sasenyi primary school

tuesday and wednesday were spent at sasenyi primary school (about 1.5hrs drive from camp). it was fairly daunting arriving in our big truck and seeing a sea of kids and teenagers staring at us like we were alien apparitions.. we were greeted by the head teacher and walked around the campus in order to learn a little more about the place (700 students to 11 teachers!!) we were then split up in to groups in order to complete the various tasks assigned to us. one group's job was to transfer a huge pile of stones from one end of the school to the other so that another group could build an erosion barrier - the school toilet was in risk of being destroyed due to it's foundations crumbling and the barriers are meant to stop the flow of water rushing downhill right next to it. the group i was in was to build a foundation for a huge 1000L water tank, a few people went to teach in classrooms and a few were to assist the teachers in forging birth certificates for the kids.

[the kenyan government has passed a new law that states it is illegal for children to be without a birth certificate. as levels of illiteracy are huge and many families can't afford them, the school has decided to fill out birth certificates for as many of it's students as possible]

we got stuck straight into it. with the water tank foundation, there luckily already was a hole dug out for it so we filled it with stones and dirt, then had to start mixing concrete. sam and i made lap after lap carrying big jerry-cans of water from the other tank to our worksite and the group collectively hand-mixed wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of sand, water and cement mix. i don't know how the locals do it, fetching water from such long distances and carrying it all back. running water is definitely something we take for granted. those jerry-cans were really awkward to carry, most of them had holes and i kept spilling water out of mine -_-

i think there were more people in our group than there was work to be done so after a while i went for a wander to see how the others were getting along. miranda and jasmine had asked to teach a class of kids probably aged 7-10ish as their teacher was sick. when i walked in they had drawn a person on the board and were trying to teach the kids how to write body parts in english.. this gorgeous little girl went up to try her luck and spelled 'bnah' instead of 'hand'. i've gotta say i did suppress a giggle (:

when lunch came around it was time for our amazing packed lunches.. the joy.. camp kenya is very cute with what they try to give us but they really are quite awful. you basically get a sandwich with 3 bread layers (it's very sweet, doughy and weird tasting), butter caked over everything and then random cheese bits or the odd slice of strange meat-like slices.. then a banana and a boiled egg. so pretty much most of your meal is just weird-tasting crust and butter. yummy!!! but here, watching the school children line up for their daily bowl of boiled beans (for some the only meal of the day), my sandwich tasted phenomenal.

after lunch was more of the same.. i joined the rock-movers for a while and ended up burying chris in stones. jerry and tim taught an older grade's maths class which turned into an hour of singing the BODMAS song (brackets of division multiplication addition subtraction) whilst the kids banged out a rhythm on their desks. miranda and jasmine's class became a big shakira rave (i haven't met a single kid/teenager here who isn't obsessed with the waka waka world cup song) and i still can't fathom how powerful their voices were as the sounds resonated throughout the school.

wednesday brought more of the same.. the kids were more used to our strange-looking caucasian selves and during their class breaks we had dozens and dozens of them congregated around us whilst we mixed concrete, curious faces peeking timidly around dusty uniforms. some of the younger ones decided they wanted to help and took turns pulling wheelbarrows of stones whilst the boys pushed. it was really nice being around kids who weren't trying to sell us something or take things off us, they just genuinely seemed to like the company and be intrigued with what was going on.

sammy d, matt, olly and quant had a maths class for the afternoon and when i wandered in they had given up on social studies and written the lyrics to the fresh prince of bel air on the board instead. the next hour or so was hilarity.. 50-odd kenyan kids trying to rap along to will smith blaring out of d's speakers.. i was in stitches on the floor. after we deemed the singing had reached it's pinnacle i suggested we teach them the macarena and we ended up being joined by another two classes and the atmosphere in the room was mental!! then we tried playing a few other tracks and i think we all expected this to turn into a big dance party but it ended up being the five of us and sam dancing and the kids just watching us, caught between confusion and amusement.. sam and matt dancing to 'we no speak americano' whilst quant and d jumped up on desks was a definite highlight of the day :)