On the 10 March, two former Oundle School pupils, Barny Dillarstone and Hugo Laffey will be completing the Three Peaks Challenge (with a twist) to raise money for the Kivuli Trust, a UK charity which supports the work of Gilgil Special School in Kenya.
Barny commented, “The additional challenge I have set myself is that I will be carrying a wheelchair up all three peaks; a fitting twist given the little boy I sponsor through the Kivuli Trust, Ian, is confined to a wheelchair having been born with spina bifida. Given my background in sport, as a keen CrossFit athlete, I am hoping to raise money to supply sports equipment to the school and also to put together a plan for some physiotherapy for Ian, and other children 
like him, who might then be able to regain some use of their legs.
I visited Gilgil Special School for the first time in October 2016 and was immediately struck by how happy and well looked after the children were in what is a wonderfully safe and nurturing environment.” Given my background in sport, I’m hoping to raise some money to provide some sports equipment for the school. More importantly, I’m hoping to put together a plan to have some of the children receive physiotherapy, in particular, Ian, who with some help might be able to regain some use of his legs!
The Kivuli Trust (Kivuli meaning ‘shelter’ in kiswahili) has built and operates two hostels specifically for children with mental and physical disabilities who attend Gilgil Special School. The hostels act as safe havens, providing the children with regular meals, proper beds and the care and support that they deserve and thrive upon. Working in partnership with the local government, who provide the classrooms and specialist teachers, their aim is to teach these children essential life skills such as brushing their teeth, cleaning themselves, washing their clothes and performing simple chores about the home. The helps them to become more readily accepted into their families and into their communities.
Kivuli Trust founder and trustee, Ryan Pape commented, “The hostels have made a profound difference to the attitude of the local community towards disability. Parents have seen that their children really are capable of learning essential life skills and therefore now accept them far more readily. They also realise that many of the children are capable of much more than that – and indeed a number of the children from the Special School have made such progress that they have now moved into the mainstream Primary School. Crucial to this success has been the involvement, from the outset, of all the key stakeholders in the community.”