Put your energy into schools - Liberty Living
We are saving energy to build schools!
Liberty Living embarked on a new project in September 2009 to meet our corporate and social responsibilities and to reduce our carbon footprint. Our aim is to inspire all of our residents to use less energy through a simple set of everyday energy reduction practices with the aim of using 10% less energy compared to the 2008/9 academic year.
In order to succeed it is important to involve every one of our 320 employees and 15,000 students, parents/guardians and University partners. The challenge is how we can actually inspire all of these groups to help us to use less.
Liberty Living had already contracted for a supply of green electricity which is guaranteed to have been produced in an environmentally friendly manner (e.g. wind (on-shore and off-shore), Hydro, Tidal).
We have launched this unique idea for energy reduction initiative via our 'Put your Energy into Schools' project, where targeted reductions in energy usage are met with tangible donations to charity supporting children and their education.
After some research we discovered the admirable work of The Kipungani Schools Trust based in Kenya. They are a charitable organization, administered without cost, that rebuilds primary schools along the coast of Kenya, funds related community projects and sponsors scholarship students to move on to secondary education. Its ethos is to ensure that every penny raised arrives in Africa without deduction and is spent in an ethical, efficient and economical way, demonstrating to both Kenyans and donors alike that small sums of money, effectively spent, can and will change Africa and its children.
Then they found a school for Liberty Living to support — 'Kibaoni' a small community school which had been built by parents — it has no Government support, and there is just one building housing 200 pupils from years 1 to 4.
There are no facilities such as toilets, much less drinking water. The majority of students who live at a Liberty Living residence can literally fall out of bed into their University, but these children travel for up to 2 hours a day to get to school, live in extreme poverty, with very little rainfall over the last 5 years.
Liberty Living have now committed to a £25,000 donation over two years, based on our energy reduction targets being achieved — 10% reduction in kWh used. In addition they have committed a further £13,000 from fundraising. This would mean to Kibaoni the ability to extend education to year 8, a critical year of education for 12 year olds. They will provide 4 new rooms, making room for up to 550 pupils, and install new toilet facilities and water tanks. The school will be rebuilt by local craftsmen giving them a sense of pride and achievement — a hand up not a handout! When the building work is complete, the school will gain the support of the Kenyan Government who will in turn provide teachers and protection for the school. Liberty Living and our students will leave behind their legacy!
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