OFFICIAL CHRIS MORRONE SCHOOL FUND

Chris was an 18 year old boy from Newport who went to Kenya in the summer of 2009 where he helped to renovate a school in the slums of Kibera and help run a summer camp for street children. Chris completed this project, before successfully summitting Mount Kenya.

However, whilst in Kenya and only a week away from returning home, Chris became fatally ill with an unknown African virus, of which was never identified, making the whole situation harder to come to terms with.

His parents, John and Anne-Marie flew out to Africa to be at Chris' bedside and after a month in intensive care at The Nairobi Hospital, they were able to fly him home via Air Ambulance to the UK. Chris went on to spend a further three horrific months in intensive care at The University Hospital of Wales, fighting for his life. His parents were reassured by the medical professionals that it was due to Chris' excellent health and fitness levels before going to Kenya that he was able to keep fighting so vigorously in the way he did, as otherwise he would have lost his life in Africa. However, on the 3rd December 2009 Chris died, as the battle had now taken its toll on his mind and body. His parents and sister Jodie were at his bedside, which they had never left in those 4 long months.

Chris' family agreed to have a school built in Africa in Chris' memory and Francis Kioni (Moving Mountains Project Manager) pulled out the stops to find the most fitting location on land owned by the local community. After meeting with the parents, local government contacts, teaching staff and the school committe, it was discussed with Chris' mum Anne-Marie, who agreed to the plan and gave the go ahead. The school to be built was a much needed Secondary School which also accommodated for the children of the porters who escorted Chris during his climb of Mount Kenya, therefore enabling them to share their own personal memories of him.

To this date, of December 2014, three school classrooms have been built and a toilet block. It is now anticipated for the fourth classroom to be built in 2015, if more funding can be raised. The next phase is to then build a kitchen block and science lab for the children.

We appeal for support to help fundraise to take us a step closer in achieving the overall target to have the school built in honour of Chris who sacrificed his own young life to help those, who at the time were less fortunate than himself.

The school which is up and running with the first three year groups was officially opened by the children, staff and Moving Mountains and has been named....... THE CHRIS MORRONE KIAMATHAGA SECONDARY SCHOOL