The Darwin Famous Five held a Wine Tasting event on 10 June 2009 and raised funds to help build a toilet block for the school, together with a toilet for the volunteers and one for the teachers.
They are now known as the "Darwin Dunny Donors" aka -
Diana Jarvis
Michele Hogan
Penni Tastula
Rosemary Cambell
Sharon Wilson
The Dawin Famous Five raised enough funds to buy text books and some more desks & chairs.
U K Support for Destiny Garden School 
Destiny Garden School comes under the umbrella of the UK Charity ’ Destiny Children’. This is a recently formed charity whose objective is -
"The advancement of the education and wellbeing of disadvantaged children in Kenya, particularly but not exclusively those at Destiny Garden School, Mombasa"
Initailly, to carry out this objective, ’Destiny Children’ are aiming to get all the children sponsored, and at £10 per month this will fully cover the running costs of the school. To learn more about the sponsor programme please see ’Sponsor a Child’.
If you would like to help educate a child at Destiny Garden School, please contact Judy Roper, the UK Sponsor Co-ordinator via mail: destinychildren@live.co.uk.
For more detials about Destiny Children please visit their website - www.destinychildren.co.uk
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A Broader View Volunteers is a non-profit organization based in Pennsylvania. With a love for humankind, and a motivated spirit to help others, A Broader View was created in the belief that one person can make a difference in the lives of others. Please visit their website for more details - www.abroaderview.org
Sarah and Oliver Ehlers, Founders and Directors of ABV, work in partnership with Jacob at Destiny Garden School and have
arranged for several volunteers to work at the School during 2009, and have others scheduled to go there in 2010. The payments that ABV receive from volunteers is used not only to cover their meals and accommodation, but also to provide donations directly to the program.
In 2009, with the news coming out of Kenya about drought and poverty, ABV Volunteers made a $2000 donation to Destiny Garden School to help them purchase farming and irrigation equipment with the aim to continue sustaining the feeding program of 180 children in the School - see page on ABV website for more details.
This Christmas ABV sent funds over to Jacob so that he could provide each of the children with a gift and a special Christmas meal. They also gave all the teaches and Jacob a Christmas bonus, which was a wonderful, unexpected surprise for them.
During the second half of 2009 the following volunteers worked at Destiny Garden School - see below for some of their comments about volunteering at the School.
Jackie Price - 5th May to 19 October 2009
Jessica Orologio - 30th June to 25th August 2009
Lindsay Smith - 30th June to 25th August 2009
Angela Nigro - 30th June to 25th August 2009
Shannon Matteson - 8th July to 2 September 2009
Suzzy Lee - 4th December to 11th December 2009
Catherine Rondeau- 4th December to 11th December 2009
Jackie Price, Australia
Destiny Garden School opened in April 2009 and Jackie, who lives in Australia, joined the School project in May for 6 months.
Jackie found it exciting being involved in the project from the beginning and her voluntary work varied from teaching Masikah, the school administrator, some basic bookkeeping, to helping Jacob set up safe and comfortable accommodation for volunteers.
Amongst other things, Jackie has helped the school get desks, chairs and blackboards for the classrooms and school uniforms for the children.
Her Friends in Australia held a fund raising event which raised enough to enable the School to build a new toilet block.
Jackie says - "Working at Destiny Garden School has been a truly rewarding experience and I cannot speak highly enough of what Jacob is doing to help these poor and vulnerable children. I have lived in Jacob’s apartment with his wife, Brenda and their baby daughter Marvel, for the last 6 months. They have made me part of the family and looked after me in a way I never expected. I would have no hesitation in recommending other volunteers to come and work at Destiny Garden School."
Jessica, Canada
Jessica from Canada is studying to be a community development worker. She came to Destiny Gardens in July and August 2009 to get some experience working with a grass roots organization. Jessica is pictured here with a group of Destiny Garden School Children that she took on an outing to the Nature Haller Park
Jessica says – “I can’t speak highly enough about my time in Africa . The kids were amazing. They are so eager to get to know you. If you are willing to spend the time reading a book, you will quickly find yourself surrounded by a bunch of wonderful kids, super excited to listen, it’s adorable. I was so surprised by how quickly I bonded with them.
As a community development student, I really admire Jacob’s focus on the future of the school. He is always looking for new and inventive ways to make the school self-sustainable. For example he started a garden on the school grounds. The crops from the garden are fed to the children and sold to raise money for the school.
This program is also a great way to experience Africa . The volunteer house Jacob is in central Mombasa and provides good access to all sorts of great tourist attractions, like safaris and beaches. You really get the best of both worlds."
Shannon Matteson, USA
Shannon, from the U.S.A, is a recent college graduate with a degree in elementary education. She did voluntary work at Destiny Gardens School during the summer of 2009.
Shannon says - "I had an incredible experience in Kenya this summer. For two months, I taught class 1 at Destiny Gardens School. It was challenging due to the lack of supplies and the fact that English is the children’s second language. However, being able to spend time with the kids every day and getting to know them made it all worth it.
The children are so energetic, playful, lovable and eager to learn. We started each morning by greeting one another, and answering the question of the day. Then we would play a quick game or dance before starting on academics each day. I can’t describe how much I miss them and how much I can’t wait to get back to Mtongwe to see them again.
During my stay I lived with Jacob, his wife and other volunteers in Mombasa. Our apartment was really nice and was located close to restaurants and internet cafes. On weekends, we traveled around exploring Kenya. We went on safari together, to beaches, Nairobi, a Maasai village and many other places. Overall, it was an amazing adventure and would recommend anyone to go and experience it for themselves. "