Elimu returned two days ago from a very fruitful visit to our Kenyan partner schools accompanied by a small group of supporters. They thoroughly enjoyed their time in Kenya and finding out more about what we do.
The trip's official photographer was Lucy Strutt, an artist based in Sheffield who lived in Kenya in 2004.
Below is a selection of some of Lucy's photographs:
Kipriria Academy was thrilled to recieve 22 sports kits from its link school, The Priory, which the headteacher, Jared Nyakundi, gave to selected boys and girls. Kenya's new constitution states that women must make up at least 30% of personnel in both public and private institutions. Kipriria went for 50% for its new football team. 
Interschool football matches for schools who never normally meet is fast becoming an Elimu trademark and Kipsamo School once again played host to a seven-a-side - mixed teams only! The match was refereed by Elimu advisor Andy Cooper.
All the schools played extremely well, with Kipsamo crowned the winning team!
The trip provided an opportunity for Elimu to begin to assess what impact our school link programmes - and specifically, visits from our UK schools - may be having.
A meeting with Kipsamo's headteacher, Julius Kerich, which was also attended by senior staff and PTA members, revealed that the school has seen a dramatic improvement in its English Language scores since Charles Darwin donated several dictionaries and thesaurases in July which are already showing signs of frequent use. Kipsamo, whose student population is over 450, had only one dictionary before.
Mr Kerich produced data showing that in the space of four months, the average English test score for Standard 8 (Year 9) students has risen from 34-40% to 60%. This is unprecedented in the school's history and has helped place Kipsamo in the top 12 schools in the district for the first time. Mr Kerich firmly believes that something so seemingly straightforward as having enough dictionaries for nearly a whole class is having a hugely postive effect.
Kipsamo is a government school with few resources and until now, little contact with visitors from within Nandi Hills, least of all a school in the UK. Students in Kipsamo and Charles Darwin have been writing letters to each other and sharing samples of their work.
The meeting included a discussion on the different teaching styles the school saw in July, in a country where
such exposure is rare and opportunities for professional development are few, and the inspiration one teacher in particular has taken from this.
To encourage her students to read poetry for meaning as well as memorising it, Sally Sang decided to write her own poem telling the story of some of the lives lived, and challenges faced, by Kipsamo's children which her Standard 8s subsequently performed. The poem is reproduced below with Sally's permission:
Very early in the morning,
I take my bag and dust it
Put on my tattered uniform
Then off to school I go
With an empty stomach
I ran for ten kilometres
As usual I was late
The cruel teacher met me
'Why are you late, you naughty boy?'
He shouts
I start trembling and sweating all over
He doesn't sympathise
With my tattered uniform,
Incomplete fees*
The headteacher sends me back home
After two weeks I went back to school
The class was four topics ahead
Concentation is my major problem,
My stomach starts rumbling again
Oh! The leftovers I ate last night.
'Excuse me, Sir, may I go out?'
'No! No! This time you're not going out.'
The teacher orders me to sit
I try to sleep
But the mosquito wants a share of my blood
Though this won't deny me a chance of going to Precious Blood**
'Ruiruta'
Several rats jump over me as I freeze in my bed. But nothing
Seems to worry me anymore except academic excellence,
I repeat again
Academic excellence.
Part 2 of our report on Greenfields, Nandi Hills Township and Stalion schools to follow in the coming days - along with an update on our 'Week in the Life' project!
Asante sana to those came with us to Kenya,
Jo
*Government schools often recruit contract teachers through the PTA to help reduce the student-teacher ratio. As these teachers are employed directly by the school however, rather than centrally, each family must pay a monthly fee of 100Ksh (70p) to cover the cost of their salaries.
**Precious Blood is a high performing secondary school which many students aspire to
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