DAY 6

Well today has been long and exhausting. I’m still struggling with my tummy issues. I’m not feeling ill just need to be near a toilet…if you know what I mean!

We were up early and on the road at 8am. The plan was to go to see a girls secondary school in Narok (the capital ‘city’ of the Mara). Although Narok is only about 85km away it takes at least 2 hours over an extremely bumpy road. Today was hot too so it was altogether unpleasant. Still, it was worth it, as the head teacher of St Mary’s Girls boarding school, Margaret, was extremely helpful. We took Agnes with us and we asked lots of questions about secondary curriculum, timetable and building requirements, plus funding from the government. We have decided that a public rather than private school is the way forward and this seems to be meeting with approval from everyone in the community.

After that visit we waited for ages for our taxi driver to return…Africa time! We later saw the guy who is the quality assurance and standards inspector for the Mara district education department. He too loved the plans and advised us on registering the school with the government so that funding could start as soon as the school is built.

We returned to Sekenani school after more Africa time moments down that ridiculous road. It seemed even longer on the way home. I ended up with a brown face from the dust blowing in through the taxi window, but it was either that or suffocate in the heat. The road has lost any charm it may once have had!

At Sekenani we checked out the land set aside for the school…vast and quite flat so that’s good…and proceeded to the school. Many of the children came out to greet us. Only the boarders are there at the moment as the local kids have gone home for the end of the year. Gerry had some letters from children at home for the kids to reply to, which they did with great enthusiasm and skill. Purity, who I chatted to on Wednesday answered a letter from Emily Patel, a Thurnby Guide. We chatted about how I knew Emily and Purity wrote her a super letter. She then disappeared, reappearing a few minutes later with something in her hand. She pressed it into mine and whispered, ‘Give this to Emily’. It was a small Maasai necklace. I will give it to Emily on my return, but would actually like to bring Purity home with me! In the letters one girl commented on the doll she had received two days before! No trip to a school is complete without a visit to the longdrop (toilet)…and this one did not disappoint.

We finally got back to the ranch at 6pm. What a day. We were all really tired and enjoyed flopping in the bar with a beer…bliss! Another good day.

Tomorrow is our last day in the Mara, which is a bit sad although I kind of feel like I need to be heading home. It’s funny but in the less busy moments I have been feeling quite homesick. I talked to the family tonight so that was good. I can’t really get my head around how I feel about things I am seeing here. I know that pity is not helpful or required but you can’t help feeling horrid about the fact that you can just walk away from the existence of the children down at Sekenani and Mpopongi, and they cannot. I saw inside one of the dormitories at the school today. It was so basic, dirty and horrible. I was quite shocked and actually a little disgusted at the messy state of the whole school. Some of this seems to be down to mismanagement rather than poverty (another absent head teacher today). It is motivating us to make more of a difference, with the building of the new school, but frankly it’s just not enough. But then it is something, and something that could have an impact on the whole community and generations of Maasai children to come.

From Sunday we are heading to Nairobi and much more corporate style meetings…not really my thing but this trip has already challenged me in so many ways, I’m sure I will have something I can contribute.

God bless all, missing you!