Patron
British Royal and Celebrity Biographer
Andrew Morton
Rose Tree Cottage’s African Children’s Charitable Foundation ‘Bloom Where Planted’ is now firmly established enabling us to continue to provide much needed assistance, both practical and financial, to help maintain the school buildings; provide materials, and, most importantly, support and improve the education of the many dear children who attend Rose Tree Cottage’s adopted school in Kenya.
There is a school in Africa …
In Kenya, to be a little more precise. When we first took a group on Safari twenty years ago (September, 2003), we visited a school of about 200 children in great need. It was without doors, windows or floors; it did have a roof, but a leaky one! We found we could not leave it behind… the school and the children remained in our hearts and required our attention.
With the help and advice from friends in Kenya, the project of refurbishing the school has grown into a bigger picture of changing lives. From putting in floors, a new roof, windows, plastering walls, etc., it has become a full time, full spectrum education mission.
Bloom Where Planted not only works to provide a better learning environment for primary students (now numbering nearly 600), but we also provide school supplies, books, clothing, shoes and more. As students leave the Primary school after Class 8, we recruit sponsors for as many children as we possibly can in order to provide a Secondary (High School) education for them. Over the last seven years, we have sponsored over 150 students through Secondary School; 40 of those have gone on to various colleges and universities around Kenya.
The most important thing we supply is love. We spend time with the children, reading stories, working on art and craft projects or playing games; we dance with them, watch their plays, cry at their speeches.
We provide guidance and inspiration: Guidance in the form of discussing responsible moral and ethical behavior with students at the appropriate age level. We have introduced experts in health and conservation regarding the student’s future responsibilities for themselves and their environment. Inspiration from professionals in their country as well as volunteers who join us in Kenya to teach at our ‘Enrichment Camps’, such as a British photographer who has worked with National Geographic; a JPL specialist in Robotic Planetary Exploration; a psychologist; a librarian; just to name a few… people who expand their knowledge of the world and provide a new prospective. All of this because we want to encourage children to “Bloom where they are planted”… to thrive, bloom and be good citizens in their own country.
(Updated: 2023)
The Rose Tree Cottage African Children’s Foundation
A 501(c)(3) Public Charity
Mission Statement
To enhance the lives of children and further education in African countries by providing books, improved learning environments, school lunches and scholarships. By educating girls and boys, we hope to help them ‘Bloom where they are planted’ — to prosper and be good citizens in their own countries, promoting peace and goodwill in the world.
Our Rose Tree Cottage African children’s foundation Bloom where Planted is now firmly established and enables us all to be of even more help and assistance to the dear children in “our adopted school” in Kenya who have been affected by problems, both new and old, in Kenya. To date, well over $30,000 has been donated, as well as many books and other supplies, and we know we can achieve much, much more in the future.
On visits to Kenya, and “our school”, the children look forward to entertaining us as much as we look forward to seeing their smiles and the progress we’ve made with their learning environment and their welfare through our Bloom where Planted Foundation.
