There is a sponsor from the UK visiting school today. Jan and her husband, Neil are on holiday and want to meet Dorcas in Class 3. Jan has sponsored her for several years. They are accompanied by their old friend Peter, who is Kenyan and lives in Nairobi.
Stella gives them a school tour and introduces Dorcas. She is shy but very happy and lots of photos are taken. You can imagine their surprise when they find the muzungu (white person) in the library. Peter hangs back when the others go to see the orphanage. He wants to find out more about who I am and what I’m doing here. It turns out that he supports a private school called Eroret – not too far from here. They are a very remote school and the school manager/governor, John (his role is a bit woolly) is keen to make contact with other private schools. In fact, they are heading there after this visit. John is meeting them at Nyonyori to guide them into the bush. Why don’t I join them?
My philosophy during my African adventures is to just say yes (unless it’s illegal or quite obviously life threatening.) To be honest, on occasion, I have found myself saying yes to one or two of those too!
We join Jan and Neil and head to Class 3 to watch Dorcas in her Kiswahii lesson. Teacher Laban is using our new individual chalk boards. We bought 120 of them for about 60p each and they are brilliant. We see a pupil-centred, interactive lesson complete with formative assessment. The visitors are impressed. They could be in a UK class!
We set off for Eroret. It is a long and bumpy road. I recognise where we are as we pass Nyonyori, where I attended a pre-wedding party in March. I must admit that Peter’s 4 wheel drive is considerably more comfortable and safer than the piki piki (motorbike) that I shared last time with Teacher Noisim and David the driver!
We collect John and he squeezes into the back. I had thought Nyonyori was remote but Eroret is the same distance again into the bush. The track is almost impossible. We cross several dry rivers which can’t possibly be passable in the rainy season. Luckily, but Peter is an excellent and experienced driver. We pass a large male ostrich and a herd of zebra as we approach the school. We are in the middle of nowhere!
0 Comments