Can I wish all our supporters a belated, but heartfelt, Happy New Year!! Many, many thanks your continued support through 2025 and we very much hope you will continue to support the valuable work of Catherine and her team at Imprezza Academy in 2026.

Whilst the school is just beginning to settle down into the new school year, January and early February are a strange and confusing time, as students can pick and choose where they go to school during this period. It affects the first-year pupils very much more than the older students who tend to return year on year once they are established at Imprezza, they are perhaps joined by one or two extras joining those years. In Year 1 lessons, you can be teaching fifty students one day and only three the next. I have observed this myself in previous years when I have been out there – it is very different from starting school in the UK! This year we have will have around 320 students although that will no doubt vary slightly as the year progresses as Catherine or others identify especially needy students or girls in real danger of early marriage, FGM etc.

Whilst it is the dry season currently in Kenya, there are up to ten counties in the Africa, many in the same area, in a drought situation with both livestock and wildlife dying. The government are supposed to be helping with food and water tankers for both people and livestock. Catherine says the country as a whole is experiencing dryer than normal weather. Whilst we are fortunate to have our own bore hole so we are not affected by water shortage, the weather and the situation in general are driving up inflation and this as always is impacting on food prices.

I am delighted to welcome a new Trustee, Emma Ross McNairn joined our team last week. I think it would be informative to have a feature in a forthcoming newsletter on our newest Trustees.

We look forward to seeing you at our forthcoming events all the money raised goes, after minimum expenses, straight to Imprezza. Nick at Trade Winds, and Marco at Marco’s Italian are very generous supporters and do a special rate for the food. The artists we use likewise do for free or a special charity rate (or for example Peta, who is performing at Trade Winds, has not charged a fee but requested a £50 donation for Alice Cross). All of them are keen to help and support Imprezza. Other events are in the planning stage, watch out for what many of us would consider “mad things to do” eg running a marathon, undertaking long distance walks…… they also deserve our thanks and support!

I am pleased to inform you that another group of staff and students from Combe Pafford School, Torquay are going to be visiting Imprezza Academy in March. On their visit last year, they painted several classrooms and offices, this time they are hoping to replace and renew some of the windows in the boys’ dormitory, using Perspex to replace the broken glass panes which let the wind and rain in. We have a problem with glass shattering at times; we are told that it is the different expansion and contraction of the metal frames and glass that eventually causes the problem. We need metal frames rather than wood as termites would eat it and then the glass falls out…… hopefully, the Perspex will solve the problem and improve the living conditions of the students. (See Luke James message below)

Please tell your friends about Imprezza and try to boost our supporter numbers. I have written this looking out of the window at blue sky and sun, I had forgotten what it looked like after all the rain we have had, spring is just around the corner. Thanks for your interest and ongoing support, without you there wouldn’t be an Imprezza!!

Best Wishes
Chris.

Our Founder and Director

Catherine Omanyo is the founder and director of Imprezza Academy, the school in Western Region, Kenya that the UK based charity Operation Imprezza supports.