At 4am tomorrow morning, 8 S6 students and 3 members of staff from Drummond Community High School will be on their way to Kenya.
Since February 2008 (Issue 155) Spurtle has been covering Drummond's partnership with the Muthambi Boys and Girls High Schools at the foot of Mount Kenya. Now they've raised enough money to open this latest chapter, had the jabs, worked out what they want to achieve and are ready to go.
Planned activities include:
- Setting up a library at Muthambi Boys High School
- Introducing the Kenyan students to Scottish poetry
- Making short videos for use at Drummond on topics such as Fairtrade, malaria, a day in the life of a Muthambi student
- Doing cookery demonstrations
- Developing partnership projects with the PE and Maths departments
- Teaching Scottish country dancing, and learning some African dance.
‘This project is so important,' says Jemma Craig. 'It allows us to meet and learn from exciting and interesting people living a different life to us 8,000 miles away. Not only will we make new friends but we’ll learn what we need to do to make a difference to their lives.'
Sean Cadger is interested in the culture and politics, 'particularly the debate on the new constitution that the Kenyans will vote on later this summer’.
Jordan Russell-Hall wants to know more about the food we see in local supermarkets which comes from Africa. (I'm told the mangoes there are fab!) He wants to know 'how it's grown and why there's famine in certain areas of Kenya'.
Chelsea Ewan is curious to compare her own experiences of education with those of students at Muthambi. Staff member Matt Annable agrees: ‘It will be interesting to see education from a Kenyan teacher’s point of view. What are the challenges, what sort of training and career prospects are there in Kenyan schools?’ Valentina Flex will be noting differences in the curriculum, 'especially how they teach and observe religion in school'.
‘I love working in the Library at Drummond Community High School,' Annie Scanlon says, 'and I can’t imagine a school functioning without one. I’m really looking forward to setting up a library at Muthambi Boys High School, in a day. Laurence Lewellyn-Bowen eat your heart out!’
Patricia Snow, another staff member, is looking forward to meeting up with the students and staff she encountered on her last trip there, and is keen to find out how they are using the resources Drummond has sent out since.’
Finally, Annie Scanlon has a word for readers: 'On behalf of the staff and students of both Drummond and the Muthambi Schools, we would like to say a huge thank you to the local community who have supported us in our fundraising over the past year.
'Without your help and generosity we could not have made this trip possible. We hope that through our partnership projects we can enrich the life of the local community as well as that of Muthambi.'
[The images immediately above right are courtesy of Annie Scanlon. They show pupils on the day the Desk Repairman visited, and the Head Teachers of Muthambi Boys and Girls High Schools.]