About us
History
In January 2005 Will Tudor-Evans and Ollie Webb spent three months teaching in a primary school in the Kericho area of Kenya. The town of Kericho is the tea capital of Kenya in the Western Highlands, just east of Lake Victoria. During their placement they were dismayed to see the number of children who were not able to continue their education on to secondary school as their families simply could not afford it. Without this a child’s chances of a reasonable life and job are extremely poor. When Will and Ollie found out that the cost of secondary education could be as little as around £300 a year, they realized they could make a difference. Hence the Saramek Trust was set up.
The Saramek Trust is named after the primary school at which Will and Ollie volunteered (Saramek Primary School). The Trust specifically targets talented children who without sponsorship would have no chance of attending secondary school. The demand for sponsorship is huge, so each year a shortlist of potential candidates is drawn up. Sponsorship is then decided on funding availability as well as the children’s primary school exam results.
The Trust could not run smoothly without the help of Roger Hollingworth, a retired UK physics teacher who spends part of the year out in Kenya, most recently teaching in a new secondary school. He helps to select and monitor the sponsored children, as well as ensuring the correct and appropriate payments are made. He has been sponsoring children himself for a number of years, so his experience and advice have proven invaluable.
In January 2007 Will and Ollie started sponsoring Moses Omondi who had been gaining consistently high grades in his exams and so was able to pass into Kericho High School. This is one of the top schools in the area and gives a child a strong chance of gaining a place at university. In January 2008 they began sponsoring Simon and Jeremiah and now have a shortlist of four from Saramek Primary for 2010.
Will and Ollie would also like to thank Africa and Asia Venture, the Gap Year Organization that arranged their teaching placement in Kenya and then put them in touch with Roger Hollingworth.