I have tried to upload this post for almost a week now but it hasn't worked, thus a bit delayed. On one of our last days in Kenya we drove for three hours out in the savannah where Naserian primary school is located. This is another school that we have a cooperation with and therefore wanted to visit with our students. The road there was almost non-existing and we encountered some issues on the way with our bus, which is not built for safari tours. Anyway, after a bumpy and dusty 3,5 hours drive we arrived to the school in the middle of nowhere. As a welcoming gesture, they served tea and cookies and we could definitely tell they had gone through a lot of trouble to make us feel welcome.
It was interesting to walk around the grounds, especially checking out the dorms where the orphans (about 44 students out of 150-200) stayed. Each student shared a mattress on the floor with 2-3 other students. No electricity or running water. The school gets water from a well nearby, but they often have problems with contaminated water and therefore, they have many cases of sick children, for instance, typhoid fever is common.
Furthermore, these students get one meal per day and a little water, how they manage such long days without more food or water remains a mystery. However, this is not only the case at this particular school, this is in fact normal in all schools here. Before leaving I had a nice chat with the principal and some of the teachers who are truly an inspiration. It was not difficult to see that they don't do any of this for themselves, but for the children. They are incredibly engaged and work really hard to make it work, sometimes without getting payed as funding is not always given.
When returning from a trip of this kind, these are the memories that really stick, people who give so much of themselves to others, either it be teachers at a school, or nurses at an orphanage, I admire what they do.
