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Local report 09/11/2011 Filed by ed Sherrington and Laura McNcally Usueni is an all girls’ boarding school a six hour drive north east of Nairobi. Located on the dry grasslands of East Africa temperatures reach a mighty 40°C and the heat is relentless, lessons are conducted in the morning with the girls rising at 6am. The afternoons are spend “prepping” for the next day’s classes or playing volleyball with the long school day ending at 9pm. The industrious Usueni girls come from throughout the Eastern Province some travelling 4 hours from their homes by “Matatu” (local bus) to learn at the school. With the constant heat and the dry nature of the East African Savanna, water continues to be difficult to source, with the girls currently walking 2km to the nearest river to each collect 10L of water. When the piping of water from the river is completed it will transform both the routine of the girls and the landscape of the school.
We spent almost three weeks at Usueni and have never met a more generous, motivated and loving group of girls. Despite the difficult conditions, they work incredibly hard and have a real thirst for knowledge, asking us constant questions about life in England and Western lifestyles. They were extremely welcoming and seemed hugely excited at the opportunity to spend time with people from a different culture and continent. These girls ask for very little, they never complaint and they are prepared to work hard to further their opportunities, the smallest donation such as a volleyball or DVD provides great excitement and hours of entertainment. |
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