The alumni of Precious Blood Riruta High School are on an ambitious mission. They are seeking out all alumni from each graduating class from 1964 when the school was officially opened.
Salome Beacco, the chairperson of the alumni association, is determined with the support of these women, generations of graduates from her alma mater will be positively impacted as she was.
“I greatly benefited from lessons in discipline, focus and cleanliness which all play out in my day-to-day life, and have greatly benefited my quality of life and that of my family, friends and relatives. I am amazed that four years could have such tremendous positive effect on my entire adult life,” Salome points out.
The Precious Blood Alumni Association have made tremendous gains towards their audacious goal. They have brought together 2,000 plus alumni, based across the world thanks to the power of social media applications; Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. They have organised the alumni engagement in graduation year groups which have also served as support groups in job placements, welfare support and celebrations.
These groups have representatives who then coordinate with the association’s steering committee to plan and execute support programs and initiatives at their alma mater. The alumni association has organised several annual dinner fundraisers which resulted in the purchase of a new school bus, the establishment of an endowment fund, provide scholarships to needy students and organise student mentorship events at a group and individual level.
Salome appreciates the gains but does admit it wasn’t always easy.
“The initial challenge was trying to create a clear roadmap of how to give back, identifying areas of giving back that were relevant to the schoolgirls, and convincing the Alumni to come on board while seeing the projects as worthwhile and beneficial to the Alumni as well”.
But despite the growing pains, the PBerian Alumni Association, as it is fondly referred to, is not stopping there. It intends to scale support and establish an Alumni Secretariat to serve as an overall coordination arm to see more alumni engaged and supported as well as students in their alma mater.
“There is great fulfilment in selflessly giving back. It is wonderful to see the students grow to appreciate the school and the values it offers, and see the great positive impact it has made on their lives. Nothing can compensate for that fulfilment,” Salome concludes.
