About Kariandusi School Trust

In 1992, tribal clashes started in parts of the Rift Valley with devastating effects. Many Kikuyu villages were burned and the occupants forced to move away taking nothing with them. Slowly, communities resettled in areas like Kariandusi eking a living and building basic homes. In 1993, Kariandusi Primary School was started with just 35 pupils taught in basic grass thatched classrooms. These were still in use when Col. Harry Vialou Clark visited Kariandusi in 2000 with his wife, Alison. Pupil numbers had grown to 135.

In 2002, the school roof was blown off and Col. Vialou Clark pledged to construct a new permanent stone-built school. On his return to England he, Alison and Charlie Hopkinson, Director of Dragoman Overland, made arrangements to start up a charity in order to raise the £55,000 needed to construct the new school. Eight classrooms were constructed with a library, staffroom and administration offices and stores. This was the beginning of the Kariandusi School Trust (KST), now registered charity number 1101103.

The enrolment rose to 534 in January 2010. From their modest beginnings in 1993, over fifteen times the number of young children now receive a good basic education at this lovely school in this Rift Valley community. Additional classrooms were needed to cope with the explosion in pupil numbers so a further four classrooms were built in 2009 and four more in early 2010.

There could be no better reason or encouragement to go on and provide more schools in other communities in the Rift Valley. With Harry Vialou Clark's vision and inspiration, the continued involvement of Dragoman, a dedicated board of trustees and loyal supporters Langalanga was completed in 2006, Simba in 2008, Ngeteti in 2009 and Ngumo and Ndogo in 2010. St Peter’s Huruma and Karunga Primary Schools are being built and will be ready for handing over to the local communities in early 2011.
 
There is clearly a need to provide facilities for secondary education and two projects are under discussion as the Kariandusi School Trust goes from strength to strength. More information about all these primary school projects can be found on the School's page.
 
The Kariandusi School Trust has already helped change the lives of thousands of Kenyan children. The work continues. KST prides itself on incurring minimal administration costs and passing almost 100% of moneys raised on to the projects in Kenya. The trustees are all volunteers. Your support in any way, small or large, personal or corporate is crucial.