A propos de nous

1965 Foundation of the school

The Port Reitz School was founded in 1965 by a wonderful English lady called Margaret Beetham, who supported the school throughout her life and who continues to support the school through her will. Over time, the school has grown under the auspices of the Kenya Methodist Church into a mixed boarding school that welcomes children of all religions.

Mme Margaret Beetham

2009 Creation of the Foundation

During a trip to Mombasa in 2006, Alexandra Hermens and Wendy Baardman met with Asava Morrison who was at the time working in the hotel where Alexandra and Wendy were staying. In addition to his work at the hotel, Asava volunteered at the Port Reitz School. At the request of Alexandra and Wendy, they visited the school with Asava and found that there were many problems including inadequate hygiene, a lack of water, food, insufficient or broken wheelchairs, lack of medication, infrastructure and school supplies. 

Very naively, Alexandra and Wendy thought that sponsoring a few children could improve the situation. Returning in 2009 they soon realized that despite the tremendous commitment of the staff, the situation had only worsened and the school was potentially going to close its doors permanently. Knowing that if the school closed, these extremely vulnerable children would have had nowhere else to go, Alexandra and Wendy decided to take the bold step of creating the Friends of the Port Reitz School Foundation. The foundation needed a trusted and full-time person to help and thankfully Asava is that person.