Having taught geography for the last several years the opportunity to visit Kenya in the summer of 2006 was one of great appeal… At last a chance to see things as they really are: The Great Rift Valley, climate, the bustle of Nairobi, the Masai Mara and, of course, development issues.

Gordon Ross’s visit earlier in the year has been reported and the plan was to return in order that he could follow up the work he began with the accountants and fieldworkers; for me the aim was to approach Head Teachers with a view to possibly producing a database of schools that might value an opportunity to link with schools in the UK and also to create a decision-making exercise that can be used in UK schools to increase awareness of how aid can be provided in the developing world.

Meeting with Jim and Edna Leftwich, together with Gordon’s enthusiasm for Amani, could only partially prepare me for the impact the trip was to have. Many of the opportunities that I had anticipated, whilst exciting in their own way, paled into insignificance next to the experience of living in Ouygis and discovering the work carried out through the three community projects.

Each day I gained more and more respect for both the fieldworkers and the community members; their fortitude in facing the daily chore of producing sufficient food for their families, collecting wood and water and finding the funds to send their children to school, often in the face of illness or with many mouths to feed was humbling, particularly as their joy at entertaining European visitors was so evident, despite time being so short.

Undoubtedly of significant impact were my visits to the schools. I was fortunate in that, despite our assuming that the school were on their six week August holiday (they were), many pupils were actually attending school due to their teachers asking them to attend as the holidays were too long… A novel concept for the UK!

Having been dragged into the technology of the 21st century using my laptop for most lessons together with interactive whiteboards, instant photocopying, Internet, carpeted classrooms, class-sized computer suites, emailed homework, science rooms bursting with equipment, the contrast was illuminating - mud floors, glassless windows, volunteer teachers, blackboards and chalk, leaky roofs, copying the periodic table from the blackboard, rote learning and no electricity. These were just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, I had known these things but the endless enthusiasm, positivity and unerring faith that things will improve is never described in text books.

We were extremely grateful for the hospitality of the Head Teachers who showed us around with pride; a justified pride, as in each classroom pupils were working diligently with only the basics of a pencil and notebook. In some cases teachers were working between two rooms but each pupil remained on task and no, not just because there were visitors.

It is hard to keep a dry eye when you are greeted by a choir singing "By the Rivers of Babylon" in perfect, unaccompanied harmony, or a nursery group performing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" in newly acquired English. Harder still to keep a lump from your throat when in giving a speech of thanks an 18 year old student asks you to tell people in the UK that study in Kenya is often difficult when the wind blows as the dust gets in your eyes making it difficult to concentrate, or when a business student asks "Why is there such a difference between life in Kenya and that in the UK?" Nothing better highlights the need to shelve sentimentality and adopt action.

An experience indeed. I am grateful that the eyes of my friends in the UK have not glazed over as I have told them of my time in Oyugis. Nor were my class of 14 year olds restless as I showed them my "holiday photos". Rather, I have been received instead with requests to know how people can help.

So, what next? Some 35 teachers attended our meetings in Kenya regarding linking with a UK school. As I write we are preparing a link for the Amani UK website that will, we hope, give some of the schools an opportunity to gain support from some of our schools in the UK and, hopefully, in return the awareness of our pupils will be increased. An awareness of not merely the poverty but also of the determination and faith of these amazing people.

Helen Bean

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