Utawala Academy, Nairobi - Our partner school in Kenya

In March 2009 we welcomed Mrs Dorcas Oyugi and Mrs Nancy Muriithi from Utawala Academy, Nairobi to Lakefield. Whilst they were with us, Dorcas and Nancy were able to experience life in England, not only through school but through visiting some of the surrounding areas too.

Here you can see them enjoying a visit to Gloucester Cathedral, where they were fascinated by the elaborate design and features.

The link visits are taking place thanks to a British Council grant. You can read more about the Lakefield - Utawala link on the British Council website at http://www.britishcouncil.org/africa-news-kenya-school-partneship.htm

We have arrived! Kenya is even more amazing than we were expecting. We have had a very busy weekend visiting lots of different places. The weather is very hot to us, although everyone here is complaining of the cold and wearing jumpers! We have been to an animal orphanage where we stroked a cheetah, met a Maasai warrior and fed a giraffe! Our visit to a maasai market was a daunting but wonderful experience. Everybody wanted our attention and bartering was the order of the day! Thanks to Dorcas we both came away with several bargains.

Today (Monday) we have spent the day in school. We had to stand up and give a speech to be officially welcomed into the school during assembly. We also presented Dorcas with the canvas photograph which she really liked. We have spent time in the pre-unit (reception), teaching them songs and watching them learn. In standard year one we had a Kiswahili lesson and taught them some songs. In standards year four and six we presented our food project and answered their many interesting questions.

Today (Tuesday), we have had another exciting day. We have spent the morning in school, answering hundreds of questions from years 3 and 5. Trying to explain snow to them was really hard, as they have no real concept of the cold.

Once we had finished in school we visited Nairobi National Museum with three of the teachers. It was fascinating reading about the history of Kenya and looking at the many examples of their wonderful wildlife. Afterwards the teachers took us to another Massai market where we did lots of bargaining and managed to get ourselves some lovely souvenirs.

This picture shows one of the Massai women handcrafting a necklace for us. It was amazing to see how quickly she worked with such small beads.

Nairobi is home to the largest slum in Africa. The people who live there are very poor and have no access to toilets or running water. They make money by selling goods. Everything from second hand shoes to fruits and vegetables is sold. This is a far cry from the affluent side of Nairobi where very rich people live in large houses similiar to the wealthy people in England.

Our time in Kenya has sadly come to an end. Yesterday we attended Utawala's Speech and Prize Giving ceremony, a very grand and important day in their school calendar. Straight afterwards we set off to Nakuru, the fourth largest city in Kenya, in the heart of the Rift Valley - a 2 1/2 hour journey from Nairobi. We stayed overnight in a hotel before getting up at 5.30am (!!) to go on Safari at Nakuru National Park. We spent 4 hours taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the park as the sun rose over the beautiful Lake Nakuru. We were amazed by the amount and range of animals we saw, from baby warthogs to lions basking in the sun having just enjoyed a breakfast of wild water Buffalo!

We are sad to be leaving Kenya, but can't wait to share our experiences with everyone back at home.

As you can see not all animals were happy to pose for photos!!