Learning Under a Tree

Celestine Owiti, this is a name I will never forget. Not only for her big heart, kind nature and welcoming spirit, but for her perseverance and and strong will to help others.
Celestine is the principal of Masinde Primary School. The school started 1 year ago in 2012 when it was merely a block of land with a tree and a blackboard.

Celestine Owiti

The story began when Celestine was granted a small amount of money by the government to start a primary school in the struggling town 'Sawagongo'.

The community decided they needed learning facilities closer to home due to the long distance that young children needed to travel for education. A new school was the perfect solution. Many of the children were starting school too late due to the distance which was too far for the younger ones. The kids would have to wait until they were old enough to make the journey on their own. This was setting the children too far back in their schooling and creating big learning problems for them when they started to attend class.

Being a local, studying teaching at university and having aquired many years of experience Mrs Owiti was the perfect woman for the job. To begin with Celestine was forced to hold classes in a local mans backyard, with no facilities and many outside interferences from locals and traffic.

Celestine knew this would simply not work and set out to find land begin what would soon be a 1.3 acre friendly and welcoming learning place for children with a 2 minute walking distance from their homes.
She looked for land by foot, scouting the region for cleared land where she could begin to build a school. Once she found this land she purchased it using the money provided by the government, however the funds granted were not nearly enough to build adequite facilities for learning. Once the land was purchased she would hold 5 classes under the shade of a small tree, shifting positions as the sun direction would change. She utilised one blackboard between all 5 classes by having each class wait for her to finish using the blackboard with the previous class. Once she finished she would wipe down the board and then start all over with the next class. The children were learning in difficult conditions, they had no chairs and had to sit on the grass all day rain or shine. the teachers were given old sheets to sit on.
On one occasion Celestine and her pupils were lucky enough to be accompanied by a snake, which they call 'The Black Mamba'!!! Needless to say they screamed and quite quickly migrated to the opposite side of the block.

Eventually Celestine was able to source the funds to erect a small tin shed with three classrooms, and four stand over drop toilets (basically just a hole in the ground with a bit of shelter). However, the classrooms had no flooring, just mud which resulted in many of the children becoming infested by jiggers. The rooms had no tables or chairs, they were completely empty.

This is what the pupils use to wash their hands

Pupils at the school

One of the unfinished classrooms

A view of the school

Luckily in June last year a World Youth International volunteer came along to offer her time and services to the School. Her name was Anya and she worked at the school for 3 months. In this time she donated cement floors for two classrooms, tables and chairs, an office / storage room, then used her funds to register the school!! Thats not all though, she also provided a water tank and text books. These small things that we take for granted every day have made a monumental difference for the children at the school. She provided the children with the tools to learn and flourish.

There are so many schools in Kenya that have classrooms and kitchens with mud floors, unfinished classrooms, children without shoes, no text books, no play equipment and not enough teachers. These schools are in dire need of the most simple things and the government will not provide them with the sufficient funds or tools to aquire them. No, the government wont give them what they really need, however they are more than happy to plan on supplying the schools with top of the range laptops!!!! Really??!! Laptops! Most of these schools don't even have the power source to keep computers running, or the security to stop them from being stolen. The government actually took funds away from Celestine's project to fund these computers. They could have given text books, paper, pencils, pens or even provided scholarships for children who cant afford schooling!! They really need to come to the rural areas and see the schools for themselves before they decide what they need, but as a lot of people here would agree, the government just isn't interested, and every decision is a political move. The facts are laptops are more 'sexy' and appealing to the public and will be noticed more then pencils and books. A hand out of laptops will give them more recognition then supplying a school with a chicken coup that would actually sustain the school in the long run and provide income. The schools need funds and tools to become more self sufficient, not fancy laptops they can't even use!

This is me, reading with the children

Celestine is currently still principal of the school and has so many plans to brighten the future for all of her pupils. However there is still so much the school needs and she needs our help!! She is one of the most trustworthy people I have met so far in Kenya and has pure and genuine intentions with these children. She has made the most of everything given to her and has not passed up a single opportunity. She is proactive and passionate about the school and I am so grateful the children are under her care.