of resources
within the charity for the year was 17,082.

Statement of trustees responsibilities

United Kingdom company law requires the trustees to prepare
financial statements for each financial year which give a true
and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the
end of the financial year and of its surplus or deficit for that
period. In doing so the trustees are required to:

Income and expenditure in the year included 123,878 of

money raised by Project Workers of Oxford Education Partnerships Africa (OEPA), Cambridge Education Partnerships
Africa (CEPA) and University College London Education
Partnerships Africa (UEPA) towards travel and school resource
investment on behalf of the charity. Total Income from both
Project Worker fundraising and Central Charity fundraising
was higher than 11/12. Expenditure remained at similar levels
to 11/12, grants for resource investment in East Africa paid to
OKEP, CUKEP and UKEP (not including flights and other
Project Worker (PW) costs) at 37,021 for the year.
Reserves are split between restricted and unrestricted.
Restricted reserves can only be used for the specific project(s)
for which the donors have specified upon making their donation.
The year ended with 40,417 of reserves.
Trustees
The trustees who served throughout the period are as follows:
Tom Ebbutt. Matthew Sims, Rebecca Mahoney, Elizabeth
Milligan and Steve Grycuk.
Secretary
Tom Ebbutt.
Registered office
Education Partnerships Africa, 86-90 Paul Street, London,
EC2A 4NE
Bankers
Barclays Bank PLC, 38 Islington Green, N1 8EH

1. Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them

consistently;
2. Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and
prudent;
3. State whether applicable accounting standards have been
followed; and
4. Prepare the financial statements on the going concern
basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity
will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting
records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time
the financial position of the company and to enable them to
ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies
Act 2006. They are also responsible for the system of internal
control, safeguarding the assets of the company and hence
for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection
of fraud and other irregularities.

ANNUAL REPORT | 41

Balance Sheet: 01/12/2012 to 30/11/2013

NOTE

30/11/2013 ()

30/11/2012 ()

40,417

25,585

(2,250)

Total net assets less current liabilities

40,417

23,335

NET ASSETS

40,417

23,335

Current Assets
Cash at bank and in hand
other debtors
Current Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

The funds of the charity

Unrestricted

37,582

22,318

Restricted

2,835

1,017

40,417

23,335

NET ASSETS
Statement of Financial Activities
30/11/2013

2013
Unrestricted
()

2013
Restricted
()

2013
Total
()

2012
Total
()

20,190

8,250

28,440

23,985

Raised by CEPA for resource investment

12,621

12,621

13,425

Raised by OEPA for resource investment

8,414

8,414

9,845

Raised by UEPA for resource investment

15,986

15,986

13,425

Raised by CEPA PWs for other costs

19,915

19,915

12,653

Raised by OEPA PWs for other costs

13,277

13,277

9,279

Raised by UEPA PWs for other costs

25,225

25,225

12,653

20,190

103,688

123,878

95,264

Incoming Resources
Incoming resources from generated funds
Voluntary Income

Total Incoming Resources

42 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

Statement of Financial Activities

30/11/2013

2013
Unrestricted
()

2013
Restricted
()

2013
Total
()

2012
Total
()

Grants to CEPA for resource investment

(12,621)

(12,621)

(13,425)

Grants to OEPA for resource investment

(8,414)

(8,414)

(9,845)

Grants to UEPA for resource investment

(15,986)

(15,986)

(13,425)

Other CEPA PW costs

(19,915)

(19,915)

(12,653)

Other OEPA PW costs

(13,277)

(13,277)

(9,279)

Other UEPA PW costs

(25,225)

(25,225)

(12,653)

Delivery of activities in the UK

Delivery of activities in Kenya / Uganda

Support of UK and Kenya / Uganda based

programmes

Electricity and water projects

(5,977)

(5,977)

(4,537)

(558)

(34)

(592)

(2,740)

Other charitable expenditure

(4,368)

(421)

(4,789)

(8,920)

Total resources expended

(4,925)

(101,871)

(106,796)

(87,476)

Net Movement in Funds

15,264

1,818

17,082

7,788

Total funds brought forward

22,318

1,017

23,335

15,547

Total Funds Carried Forward

37,582

2,835

40,417

23,335

Resources Expended
Charitable activities

Expansion costs

Reconciliation of Funds

All of the above result from continuing activities. There are

no recognised gains or losses for the current year other than
as stated above.

Act 2006 relating to small companies. The Members have not

required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with
section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The income for the year for Companies Act purposes comprises
the net incoming resources for the year and was 12,878
(2012: 17,082 credit).

The Directors acknowledge their responsibility for complying

with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting
records and for the preparation of accounts. The accounts have
been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to
companies subject to the small companies regime.

For the year ended 30/11/2013 the company was entitled to

an exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies

ANNUAL REPORT | 43

These financial statements were approved by the Trustees on

29th March 2013.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees
Steve Grycuk Trustee

the projects.
Resources expended
Resources expended are included in the Statement of Financial
Activates on an accruals basis, inclusive of any VAT which
cannot be recovered.
Tangible jixed assets
Individual fixed assets costing 1,000 or more are capitalised
at cost. No such assets are held.
Fund accounting
Funds held by the charity are either:

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the balance

sheet and statement of financial activities.
Notes to the accounts year ended 30 November 2013
1. Accounting policies
The financial statements are prepared under the historical
cost convention and in accordance with the Statement of
Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2006) applicable United Kingdom accounting
standards and the Companies Act. The principal accounting
policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements
are described below.
Donations and grants
Income from donations and grants, including capital grants,
is included when these are receivable, except as follows:
1. When donors specify that donations and grants given to
the charity must be used in future accounting periods, the
income is deferred until those periods.
2. When donors impose conditions which have to be fulfilled
before the charity becomes entitle to use such income, the
income is deferred in incoming resources until the pre-conditions
for use have been met.
When donors specify that donations and grants, including
capital grants, are for particular restricted purposes, which
do not amount to pre-conditions of entitlement, this income
is included in incoming resources of restricted funds when
receivable.
Income raised by project workers for resource investment
represents those funds which were legally donated to the charity
during the course of the financial year ended 30 November
2013. Additional funds were raised in the year by Oxford,
Cambridge and UCL university societies. These additional
funds were directly expended on Education Partnerships
Africa charitable activities in East Africa.
Activities for generating funds, for example, fundraising events
Income and expenditure related to the event are recognised
in the period in which it occurs.
Gifts in Kind
Gifts in kind donated for distribution are included at valuation and recognised as income when they are distributed to

1. Unrestricted general funds: these are funds which can be

used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees.
2. Designated funds: these are funds set aside by the trustees
out of unrestricted general funds for specific future purposes
or projects in accordance with the charitable objects.
3. Restricted funds: these are funds that can only be used for
particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity.
Restrictions arise when specified by the donor of when funds
are raised for specific particular restricted purposes.
2. Legal status of the charity
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no
share capital. The name of the charity changed during this
financial period, to Education Partnerships Africa.
3. Staff costs and trustees remuneration
EPAfrica did not employ any members of staff during the
period. The trustees did not receive any remuneration.
4. Unrestricted funds of the charity
30/11/2012 - 22,318
30/11/2013 - 37,582
5. Restricted funds of the charity
30/11/2012 - 1,017
30/11/2013 - 2,835

6. Related parties
The charity has a very close relationship with Oxford Education
Partnerships Africa (OEPA), Cambridge University Education
Partnerships Africa (CUEPA) and University College London
Education Partnerships Africa (UEPA). These are university
societies to which the charity provides support. During the
period the charity paid grants of 95,438 (2012: 71,279)
to university societies for school resource investment and
Project Worker costs in East Africa. This represents money
raised on behalf of the charity for this restricted purpose by
Project Workers of Oxford Education Partnerships Africa,
Cambridge University Education Partnerships Africa and
University College London Education Partnerships Africa.

44 | EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AFRICA

Thanks to...
Wed like to thank everyone who has
supported EPAfrica over the past year.
In particular we would like to acknowledge:
British & Foreign School Society
North South Travel Foundation
Oxford Raise and Give
Merton College, Oxford
Wolfson College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Homerton College, Cambridge
Robinson College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Robin Dormer
Sam Barnett
Patrick Timmis
Margherita Phillip
Veronica Granville
Susan Mitchell
Chris Granville
Thomas Wickersham
David Pickering
Anastasia Ushakova
Alice Hogg
Nasir Kharmali
Geoff Shiraz
Imran Saif Khan
Eliud Mogere

ANNUAL REPORT | 45

EPAfrica Partner
Schools 2012-13
We are incredibly proud of the work that we have achieved with all our partner
schools this year. We look forward to returning to those we are working in
partnership with next year, and we are excited to hear about the future successes
of our graduate schools!
We, as ever, thank our partner schools and their communities for their hospitality
and generosity.
Kakamega

Kisii

Mbarara

1st year schools

1st year schools

1st year schools

Ematsuli Secondary
St Stephens Kamashia Secondary
St. Andrews Secondary School
Gimengwa

Nyamakorobo Secondary
St. Dominic Rusinga Secondary
St. Jospehs Kiorori Secondary

Kakiika Technical
Nombe Secondary
Rutooma Secondary
Shuuku Vocational

2nd year schools

Friends Secondary School Ivona
Demesi Secondary
St Josephs Shibinga W
3rd year schools
Esokone Secondary

2nd year schools

Nyaburambasi Secondary
St. Vincent De Paul Nyanko
3rd year schools
Amaiko S.D.A. Secondary
Riagumo Mixed Secondary

Education Partnerships Africa

86-90 Paul Street
London EC2A 4NE
E: enquiries@epafrica.org.uk