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| Leftwich Community Primary School > Leftwich's Partnership schools. > 2011 visit to Kenya |
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During February 2011 Miss Meakin and Mrs McIntosh visited our partnership school in Njoro, Kenya - Ndarugu Primary School. Read this day by day account of what they got up to on their African adventure.
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13/02/11
Today started at 3am with us needed to get up, ready and at the airport for 4 am where we met upo with the other teachers and Multiflex staff that were joinin us on our visit. Our journey began with a flight from Manchester to Paris which only took an hour and a half. We then had to get on a much larger plane to fly from Paris to Nairobi - this flight was much longer and it took us 8 hours to complete this part of the journey.
Once off the plane we had to join long queues to fill in paper work and pay for our African visas that would allow us into the country, and then we went off to find our bags. It took along time for all of our bags to turn up on the conveyor belts and then we had to struggle through crowds of people in order to find our school bus that we would be travelling in throughout our stay in Kenya. Once the bus was loaded we made our way to our hotel for the night where we once again and to unload all of our bags and carry them upto the hotel!
By the time we had all checked into the hotel we were all very hungry and tired! We met up in the hotel restaurant for something to eat and then most of us headed off to bed to get as much rest as we could before our next part of the journey!
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14/02/11
Once we had our breakfasts we were on the move again. We had to re-pack the school bus before we headed out to Njoro where we would be staying throughout our visit.
As we travelled out of Nairobi and towards Njoro we saw fantastic scenery from the bus. Nairobi itself looks like any other city that you might find in the UK, but we soon realised the differences when the high rise buildings we were looking at turned to slums! Set back from the roads we also saw a great many market stalls where the local people were selling their produce from. This ranged from fruit and vegetables, to animals and animal skins.
The roads were very uneven everywhere and we were really thrown about on the bus as we travelled. We also noticed that people didn't really stick to the 'rules of the road' as we saw several traffic accidents including cars that had left the road and even lorries that had over turned. But instead of getting stuck in traffic jams caused by these accidents the local Kenyans instead drove up the wrong side of the road until they found places where they could change lanes and join the right side of the road again! Very scary to see!
We stopped off a couple of times on the way so that we could grab a quick snack or visit the toilets! But we were all too busy taking in the amazing scenery and our stops were only short so we were soon on the move again.
When we arrived in Njoro we went straight to the Agricultural Research Centre (ARC) where we would be sleeping each night. We had the most fantastic welcome waiting for us, as each school that we were linked to had sent teachers to welcome us! It was overwhelming to see that many people that were so pleased to see us - despite never meeting us before! They helped us to carry our many bags to our rooms, before leaving us to settle for the night.
Shortly after they left there was a power cut - which left us in the pitch black until 10pm, by which time we were all more than ready for bed!!!
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15/02/11
Our first day in our partner school!! We both felt very nervous and excited as we had no idea what to expect! The head teacher from Ndarugu Primary School, Mr David Wawaru, met us at the ARC and drove us the short distance to the school. He gave us a tour of the 5 acres of land the school has and it was clear that he was very proud of his school. He told us that the school has 1839 children split across 24 classes - this means that the class sizes range from 50 - 90. The children in Kenya begin school at 5 years old when the start in Standard 1 and they remain in primary school until Standard 8 (12 years old) There were 3 classes for each year group, named yellow, white and maroon after the school uniform. The head showed us the schools new woodland areas that they have planted in order for the children to have some where to shelter from the sun. He also showed us the new toilet block that they have had built. The toilet block is described as being a 'dried' toilet block. This means that the waste from the toilets is dried and used as fertiliser in the school garden or sold on to farmers to use. The products the school will produce in the school garden will eventually be used by those children whose families can not afford to provide their children with a school dinner - these children currently go without food if their families can not provide it for them.
After the tour of the grounds we were then introduced to the classes. Every class was so welcoming and had prepared something for us to watch, from poems to songs. We then gave the children a chance to ask us any questions they wanted to. At first the children we very frightened to speak out loud as they were not used to seeing white people or being asked to speak so freely during lessons. However, with time the children soon learnt that it was safe to talk to us and they asked a great range of questions! The questions were always politely asked and sensible which really showed how interested they were in use as visitors as well as being interested in finding out as much as they could about Great Britain and our school!
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16/02/11
This morning Multiflex visited Ndarugu this with us. It was overwhelming to watch so many children running across the field to see them. Because of the lack of rain in the area there wasn't a blade of grass on the field and so as the children ran towards us so much dust was kicked up you could barely see the children in front of us after a few short minutes! With so many children at the school it was impossible for them all to have a go at the activites ran by Multiflex yet not one child complained! Every child that did take part did so which a huge smile on their face, and even when asked to leave the game they did so smiling and laughing! After the sports we had a quick meeting with the head in his office before we were taken out to the local farm and market.
It was fascinating to track the journey of the food from the farm to the market. We watched the women picking the crops as the men pumped water from the near by river (Ndarugu River) up to the crops that were so desperate for water. We then walked a short distance to some farm stalls were more women were working in order to sell the crops grown. We then got into a car and travelled slightly further into the centre of Njoro to a larger food market. Once again it was a market run by women. They each had their own small plot were they sold locally grown crops. For example potatoes, corn, mangos and a wide range of beans and pulses.
We were also shown around the stalls that surrounded the market which included cobblers, dressmakers, butchers and hair salons. There were also mills where people could take the corn and wheat they had just bought from the market and grind it into flour - which was cheaper than buying flour already ground down.
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17/02/11
Today we didn't just visit our partnership school but the partnership schools in the whole of the Njoro district. This was 10 schools in total, before we did this however we visited the District Education Officer (DEO) who welcomed us to his schools and stressed to us the importance of our partnerships to the local community of Njoro.
The 10 schools varied a great deal in size, condition, construction of the buildings as well as the resources available to the children. Egerton Primary for example was newly built in comparison to the other schools and had a many resources sponsored by charities based in Egerton in Cheshire. Whereas Kaiyba Primary school had very little at all, the walls of the classrooms were made from mud. This means that this school has no permanent classrooms as the heavy rains would wash away the walls and leave the classroom floors flooded.
There wass however a great many similarities between the schools including the warm welcome we recieved in every school, how resourceful the teachers were with the limted resources that had available to them and the mottos/ messages that were displayed with pride around the schools. Even the schools that were 'better off' were using what we would consider to be rubbish for the children to play with in home corners!
Today was an extremely emotional day and one we will never forget.
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18/02/11
Friday arrived and it was now our turn to teach the children of Ndarugu! We worked in Standard 4 during the morning and decided we would use our time here showed the children and teachers what a colourful school we have, and how we would like help to make Ndarugu just as colourful! The topic for our visit was sustainability, which means we were looking at the environment. We looked at the types of ways the land is used in Kenya and the UK. We discussed farming in both areas, as well as the food we grow and eat in both countries.
They children found our way of teaching strange at first as they were not used to be allowed to get up and move around the classroom or answer questions freely; however they soon got use to us! The children really enjoyed being allowed to use coloured crayons in their work, and were amazed when Mrs McIntosh showed them how to turn their colourings into paintings by adding a little water!!
We played lots of different games with the children and they laughed and smiled so much!! We even encouraged the children to get involved with our games. By the end of the lesson every child was proudly wearing a sticker rewarded to them for their hard work throughout the morning. We left the classroom walls covered with the children's work of which they were very proud.
In the afternoon it was the children's turn to teach myself and Mrs McIntosh as they put on a show of different poems, songs and traditional dances. Many of which they asked us to join in with - much to the amusement of the young children who laughed loudly whenever we went in the wrong direction or couldn't jump as high as the older children!
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19/02/11
It's the weekend and so we are not in school today, so for the first time since we have arrived we get a more relaxing start to the day. We took a walk to a near by market just outside of the University campus where we were staying. The poverty there was incredibly moving yet everyone was so happy and welcoming.
After lunch we boarded our bus again and headed of on a safari!
The views were breathtaking and we saw so many different creatures including flamingos, warthogs, zebras, rhinos and water buffalos. But the most exciting part was when we saw 3 lions. We watched quietly from the bus as they seemingly relaxed in the sunshine. When of the lions stood up and started to move away from the others and so we followed along slowly in our bus. But it was a trap! The movement of the lion not only fooled us but a near by buffalo who thought that it would be safe to cross behind the lion. What it did not realise was that it ws walking straight into the path of the remaining lions! As we looked out of the back window of the bus we saw the 2 remaining lions attack and kill the buffalo!!
It was fasciniating to watch and we remained in the park until after dark, as fires spread through the far section of grassland and forest that had been caused by the drought in the area over recent weeks.
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20/02/11
This morning we visited Nakuru market which sold a wide range of souvenirs - all of which you had to haggle for!
In the afternoon we visited Thomson Falls - which again was an amazing view. The walk down was slippery because of the dust, but it was worth the struggle to get down! So many locals over took us and made light work of the walk down. The walk back up was even trickier!
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21/02/11
We taught again this morning this time to children in Standard 6. We thought as the children we older that they would be more open to asking and answering questions, however they were much more reserved and it was very difficult to get the children involved. They did however; write much more than the first class! When teaching we also noticed that the children we expected to work at the pace of the fastest child in the room, which meant any child that was struggling was left behind.
After lunch we observed some teaching from the Kenyan teachers. The curriculum they followed was from text books with the children being asked to wowrk through the books page by page. Each teacher gave a little explanation of what the children needed to do and then the children were left to work through the text book. This was very challenging for some children as they were sharing text books one between 7 children, the children were also expected to provide their own exercise books and pencils. It was clear from the lessons we saw that not all children were able to do this.
After the observations we went to Egerton Castle which is some where that the school would take the children to visit. We were treated to a tour guide who took us around every room explaining its history. Lord Egerton sounded like a very extra ordinary man. He demanded that his food was tasted and tested by a doctor before he ate it, and even asked his staff not to wear traditional Kenyan clothes but instead imported outfits from England for them to change into!
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22/02/11
Our last day in school!!!
We were picked very early today so that we could fit in everything that the school had planned for us. We started the day by observing further lessons this time in the younger classes. There were the same as the older children's lessons where the teachers only had chalk and a blackboard to help the children with their learning. Once again the children were taught using text books for each separate subject.
At 10 am the school put on a special assembly. Several members of staff thanked us for our work and praised the link. The older children also performed traditional songs and dances. One of the senior children explained to the children that we were leaving behind our teaching resources and she showed them what this meant. There was a huge gasp from the children when they were shown the colouring pencils that we were leaving for them!
In return the staff had made for us traditional African dresses which we were asked to model for the children in addition to a Kenyan baseball style cap. They also sent to same present for Mrs Harrison!
In the afternoon Multiflex held their sports festival in the local sports stadium. All teachers from the partnership school helps to run the event. The sun was baking yet not one child complained. Plus the high school children were really helpful translating instructions and demonstrating the events!
Today was an extremely long and emotional day!!
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23/02/11
Today was the day when we had to travel back to Nairobi in order to catch our early morning flight the following day. We were all truly exhausted yet very sad to be leaving. Some of the teachers who had welcomed us when we first arrived were there again to say goodbye to us and help us with our cases.
On our way back to Nairobi we stopped in a place called Bomas. There, there was a large hall where traditional dances from a range of tribes were shown to us. The dances were performed to a heavy drum beat and each song and dance had a different meaning often linked to marriage, family life or farming. Outside there were examples of traditional homes the different tribes would have built. The walls were made from mud whilst the rooves were made from straw.
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24/02/11
Our long journey back home began at 4am. We arrived home at 5.30pm and with the fact that Kenya is 3 hours ahead of us it was a very long day!!! |
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