When the Kenyan Government made primary school free most parents sent their children to school. There were over 1 million new students, but no new teachers and no new schools.
Over the past two years I have carried out a fundraising project to help children in a remote and underprivileged area of Kenya, by providing basic textbooks and writing materials – and footballs – to a number of schools that have almost no resources. This area in Kenya is ‘the bottom of the heap’ as far as its government is concerned.
This is the story of my journey to deliver supplies to schools purchased from funds raised.
To those of you who gave money for these schools, a heartfelt ‘thank you’ from me, but even more from the children and teachers of the Nyadorera District in northwestern Kenya, near the Ugandan border.
On 13 November 2006 I set out northwest from Nairobi – three of us in a van, Omondi the driver, Sam the cook and myself. We needed a cook as we would have to camp along the way. We were headed to Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria, where we intended to buy the supplies for the schools.
Given the state of roads in Kenya, this first leg was not too bad. Kisumu is a thriving, bustling city and the atmosphere quite different from Nairobi. The predominant tribe is Luo, who are gentle and friendly and I was definitely not on any tourist trail. I knew from the outset that shopping for the stationery would not be easy, but after several days’ frustration and delay, we set off for the schools.
This was the epic part of the journey. Although so far the expedition had been rough, it was paradise compared to what was in store for us. The ‘roads’ were atrocious, eventually narrowing to mud tracks with thick vegetation on either side.
I spent many hours perched by the roadside, (fortunately I had several beefy novels in tow) whilst running repairs were undertaken on the van – we experienced mechanical problems, were constantly bogged and had many flat tyres.
We lurched and bounced our way along muddy tracks for hours. At last we came into a clearing and there was a school (of sorts) – mud brick classrooms with crumbling walls, dirt floors, a concrete water tank with a massive crack.
The children spotted the van approaching and ran wildly towards us shouting with excitement. They had no idea who we were and most had never seen a white person before. However the teachers knew and they were extremely excited, too.
We delivered supplies to six schools. The schools have classes for Grades 1 to 8 with between 350-500 pupils. At each school we were ushered into the headmaster’s “office” to make the necessary formalities, African style. This process took some time and included several cups of tea, a general pow wow regarding the wants, needs and plight of the children and signing the visitor’s book. It was very hot and extremely tiring.
Over the past two years I have carried out a fundraising project to help children in a remote and underprivileged area of Kenya, by providing basic textbooks and writing materials – and footballs – to a number of schools that have almost no resources. This area in Kenya is ‘the bottom of the heap’ as far as its government is concerned.
On 13 November 2006 I set out northwest from Nairobi – three of us in a van, Omondi the driver, Sam the cook and myself. We needed a cook as we would have to camp along the way. We were headed to Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria, where we intended to buy the supplies for the schools. 
This was the epic part of the journey. Although so far the expedition had been rough, it was paradise compared to what was in store for us. The ‘roads’ were atrocious, eventually narrowing to mud tracks with thick vegetation on either side.
I spent many hours perched by the roadside, (fortunately I had several beefy novels in tow) whilst running repairs were undertaken on the van – we experienced mechanical problems, were constantly bogged and had many flat tyres.
The children spotted the van approaching and ran wildly towards us shouting with excitement. They had no idea who we were and most had never seen a white person before. However the teachers knew and they were extremely excited, too. 
We delivered supplies to six schools. The schools have classes for Grades 1 to 8 with between 350-500 pupils. At each school we were ushered into the headmaster’s “office” to make the necessary formalities, African style. This process took some time and included several cups of tea, a general pow wow regarding the wants, needs and plight of the children and signing the visitor’s book. It was very hot and extremely tiring.