Monday 19 November 2012

Elimu Christmas cards 2013!


Elimu Christmas cards are here and on sale now!

We have 4 exclusive designs this year from the wonderful Lucy Strutt, all based on Harry Sankey's original logo design.
 
Decorating the Christmas Tree
 
 
The 4 designs are being sold in packs of 10, all A5, landscape sized. Each nicely decorated pack costs £5 and all proceeds will go to the Elimu Foundation.

Elimu's Three Dancing Kings


We like the personal touch at Elimu which, in this case, has involved quite a bit of card sorting and envelope counting, a lot of tying ribbons, and what now feels like a vaguely comic spot of travelling to hand deliver them.

A sleigh full of presents


Playing with a Snowman

We have a lovely team of volunteers/special recruits selling them on our behalf: Clare Boyd, Yvonne Baker, Tim Strange, Anne Cooper and Lucy herself.

You can also order some directly from me joanne@elimufoundation.org.uk

Thank you very much for your support.

Jo

 

Saturday 27 October 2012

Shop online and support Elimu at the same time!

Calling all online shoppers!

easyfundraising is the easiest way to raise money for the Elimu Foundation. Instead of going directly to a retailer’s website, please go to easyfundraising first and choose the retailer you want to shop with. There are over 2000 well known retailers listed on easyfundraising.org.uk and between 5% and 15% of what you spend with them will be passed to Elimu at no additional cost to you. Retailers include Amazon, M&S, Vodafone, eBay, Tesco, John Lewis and many, many more. Please register to support us - http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/elimufoundation 

Thank you very much!
 

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Support Elimu by purchasing exclusive tickets to Fortnum & Mason's Charity Christmas Party!

 
Elimu's other recent partner, The Big Give, is holding its annual Charity Christmas Party at Fortnum & Mason's - and we have a special invitation for our staff, trustees and supporters.
 
The Big Give showcases partner charities like Elimu through its website. It matches charities to donors and philanthropists and invites them to take part in unique programmes and events. The Fortnum & Mason's Charity Christmas Party is one such event.
 
Hundreds of guests will arrive at Fortnum's in Piccadilly on Tuesday, 4th December for a magical evening of entertainment, champagne, canapés and tastings with music and carols from local children's choirs and students from RADA among other surprise acts. Last year's event was hosted by Stephen Fry.
 
The premise is simple:
 
100% of ticket sales go to charity - and guests can choose which of The Big Give's partner charities they would like to benefit. So, for every £60 ticket you purchase, and we do appreciate this may not be possible for all our supporters, you will recieve a £60 Big Give charity voucher to give to Elimu. And quite a special evening!
 
Tickets will go on sale at Midday on Monday, 17th September and they are likely to sell out quickly. If you would like to join us in attending this event and supporting Elimu, we would be delighted but it is advisable to purchase tickets as close to this time as you can.
 
For further details, to register for a reminder about buying tickets and to find out how to purchase tickets both online and offline please visit http://fortnums-christmas.com/
 
 

Thursday 30 August 2012

Our new partner: The Hilton!


I am delighted to announce that The Hilton has just partnered with the Elimu Foundation. Those of you who read July's post  'Insight into an Elimu Trip', and many of you did, will know that The Hilton Hotel in Nairobi played an unexpected part in that particular visit.


The Hilton Nairobi

As highlighted here in an extract from today's correspondence, we have worked out an agreement so that a stay in The Hilton - straightforward, safe and hassle-free - can be included at the end of all of our trips:

'...The Hilton Nairobi is delighted to partner with you by offering you special rates and we look forward to hosting your Groups.

Please feel free to contact me for any further assistance.

Kind regards,

Maureen Ogola, Director of Sales'

There is scope for more that will benefit us both as well as other aspects of Elimu's work - so stay tuned and if you have a glass to hand, please raise it to The Hilton!

Jo

 

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Worldwide web to reach our Kenyan schools

Our Kenyan schools are about to have internet access!

10 laptops were kindly given to us by The Priory School. We have installed them all in Kipsamo, our hub school in Kenya, in order to pool resources together in one place and encourage teachers from our other partner schools to visit and work with each other.

The laptops will be used by all the schools and with the help of our new In-country Manager, Solomon Lagat, Elimu is currently purchasing internet modems - similar to USB sticks - so that they can access the internet at the same time.

Many people in Kenya have the internet on their mobile phones. It is as affordable as sending a text message but is limited more to email and social networking sites which is why Facebook, in particular, has been our main mode of communication with our Kenyan teachers and headteachers.

Until now, however, the schools themselves have not had computers or internet access, both of which are much more expensive.

Solomon will deliver the modems in his first visit to Nandi Hills as In-country Manager. Solomon has studied computing and will run a session on how to use them and also show teachers how to sign-up to the TES. This is the online presence of the Times Educational Supplement.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have just started working for the TES, yes, where there are quite a lot of former teachers (former teachers seem to still be identifiable as teachers!). A quick glance at the website though will tell you that the TES is used by a global network of teachers. They share their own resources, swap experiences and ideas and support fellow professionals in the forums. TES has over 500,000 downloadable teaching resources. And most importantly, it is all entirely free.

This type of portal does not exist in Africa. I used to wonder about this, but didn't know where to start. So it made sense that once the schools could access the internet, we would introduce them to the TES site as it chimes very much with Elimu's views on supporting the teaching community, whether it's here or in Kenya. The internet will also allow our partner schools to connect with one another more easily and develop their links. There could be a Skype session on the horizon.

So, Solomon's first job is connecting our schools to the internet - and offering internet tutorials!

The teachers there will be writing blog posts in no time.

Report and pictures to follow in due course.

With thanks to The Priory School,

Jo

 

Monday 27 August 2012

Hello, Good Luck, and Goodbye

Some important changes are taking place in the world of Elimu.

Congratulations are in order, firstly, to Sally Sang who is the newly appointed deputy headteacher at Kipsamo School, one of our partners and where she has taught English since 2010. Sally, who was dubbed 'Superwoman' on one of our school trips, has been Elimu's Representative in Kenya but now, with even less time to spare than usual (there is also a new house to build), it is no longer possible for her to do this. She is keen though to stay involved, and we are keen to keep her counsel, so I am delighted to say that she is moving to the Advisory Board with Andy Cooper and Clare Deacon. They all offer sound advice and support for Elimu's ups and downs and with any flashes of inspiration I think I'm having, whilst providing a few of their own.

We all wish Sally well as deputy head - and look forward to visiting her in her new home!

This has coincided with recent events concerning our Kenyan schools. As a result of which, it was decided that rather than find another rep. we should look instead at having an In-country Manager. This role, therefore, is designed specifically to create a consistent presence for Elimu among our Kenyan partner schools with a locally based link between the charity and the schools.

While I am able to do this for our partner schools in the UK, as I am based here, it is important that our Kenyan schools are equally involved and supported. To this end, I would like to introduce Solomon Lagat.

Solomon Lagat, In-country Manager
Solomon will visit the schools regularly and compile feedback reports on their link activities and how they are doing more generally. He will also help to ensure that should any issues arise in the schools for which they may need further support or which could compromise their work with Elimu and with the UK schools, these can be addressed in person as well and not solely at a distance or during set visits that I make.

Solomon is a former Nandi Hills teacher with a diploma in Special Educational Needs from the Kenya Institute of Education in Nairobi. Special Educational Needs remains a relatively new area in education in Africa and for the moment he is working for the Kenya Judiciary as a Court Interpreter in Kericho, where he and his family now live. Kericho - tea country - is on the way to Nandi Hills. His position as Court Interpreter includes transcribing for the blind and for those who cannot read or write.

Solomon will be an asset to the Elimu Foundation and to our partner schools in Kenya and I am very much looking forward to working with him.

Aziz Kiplaget, Project Manager
I also welcome aboard Aziz Kiplaget as our Project Manager who will be overseeing the development of Stalion school, once this project can commence. Aziz is another teacher from Nandi Hills who now teaches in the nearby city of Eldoret and occasionally works as an exam invigilator. Aziz is known for his management skills and comes highly recommended to take on this role which will mean managing our building team, visiting the project site and reporting on its progress. So, thank you very much to Aziz.

As some of you may recall, the role had previously been George Tarus'. However, George is now focusing his time and energies on his bid to stand as MP for Nandi Hills in the next elections, in 2013. George has been invaluable in his support for Elimu. This, though, has been a long standing ambition for a number of years. We will be watching closely along with everyone in Nandi Hills to see how things unfold from here and we both thank him and wish him the very best with everything.

And finally... some news of my own. As of this past July, I am no longer teaching at Charles Darwin School and although I have loved it and will miss it, I have felt torn in wanting to spend more time on Elimu than teaching can allow for. The last few weeks have been a welcome opportunity to redress that balance. Charles Darwin is a partner to Elimu, so it is not the end either as the school and I will continue to work together. As Elimu is for the time being voluntarily run, I am fortunate in starting a new job this week at The Times Educational Supplement (TES). Having written for the education press before, this role, assisting the editorial and teaching resources team with room for development - and time for Elimu - has come along just at the right moment, and very happily so.

Good luck, then, to all of us and to our UK partner schools, Charles Darwin, The Priory and Bishop Justus, as they gear up for the start of a new academic year.

With thanks,

Jo

 

Sunday 19 August 2012

Educational achievement in East Africa

A timely and insightful report on education in East Africa by the civil society group Uwezo has found that although educational access has expanded, issues remain over the quality of teaching and learning.

Uwezo, which means 'capability' in Swahili, was set-up to monitor educational achievement and is the only annual source of information regarding literacy and numeracy levels on the continent. Since its inception in 2009, Uwezo has tested more than 350,000 children in literacy and numeracy.

Its 2012 report, 'Are our children learning?', covered 30 villages per district, 20 households per village and one school per village in every district in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It was launched at the Kenya Institute of Education in Nairobi on 14 August.

The report found that more than two out of every three children who have finished two years of primary school in East Africa fail to pass basic tests in English, Swahili or numeracy. These results suggest that the vast majority of children are not acquiring the levels expected at their age and grade levels.

In a move that is of particular interest to Elimu, given the emphasis our own work places on teachers and an exchange of teaching ideas and techniques to improve learning, Uwezo has urged politicians, NGOs and educators not to throw more resources at education but to look instead at whether the problem lies with teaching and intervention strategies rather the lack of resources.

With the launch of the new report, Uwezo has sought also to highlight possible solutions, for example, by improving teachers' pedagogical skills with on-the-job training and support.

Having noted that little has changed in classroom teaching in decades, the report stated: "It may be worthwhile to consciously create a culture and room for 'disruptive' ideas and technologies, and test whether innovations and different approaches work better."

More on Uwezo - and its full 2012 report - can be found here http://www.uwezo.net/

With thanks,

Jo

Wednesday 8 August 2012

An afternoon in Westminster

Earlier today, I attended a Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers at Westminster, having received an invitation from the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau.

Speakers were: HE Mr Abhimanu Kundasamy, the High Commissioner for Mauritius; Ann Puntis, CEO of Cambridge International Examinations; Ann Cotton, CEO of Camford International which has been hugely successful in advancing the education of girls in Africa; and Tim Loughton, MP and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children & Families.

Education in Mauritius
The High Commissioner gave a very insightful talk into his country's education system, values and policy decisions. He outlined how education in Maurituis is:

- Free until the age of 20
- Compulsory until 16
- Multi-lingual; literacy in Mauritius not only refers to the English language but also to the country's own. Like Kenya, children in Mauritius have a proficiency in two or three languages.
- Aspiring to be a 'knowledge hub' among Commonwealth countries
- Asking for private sector investment to partner with the state and lift up its education system
- Addressing the issue of quality by focusing on:

1. The learner
2. The educator
3. The curriculum

The Commissioner spoke also of the need for a consensus among developing nations about their educational objectives so that they can work together. Education, he said, can only prosper in conflict-free, inclusive states that actively encourage and support, for example, the education of the girl child and children of all races, backgrounds, languages and cultures. The key is to not discriminate.

To support its aim of becoming a knowledge hub in the region, Mauritius recently signed a (MoU) Memorandum of Understanding with Kenya and Tanzania in a bid to enlarge its visibility as a destination for higher education.

The MoU will ensure joint recognition of educational qualifications between the countries, with staff and student exchanges, and establish links between universities in their respective countries.

Elimu looks forward to finding out more about these links and since they would appear to support our aims as well, whether there is potential to engage with them as part of our work in Kenya.

Teacher investment
Ann Puntis of Cambridge International Examinations, the world's largest provider of international programmes and qualifications, focused on the value of teacher investment. Without it, everything else that anyone attempts to do will have only a short life expectancy.

Both teachers and teaching are very important to Elimu.

As Ann explained, examinations are moving towards a focus on skills of collaboration and critical thinking, if they haven't already, as opposed to knowledge and recall. The challenge for many schools in developing country contexts, including the ones we work with, is that this has not yet been reflected in the classroom. There is, I would say, a mismatch. It is difficult for schools to sufficiently prepare students for their exams, particularly when they reach secondary school, because they are looking at something entirely new. The curriculum so far in Kenya, for instance, has stayed largely the same, and with little training, engagement or support, teachers are not necessarily in a position to alter or adapt their teaching either.

This change in emphasis is one of the reasons why Kipsamo School's recent review of the way it teaches poetry, moving from recall to analysis as part of its link with Charles Darwin School, has been so important. It is concerning to Nandi Hills' education office, and others, that children will find later on that they do not have the skills they need. Likewise, the shift from individual merit to collaboration.

Ann cited the example of Singapore (a current favourite of the UK government's) where teamwork is formally assessed and the marks awarded count towards university admissions points. Students who do not achieve in this area will not be offered a university place. This is partly because teamwork and collaboration form part of most university courses. But it is also a response to a changing jobs market and a globalised economy where these skills matter more and more.

Girls' Education
Camfed is an international charity founded by Ann Cotton in 1993 to fight poverty and HIV/Aids by educating girls and helping women to become agents of change within their communities.

There was much about Camfed that I did not know but have some appreciation of now. Ann talked us through how the organisation works with what she called hard to reach schools in rural Africa. These areas all have distinguished levels of poverty where families are having to decide which of their children should go to school.

It is a threat that stalks many families, including people in Nandi Hills, but there are girls in the Maasai Mara, among other places but where I worked on behalf of another charity a couple of years ago, who never make it to school at all. The Mara is one of the most marginalised parts of the country. The consequences for these girls ripples out across their lives, their family's and their children's. Maasai girls are traditionally married young, ending their chances of formal schooling. And yet, because of the tourist industry which ironically is centred partly around the Maasai even though the benefits of it have rarely been theirs, they see all around them the things they have missed. There are, though, headteachers who have done remarkable things to try and change this. They have identified the most at risk young girls, worked with local chiefs and dug into their own pockets, financing the girls' education so that they can attend school without burdening their families. This in turn delays circumcision ceremonies, marriage and motherhood. The heads have brought these girls into their schools, kept them as 'close' as possible, and paired them with younger boys who have helped them settle in. That in itself may impact on the future perception of girls.

In the absence of social security and pension rights, poorer families depend on their children's education and future employment. It is this as well as cultural considerations which drives them to send their sons to school, as men are freer to travel and go where the work is, while their daughters can marry into someone else' family. They do not always feel that they really have a choice.

Camfed, like the headteachers I met in the Mara, recognises this reality, or the sense of that reality, which is why it takes a holistic approach involving families, schools and communities.

24 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa cannot afford to go to school and those who marry early have a one in 22 chance of dying in childbirth. One in six of their children will die before the age of five. Camfed's research has found that if one girl is educated she will:

  • Earn up to 25 percent more and reinvest 90 percent in her family
  • Be three times less likely to become HIV-positive
  • Have fewer, healthier children who are 40 percent more likely to live past the age of five


  • Ann said that Camfed tries to look at the world through the eyes of the dispossessed, meaning both the girl and her family, and to find solutions that fit.

    It is clearly working. Through innovative education programmes, business training and small grants, more than 1,451,600 children in impoverished areas of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Malawi have benefited from Camfed's work.

    This is quite an achievement and one that Elimu can only hope to emulate by the time we get to 19 years. Our work does not yet focus on girls' education, although male/female equality is woven into it in smaller, everyday ways (i.e. with our mixed football teams), but it will be a part of Elimu's future.

    Until then, a good few contacts and connections were made in Westminster, including the Commissioner for Mozambique, Mr Carlos dos Santos, who would like to get involved with Elimu.

    There was much to think about and a reminder, too, that it's ok for change to happen in small steps with one small charity. Rome, as they say, wasn't built in a day - but some of it was. And in any case:

    "If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.”


    Thank you for reading,

    Jo


    To find out more about Camfed, please visit www.camfed.org

    Monday 30 July 2012

    Six Hats in Kipsamo


    'He who learns, teaches.'
    - Ethiopian Proverb

    Teachers, both UK and Kenyan, are the underpinning to Elimu's work. This is none more so the case than during our school trips when they have a chance, ideally (it doesn't always work that way), to watch each other teach and certainly, to exchange practices and ideas.

    Kenyan teachers - and students - are used to a didactic approach to teaching which they carry out in what can be an isolated and isolating profession with little support and few opportunities to engage with other teachers, never mind professional development days. All the things UK teachers have.

    And yet, our Kenyan schools have more to offer than they know, in terms of developing a whole school approach to literacy, teaching without resources, and for the teachers I have brought to Kenya, calling into question the emphasis we have in the UK.

    To bring these elements together and explore them more fully, a teacher conference takes place during each of our school trips, with Kipsamo as the official host school.

    This year, a handful of teachers from Kipsamo, Greenfields, The Priory and Bishop Justus sat down in an empty classroom, introduced themselves and, in their small teams, worked through a series of questions as part of a wider Six Hats-style question entitled:

    'How can we address the problem of low parental input in children's lives and education?'

    The title was chosen by Elimu Rep. Sally Sang, who is also Kipsamo's newly appointed deputy head and on this day was standing in for the head, Julius Kerich. We wanted a topic that would resonate with all schools and teachers.

    The 'six hats', for the uninitiated, are six metaphorical thinking hats (though we do also use real ones) developed by the writer and philosopher Edward de Bono. The thinker can put on or take off a hat to indicate the type of thinking being used:

    - Facts and information (White) - list 5 facts/problems you have experienced in relation to this question

    - Feelings and emotions (Red) - what are your feelings about the issue and how it affects your teaching/students?

    - Judgement and negativity (Black) - what are some of the reasons why parents do not support schools and/or their children's education? What in your experience are the consequences of this? Should schools take over the role of parents?

    - Optimism and positivity (Yellow) - how could parents be encouraged to support and participate?

    - New ideas and creativity (Green) - how could the problem be addressed within your school? What could be done higher up in government, in wider society and also more locally to help?

    - Balance and overview (Blue) - on balance, how might the problem of low parental input be addressed and could UK/African schools share ideas with one another?

    When done in a group, everybody wears the same hat at the same time to encourage parallel thinking and to approach a problem together from different angles.

    Six Hats discussion

    The discussions among each of the groups and in the feedback at the end went on for quite some time, which was nice to see.

    Group 1

    There is a tendancy in Kenya to think of UK teachers as experts in everything. One of the reasons we focused on a shared issue was so that we could break down that barrier and open things up a little more, particularly for newer teachers. By the end all of them were talking, offering opinions, ideas and counterpoints. What they discovered ultimately though was how much they do have in common.

    This won't be the last time we use the Six Hats model. Indeed, since being introduced to it by Charles Darwin's Alison Roberts last year, Kipsamo has adapted it for its own specific needs.

    In Kenya, students are ranked at every turn: locally, nationally and in school. There is a highly competitive environment in schools which tends to preclude team work and collaboration. Sally explained that Kipsamo has been using the Six Hats model to overcome this. The school has been placing low performing students in 'Six Hat groups' and devising questions for them which encourage them to analyse their own strengths and weaknesses and to help and support each other. Their responses are then fedback to the rest of the school with the aim of developing a more inclusive ethos and approach so that all the students know that they are in it together, and can all improve and progress.

    Sally Linton and Sally Sang

    We did not know last year that this would be the outcome of the school's first Six Hat lesson, or the impact it would have.

    Kipsamo has enjoyed learning about different styles of teaching and techniques. It has taken the most relevant things, be it the Six Hats model, studying poetry for meaning or improving literacy rates with a set of dictionaries and thesaurases, and applied them to where in the school they are most beneficial. It demonstrates the power and potential of schools coming together and of education in all its forms. It is what Elimu expects from all the schools we work with. We are looking forward to supporting the partnerships between them and to seeing how they unfold.

    With this in mind, and other things, too, one of my first jobs upon returning two weeks ago was to meet with the headteachers of our three UK schools: Nick Ware of The Priory, who arranged the meeting fresh from Kenya (although I think 'fresh' is probably stretching it and not the word he would use to describe his first - or second - week back!), Kathy Griffiths at Bishop Justus and Sunil Chotai at Charles Darwin. The meeting was held in Bishop Justus, Kathy's PA Stephanie having laid on a lovely surprise breakfast of fresh fruit, pains au chocolat and coffee for us all.

    We talked about the success of the recent trip, the challenges it has thrown up, how to combine the trips with Elimu's development work (Stalion nursery school) so that one supports the other, and a proposed UK-Kenya headteacher conference in Tanzania next year. This would be an important step forward and a way of including each of the heads. Somewhere neutral would mean that none has to play host, risk being swayed by a school's resources, worry about casting their school in the best light or find themselves distracted by the daily realities of running one. The idea is to move away from these things and keep to the bare essentials, as we do for the students' orientation.

    It is a tall order to ask headteachers in the UK to go beyond a supporting role and find time to come to Africa. It was enough that Nick came on this last trip. But he sees the importance of it, what could be gained, what it would mean, and what it could do for the work we are trying to do.

    So we will see what we can work out, all the heads and I, how a conference in Tanzania could be funded, and try and put my recent research in Arusha, home of the Maasai, to good use!

    Jo

    Sunday 29 July 2012

    Insight into an Elimu trip

    Elimu's 2012 school trip to Kenya, all 21 sixth formers, four teachers and me, was quite a 5 star affair - for a variety of reasons! The first two nights were spent under canvas in the beautiful Sanctuary Farm, a 500 acre diary and horse farm by the shores of Lake Naivasha where zebra, antelope, wildebeest and giraffe roam free among the trees and open spaces. Along with the mischievous Colobus monkeys hanging out near the tents and several brightly coloured birds, they are the first things you see in the glow of the morning light.


     Roaming wildlife on Santurary Farm

    Technically, Naivasha is less than two hours from Nairobi. In reality, time in Africa mysteriously expands. It is loose, flexible, it can be created, and, particularly if you are trundling along in a 70s' style school bus that cannot go beyond a certain speed, two hours can easily become four.

    Our bus

    The bus, which belongs to Kipriria and Greenfields schools, and its truly excellent drivers, Wilson and Samson, have become much loved figures on all our trips. The bus has a knack for bringing everyone together. It allows our school parties and others to travel through Kenya in a more grounded, spirited way than most visitors tend to do. Public transport would not make it onto the pages of our risk assessments, and the alternative safari-style trucks and air-conditioned coaches would not suit Elimu in the same way as a local school's minibus. A school bus full of westerners, many of them 'wazungus' (the oft-repeated Swahili word for white people), attracts its fair share of bemused (if warm) comments, laughs and double takes. We are fortunate that the bus came into the lives of two of our host schools and was offered to us in time for the very first trip, in 2010.

    If a school bus sets the tone for our trips from the time of their arrival in Nairobi, Sanctuary Farm is another perfect fit and follow-up. My own introduction to Kenya was spent in Naivasha as part of a group of fledgling volunteer teachers. Naivasha sits in the shadow of the Rift Valley. We stayed by ourselves in round wooden bandas, lit lanterns and campfires and were surrounded only by Africa's distinctive acacia and yellow fever trees, with the distant, guttural sound of an occasional hippo reminding us of who was in-charge. You felt that you were in Africa. I wanted that for the students who take part in Elimu's trips now.


    Sanctuary Farm, Lake Naivasha

    Night time hippos inevitably did not make the place I had stayed in suitable for a school trip, but Santuary Farm was a welcome, lucky find. Run by Julie and Guy Erskine, it is Lake Naivasha as it is meant to be. Our school parties reside on a private, natural campsite set in a forest of indigenous trees, complete with lanterns and, of course, a campfire. If you remember to bring them with you, you can sit and roast marshmallows after a healthy dinner in the old polo club house. Julie is also a cook.

    'You could have picked somewhere more peaceful, Jo!' said one of our teachers at breakfast as we sat and listened to everything and nothing and watched herds of zebra and giraffe in the distance.

    The old polo club house
    The farm provided a unique setting for orientation. After some team bonding, especially important since there were two schools with us (The Priory on its third trip and Bishop Justus making an introductory visit), the first part was a talk on Kenyan culture and education which involved the art of note taking and sparked some interesting questions. The second part took this a step further with a series of debates arising from a Six Hats discussion on tourism vs. development. Students were asked to consider their own impact on the places they visit, the negatives as much as the positives, and to look at how tourism, high end and our end, can be combined with development for the benefit of local people. This is what Elimu is trying to do with these trips, which I will return to in a separate post.

    Some of our students taking in the sights of Lake Naivasha

    Later in the afternoon, we moved onto some teaching practice. Students were all taught a variety of playgound games with educational messages (adapted from the games created by the organisation Right to Play), including life skills such as team building and addressing prejudice and those that deal with malaria prevention. The games have different stages to them and include plenaries at the end which focus on questioning as a way of deepening learning and understanding. Happy that they had mastered the games they had learned so far, since they would have to teach them in the schools, our students then broke off into teams, each with a set of instructions for a new game that they had to teach to the rest of group.

    As the light faded and warm sunshine gave way to Naivasha's chilly night time air, the sixth formers went away in pairs and small groups to plan mini-lessons to present the following morning. The challenge was for them to communicate a favourite part of their school subjects to the rest of us, using the same methods they had just been shown and without the resources they would have at home.

    Nerves abounded right up until the moment when they were greeted by some very excited children as they made their way into Kipriria Academy, The Priory's link school, two days later, and stepped into lessons as teachers rather than students for the first time.

    We watched them over the course of 10 days, their teachers and I, as they grew in confidence, developing new skills and for some, new ways of thinking and behaving. They thought, too, about education, Kenya's and their own. They learned more in that short time, both about themselves and about another part of the world, than they imagined they could or would. We were very proud of them.

    Nandi Hills was its usual welcoming self, as personified by David and Julie at Kip's Eco Resort, the trips' new Nandi home, who arranged a tea picking competition and for traditional Nandi dancers to come and introduce our students to their culture. Video footage of the staff dancing remains strictly off limits (you had to be there to see it!), but suffice it to say, a long day with a late dinner and need for sleep did not much matter when met with such unexpected entertainment. It was Midnight but everyone soon came to life. The dancers had every single person in the room up dancing with them.


    Tea picking competition at Kip's Eco Resort -
    one of the houses we stayed in is in the background
    There were long morning walks into town under the blazing sun (some longer and hillier than others! I should point out that Nandi Hills is also more than 5000ft above sea level), through villages and on past tea estates; conversations and hellos with members of the community; debilitating rainstorms; dinner, and sometimes lunch, in the home of Kipriria's director, Mr Yego; a cooking session at another Elimu home-from-home, Tea Planters Inn; endless cups of tea; an evening in the local Nandi Bears golf club; Swahili lessons with Kipriria's headteacher; the first meeting between Bishop Justus and Greenfields School; later on, a memorable trek to see the sunrise over Kakamega Rainforest, the last remaining section of tropical rainforest in East Africa which used to stretch across the continent; and, back in Nandi Hills, a seven-a-side, inter-school football match involving five Elimu schools: The Priory, Bishop Justus, Greenfields, Kipriria and Kipsamo, a designated 'hub' school for football matches and teacher conferences and also a partner to Charles Darwin School which made an initial visit last year.


    Watching the sunrise over Kakamega

    What this trip did, what they strive always to do as an essential starting point, is to bring people together, both locally and internationally, and to celebrate an exchange of cultures and ideas. The sixth formers brought something different and fun into the lives and classrooms of children who are in school at 7am and still there at 9pm, giving them experiences that for all their seemingly unbridled sense of joy, they do not normally have. Many of them live restrictive lives in stark conditions on the school site. They take part in football matches, girls and boys in equal numbers on each team, because their partner schools are there as a focal point, motivating them and joining in.


    Kipriria students on the school field
    My own school, Charles Darwin, which let me come away to do this trip, has an Arts Week during the last week of term when different events and activities take the place of normal lessons. You could say that these trips give the Kenyan schools their own mini-Arts Week. Some things are kept the same, so as not to cause too much disruption, while others are allowed for. This time, we had an Art teacher, Tim Strange, and several art and photography students helping Kipriria's children access various forms of creativity and discovering some talented young artists.

    This year's farewell assembly, held in daylight with all of us standing on a plinth on the school field in front of a sea of children in red and white check, their beautiful voices singing us a song about thanking teachers, was quietly moving.

    If Africa is full of paradoxes, beauty and untold diversity and complexity, then so too are these trips. The poverty everyone saw in the villages we passed through on our way to Nandi Hills was not what they saw by the time we did that journey in reverse. Having lived in a similar community for the past week, it was the colour and the vibrancy and innovation - in short, the life and potential - that they noticed first. A small thing, but a telling one.

    Maise farm on the floor of the Rift Valley

    It matters that people are not shielded and that they see up close, through proper, informed engagement, all the things which make-up a country like Kenya. This was very much in mind towards the end of our trip. On the last night, due to extenuating circumstances and a day where nothing had gone to plan, we found ourselves needing somewhere to stay in Nairobi. It was 1 o'clock in the morning and we had been on the road for 10 hours. So we went to the only place we thought might be able to take us all in at short notice: The Hilton. The Priory's headteacher Nick and I bartered our way to a discount as though we had just wandered in from a local market, which in a way we had. Another experience. Not least for the staff on Reception who were amused at the sight of Wilson pulling up outside their landmark hotel in a muddy school bus. A fitting contrast.

    Not a lot of sleep was had, but a morning debrief in the more luxurious surroundings of the upstairs lounge added an interesting dimension to my final talk with the students - and probably, in its juxtaposition to everything else, a clearer focus.

    With this extended debrief I write chiefly for those who have not been to Kenya. It does not capture the humour, intensity, eccentricities and complexities of a trip like this because in truth it cannot, but hopefully it offers a degree of insight.

    55 students representing three UK schools have so far taken part in an Elimu trip - and the impact of that in both places is growing and starting slowly to show. Thank you to all those who made this last trip: our many hosts and partners, the students who stepped up remarkably well and the staff who were there with them, and with me, teaching their own lessons (more on that to come) and making a team. They set the bar very high.


    The Staff, l-r: Nick Ware, Jo Dwyer, Clare Boyd, Sally Linton, Tim Strange

    Jo

    Photos courtesy of Timothy Strange; third photo of Sanctuary Farm courtesy of Lucy Strutt

    Saturday 23 June 2012

    Kenya coming up!

    It is less than one week before students and staff from The Priory School and Bishop Justus head out with us to Kenya, a journey which in fact began last Autumn. An initial sense of nervous anticipation and excitement was followed by a lot of hardwork with student-led fundraising activities, regular meetings with both students and parents, a round of innoculations, many, many questions, and an inbox full of emails between their teachers and me. And that was just at the UK end and without mentioning the occasional Foreign Office announcements on Nairobi or the various other things that only ever crop up with school trips.

    Putting together these trips is quite a painstaking, and at times, painful, operation requiring much patience, humour and forebearance from everybody involved. We are fortunate in having a fantasically supportive, collaborative team of teachers, one of whom took part in our very first trip and is looking forward to teaching in a Kenyan classroom again.

    The focus on teaching and the chance for teachers from Kenya and the UK to come together and share ideas is becoming a central component of Elimu's work - and provides the underpinning to our school trips.

    We hope staff and students enjoy their time in Kenya and that they are able to get out of the experience, and give to it, all that they want to.

    The Nandi Hills community is ready and waiting to introduce them to Kenya, and to their partner schools.

    Until Thursday... and an update from Kenya... here is a peek at our itinerary (please note, some details have been omitted to protect the interests of the group in line with our Child Protection policy).


    Itinerary


    DAY 1: Thursday, 28th June

    Travel to Kenya: Leave The Priory School late PM for London Heathrow

    DAY 2: Friday, 29th June

    Arrive Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta Airport

    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Drive to Naivasha, on the floor of the Rift Valley, approx. 2hr drive away

    Chance to take photographs at ‘Viewpoint’

    Arrive Sanctuary Farm, Naivasha

    A walk round the farm bringing you into close contact with giraffe, zebra, antelope, gazelle, and several species of birds in their natural environment


    Dinner on the farm

    Campfire


    DAY 3: Saturday, 30th June

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Breakfast at Sanctuary Farm 8AM

    Choose between horse riding or wildlife walk

    Orientation Part 1: Overview of Kenyan culture and education system


    Sanctuary Farm


    Orientation Part 2: teaching practice



    Dinner on the farm, 7PMish

    Campfire

    Orientation Part 3: Q&A

    DAY 4: Sunday, 1stJuly

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Breakfast at Sanctuary Farm 8AM

    Depart for Nandi Hills, approx. 7 hrs away, at 9AMish

    Eldoret


    Arrive at Kip’s Eco Resort, Nandi Hills



    Dinner at home of Elimu Rep., Sally Sang

    Daily debrief at Kip’s
                    

    DAY 5: Monday, 2ndJuly

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Breakfast at Kip’s, 7.30AM

    Walk to Kipriria, approx. 45mins away, at 8.15AM

    Welcome assembly

    Introductions

    Kipriria


    Teaching

    Tour of town



    Dinner at home of Kipriria’s director, Mr Yego

    Daily debrief at Kip’s
                    

    DAY 6: Tuesday, 3rdJuly

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Breakfast at Kip’s, 7.30AM

    Walk to Kipriria, approx. 45mins away, at 8.15AM

    Teaching


    Kipriria


    Teaching

    After school clubs

    Local venue

    Daily debrief at Kip’s
                    

    DAY 7: Wednesday, 4thJuly

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Breakfast at Kip’s, 7.30AM

    Walk to Kipriria, approx. 45mins away, at 8.15AM

    Teaching

    Study tour of Nandi Hills Hospital and Stalion nursery school with specific students


    Kipriria



    Teaching

    After school clubs



    Cooking and hosting a dinner for school and community leaders

    Daily debrief at Kip’s
                    

    DAY 8: Thursday, 5thJuly

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Breakfast at Kip’s, 7.30AM

    Tea picking competition in neighbouring tea estate, 8AM

    Visit Greenfields, Kipriria’s sister school, a 15min drive away

    Teaching


    Greenfields


    Visit Kipsamo School, host of afternoon activities

    Teacher conference

    Inter-school football match involving Elimu’s 4 local schools: Kipriria, Greenfields, Kipsamo and Township

    Early dinner at home of Kipsamo’s headteacher, Mr Kerich

    Daily debrief at Kip’s
                    


    DAY 9: Friday, 6thJuly

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Breakfast at Kip’s, 7.30AM

    Walk to Kipriria, approx. 45mins away, at 8.15AM

    Teaching


    Kipriria

    Farewell assembly

    Depart Nandi Hills at 5PM for Kakamega Rainforest, a 2hr drive away. The last remaining section of tropical rainforest in East Africa which used to stretch across the continent, Kakamega is home to butterflies, monkeys, parrots, and more than 300 species of birds which are all unique to this region.


    Dinner in Kakamega prepared by local forest community, 8PMish

    Traditional African storytelling or evening walk

    Daily debrief
                    

    DAY 10: Saturday, 7th July

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Dawn walk through the forest and a chance to see the sun rise over the highest point

    Breakfast at Kakamega, 7.30AM

    Depart Kakamega for Kisumu, approx. 1.5hr drive

    Lake Victoria

    Craft markets


    Kisumu


    Internal Kenya Airways flight from Kisumu to Nairobi Flight approx. 50mins.

    Game drive through Nairobi National Park. Lions, cheetas, zebra and wildebeest are among the animals that live here.

    Continue to Karen via the park, thus avoiding the city. Karen is a semi-rural enclave separated from the city by the park & the Ngong Forest.

    Arrive at campsite


    BBQ

    Daily debrief



    DAY 11: Sunday, 8th July

    Breakfast/Morning
    Lunch
    Afternoon
    Dinner

    Breakfast 7.30AM

    Final debrief

    Drive to Nairobi airport approx. 40 mins drive away


    Nairobi airport

    Flight to London Heathrow

    On the plane

    DAY 12: Monday, 9th July


    Arrive London Heathrow

    END OF TRIP!