Our first Kenyan school visit

We’re at Kenya Connect‘s Headquarters in Wamunyu. We’re preparing for our first school visit. I’m cutting out 60 Elmer the Elephants in coloured paper and making sure we have enough wax crayons. I ask whether they have joggle-eyes in stock and am thrilled to get a small supply. We have all the materials ready, but I’m not prepared for what’s going to happen. After a long drive along dusty red-dirt roads we reach the school and the entire school is waiting for us and joins in a song and a dance.

“We are happy for this day, This day is very important for us”, they sing, as two children, with shirts stuffed to make fat bellies, and faces smeared with what looks like shaving lotion to make white beards, lead the dance with comedic brilliance.

The classrooms here have nothing. Small exercise books are covered in corrugated card, there are few pencils, and the desks are rough-hewn planks of wood. There are no doors and many windows are broken. The concrete walls and floor are dusty.

The children are just like children everywhere. They love a good storybook and Elmer the Patchwork Elephant is perfect for them. I hand out the cut-out paper Elephants and crayons and their attention to detail in their colouring is wonderful. My colleague Liz is brilliant with them, as is Benta, our new Kenyan friend from Kenya Connect. As for me, I feel like the grey paint I’ve covered myself in is beginning to be washed away, just like in the Elmer book, and my true colours are finally being revealed.

When they have finished I stick a joggle-eye on each of their Elephants and they are all so proud of their creations.

The faces of the children are fabulous.

They are so proud of their colouring and so in need of praise and affirmation.

They are happy and their faces are pictures of concentration:

It’s time to sing an Elmer the Elephant song or two, one in English and one in Swahili.

The children start to spontaneously parade around the classroom, each holding their Elephants, singing along. They love it so much, we have to repeat it.

As we parade, I see the one poster on the bare classroom walls, giving the causes, signs and symptoms, and preventative measures for the waterborne diseases, typhoid, bilharzia, cholera, and dystentery. It’s a timely reminder of the dangers lurking out there for children.

The materials we have brought are so precious to them. The teachers are desperate for us to leave any excess. More Elmer cutouts? A few wax crayons? Some more joggle-eyes?

My colleague Liz gets a big hug from a small boy at the end of our session. He’s loved every moment of it.

So have I.

If you would like to help Kenya Connect you can visit them here and donate here. They have an Amazon Wishlist for the basics of paper, pencils, and books. Please support them if you can.

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