In the Nandi, the mighty Nandi...

Colobus monkeys, epic traffic jams on dusty roads, songs on tap, excited children, playground games and nine-a-side, Kiswahili lessons with the headmaster, teaching, tea factories and tree planting... These were things which characterised Elimu's latest trip to Kenya with sixth form students and teachers from The Priory School, in Orpington, Kent, and Charles Darwin School in nearby Biggin Hill.

They were greeted warmly by their partner schools, Kipriria and Kipsamo, and by the people of Nandi Hills. Lively exchanges took place in the market stalls in town, with impromptu Q&A sessions all about England, and, at one point, a young mother's tongue-in-cheek offer to hand over her two-year-old, free of charge.

Prior to our arrival, Elimu's enterprising in-country rep., Sally Sang, had enquired about the possibility of tree planting which led the Ministry for Forestry to very generously donate 1000 seedlings as part of Kenya's conservation drive and to help mark our visit. The idea of planting a few trees having taken on a new meaning, 51 eucalyptus, cypress and indigineous trees were planted in the grounds of Kipsamo School by our party of 20 together with Elimu staff, Kipsamo teachers and local elders. The remaining seedlings will go to other schools in Nandi Hills.

Our visit to Kipsamo generated much interest among the school's teaching staff and also local educationalists who were keen to observe our teachers and to find out about education in the UK. The day's events, organised by Sally to introduce Charles Darwin and Kipsamo for the first time, included an inter-schools football match. All of which was captured on film by our own cameraman, Rob Probin of The Priory School, and by a television news reporter. A special news feature was subsequently beamed across Kenya's Rift Valley.

Our sixth form students experienced life at the front of the classroom, too, and did an excellent job of teaching Kipriria's students playground games with educational messages which encourage teamwork, reflection and real-life application. These games were inspired by the organisation Right to Play and taught to the sixth formers during orientation. Kipriria's headteacher, Jared Nyakundi, held daily Kiswahili lessons with them which went down so well that by the end they were composing songs using both Kiswahili and English, including a reworking of the 'Lion King' song, this time with the line:

'In the Nandi, the mighty Nandi, Elimu rips it up!'

We thank everyone involved in this trip: our many hosts, the sixth formers and their teachers, Alison, Hazel, Kerim and Rob, who shared their own unique styles of teaching. Also, our headteachers, 
Jared Nyakundi (Kipriria), Julius Kerich (Kipsamo), Nick Ware (The Priory School) and Rob Higgins (newly retired from Charles Darwin) as well as Kipriria's director, David Yego, for his unending hospitality and the use of his school bus! We have been involved with Kipriria and The Priory in different ways for a long time.

Elimu has a lot of work ahead with each of the schools to ensure that their links with one another, and with other local schools who may benefit from coming together more often, are worthwhile both in the moment and in the longer term. Our fundraising plans for the next year are focused on Stalion nursery and infants school.

In the meantime... please consider donating to the Red Cross' East Africa Food Crisis appeal for the people affected by the famine in the Horn of Africa, the worst it has seen for 60 years. This includes north-west Kenya. Ordinary Kenyans have so far contributed 100 million Ksh. (around £700,000) to the relief effort through the Kenyans for Kenya initiative.

Food costs in the rest of the country have more than doubled since January. We saw during our visit to Nandi Hills that this has resulted in an increase in school fees as schools will otherwise be unable to continue feeding children.

What has happened, and is happening now, is a complex situation but we emphasise the importance of joining Kenyan people in giving to the Red Cross appeal to help where it can with the current crisis: 
http://www.redcross.org.uk/foodcrisis/?approachcode=68764_heroEAfrFood

The Independent has a report on the situation in north-west Kenya available on its website

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-is-on-the-brink-of-its-own-disaster-2329287.html While the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), a non-profit organisation whose Flying Doctor Service we sign-up to for our school trips, has further insights and updates http://www.amref.org/news/update-on-amref-drought-response/

Asante sana,

Jo