Over the half term holiday, eleven pupils and six staff from Oundle School ventured back to the Rift Valley in Kenya, to refocus on projects in the region.
Over the last ten years, groups from Oundle have worked towards capital projects at two primary schools they have strong links with – Murindati and Kimbo. They are now shifting the focus of their work onto capital schemes that involve sustainable water and electricity, two of the real stumbling blocks in local education. They are also supporting teachers in these two schools and Ngecho Secondary school (which visited Oundle in June 2010) through their visits, the introduction of Gap placements funded by the Old Oundelian Club in 2011, and teacher exchanges in the next few years. Oundle is also working with three organisations in the local town of Gilgil, Saidia House (a local orphanage), the Kivuli Trust (which runs a residential special needs school) and the Wana Duma project (which runs an outreach programme for abandoned children).
Group leader, Ian Clark, commented: 'The group visited each of the projects, and the children and staff were hugely touched by the warmth of all of them – they are remarkably special places, which are extremely humbling. One area of future development may well be the setting up of a specific micro-finance scheme in Gilgil to help the children who leave these projects.'
By good fortune, a container the School had helped sponsor arrived during their stay, so they were able to move many of the tables, desks and chairs out into the community, helping outreach feeding programmes. The School also helped one orphan from Saidia House start her own business with the donation of two sewing machines. The Oundle group also managed to follow on the School's involvement with Touraid by playing a remarkable game of rugby at Ngecho.
The trip finished with a brilliant safari in the Masai Mara (with a visit to Kenya’s largest bio-gas plant at a local Masai community, built and supported by Governor’s Camp) and a fine meal at the Carnivore restaurant.
Ian added: 'The 2010 trip marks an important waypoint for our involvement in Kenya – 10 years after our initial involvement, the future looks even more varied and exciting, with the possibility of two separate trips each year helping 6 different projects all based around the Malewa Trust’s work.'