Living for the Yolo at Kandaria Secondary School

By Callum & Jon
During the early hours of the morning there was an extreme downpour of rain along with thunder and lightning. The thunder strikes lasted for 3-7 seconds and the lightning strikes illuminated the rooms.
Once we woke we discovered there was no electricity, and had yet another cold shower, which is fine as it is quite hot. We sorted which boxes we were going to take to the Primary school. This included clothes and toys for the children along with school supplies for the school to use.
We left for the secondary school later than usual, allowing the roads time to dry. However we still did not make it far as the road had become like a bog and so we had to walk over 3km through the African bush to get there. We attracted many of the people who came and waved at us as we walked by and the children were very excited and amazed to see 15 white people wandering through their fields.
Once at the Secondary school, the bus appeared about 15 minutes later. Then the head teacher was presented with 50,000 shillings which would go towards the completion of the classroom roof and fittings. He expressed how grateful he was for this and thanked us very much. We then left for lunch at Pastor Tom’s house. We had potatoes, rice and some sort of meat which was decent.  We then returned to the school and met the chairman of the primary school who took us there.
We met head teacher who introduced his staff to us and told us that two of the teachers were employed by the parents because of staff shortages. We introduced ourselves and then presented them with the supplies. They thanked us greatly and we took some photos of the handing over. The head teacher told us that the children were very eager to meet us and so we toured each classroom of the school and met all of the pupils. The school had a total of 452 pupils on its register and the classes held between 40 and 60 pupils per class which is a substantially more than what we are used to. Upon leaving the school, every classroom emptied and the children followed us down to the Secondary school gates.
Then it was teaching and building time. The majority of us helped with the bricks and Mr Macdonald and Jon taught a history lesson. The pupils were at first apprehensive but quickly became involved in the lesson, covering Scottish tartan and clans. Mr Macdonald dressed up in a tartan towel and was dancing around the room, which amused many of the pupils to the point where we heard them laughing all the way at the building site.
We stopped at Pastor Tom’s house on the way back and handed Lollipops to some of the local children and had some minor refreshments. We then headed back to where we are staying and had tea which was chicken and chips along with small African cakes.
All in all it was great day and a valuable experience. We have just been told that there is another storm on the way tonight. 

Living for the Yolo at Kandaria Secondary SchoolBy Callum & JonDuring the early hours of the morning there was an extreme downpour of rain along with thunder and lightning. The thunder strikes lasted for 3-7 seconds and the lightning strikes illuminated the rooms. Once we woke we discovered there was no electricity, and had yet another cold shower, which is fine as it is quite hot. We sorted which boxes we were going to take to the Primary school. This included clothes and toys for the children along with school supplies for the school to use. We left for the secondary school later than usual, allowing the roads time to dry. However we still did not make it far as the road had become like a bog and so we had to walk over 3km through the African bush to get there. We attracted many of the people who came and waved at us as we walked by and the children were very excited and amazed to see 15 white people wandering through their fields. Once at the Secondary school, the bus appeared about 15 minutes later. Then the head teacher was presented with 50,000 shillings which would go towards the completion of the classroom roof and fittings. He expressed how grateful he was for this and thanked us very much. We then left for lunch at Pastor Tom’s house. We had potatoes, rice and some sort of meat which was decent.  We then returned to the school and met the chairman of the primary school who took us there.We met head teacher who introduced his staff to us and told us that two of the teachers were employed by the parents because of staff shortages. We introduced ourselves and then presented them with the supplies. They thanked us greatly and we took some photos of the handing over. The head teacher told us that the children were very eager to meet us and so we toured each classroom of the school and met all of the pupils. The school had a total of 452 pupils on its register and the classes held between 40 and 60 pupils per class which is a substantially more than what we are used to. Upon leaving the school, every classroom emptied and the children followed us down to the Secondary school gates. Then it was teaching and building time. The majority of us helped with the bricks and Mr Macdonald and Jon taught a history lesson. The pupils were at first apprehensive but quickly became involved in the lesson, covering Scottish tartan and clans. Mr Macdonald dressed up in a tartan towel and was dancing around the room, which amused many of the pupils to the point where we heard them laughing all the way at the building site.We stopped at Pastor Tom’s house on the way back and handed Lollipops to some of the local children and had some minor refreshments. We then headed back to where we are staying and had tea which was chicken and chips along with small African cakes. All in all it was great day and a valuable experience. We have just been told that there is another storm on the way tonight. 

5 thoughts on “Living for the Yolo at Kandaria Secondary School”

  1. I think I may have become addicted to your blog and to Mission Matters Facebook page! There are some great photos on there of you all.

    It is really good to get the stories as they are happening as I’m sure when you get back there will be just too much to think of to tell us.

    Take care and keep blogging, Pam and Peter Fowlie

  2. It sounds like you are all working hard so the rest was well earned! Its great to hear all that is going on the blog is great and helps us back here to imagine better what you all must be experiencing. The people sound as though they love having you there and they seem ever so grateful, its what makes it all worthwhile. Its very emotional to read so here’s to what the reality must be!

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