Children enrolled at the River Likii School for Special Needs near Nanyuki town will soon enjoy access to quality vocational education, following the commissioning of  a project to develop a purpose built Vocational Training Workshop.

The workshop to be constructed at an estimated cost of Kshs 4million at the River Likii School for Special Needs Children, is sponsored and supported by the Fairmont Mt Kenya Safari Club, Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and a United States based education NGO -The Nobelity Project  who are joining hands to facilitate vocational education.

The Nobelity Project, works with school partners in East Africa, Latin America and the U.S. to build critically needed educational infrastructure, support literacy and scholarship, and promote conservation and community connection.

River Likii School for Special Needs Children, is a mixed public boarding institution for learners with multiple disabilities including intellectual challenges, cerebral palsy learners and autistic syndrome disorders.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony near Nanyuki town, Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy Patron, Mr. Humphrey Kariuki, said the construction of a modern vocational training workshop will help equip the children with critical skills to guarantee their self-reliance in life.

The students will enjoy the delivery of technical courses ranging from computer studies, home economics, beadwork and jewellery, tailoring and dressing making, woodwork, masonry, creative arts and design to enable them participate in income generating programmes.

“In conjunction with Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, KFS and The Nobelity Project, the workshop will provide a much needed solution to one of the most pressing needs at the school, which is vocational training facilities to assist the students adopt independent living and skills that will help them become self-reliant adults,” Kariuki said and added that, “disability is never a mark of inability and we are positive that this workshop will transform lives.”

While welcoming the support from the project donors, River Likii Special Needs School Chairman, Joseph Kilai said the completion of the modern workshops in the next 6 months and subsequent equipping of the facilities will allow the school to provide enhanced vocational courses.

United States based Writer and filmmaker Turk Pipkin who is also the director of the Nobelity Project said the organization currently works in 45 school communities across rural Kenya building classrooms, libraries, computer labs, kitchens, dorms and clean water systems, impacting over 10,000 students every year.

“We also support college scholarship programs to assist students to continue their education despite financial hardship. A school is so much more than the bricks and mortar, but they are a great place to start…” said Pipkin.

The River Likii School for Special Needs Children in Nanyuki, Kenya is a public boarding institution with 108 students, many with intellectual challenges, and many more who are challenged by Autism, Down’s Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.

In 2014, the Nobelity Project, partnered with Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club to build a much-needed new classroom for students with cerebral palsy.